Top 40 Guitars is one of the best shops in San Diego County. The people are knowledgeable, the shop is clean and offers a great small inventory of wonderful equipment and I highly recommend it to everyone!
Best customer service I’ve ever had!!!
The only place I’ll ever take my SG to. Brandon at the front is very helpful, if he can’t help you he’ll direct you to somebody who can. Great prices and a great selection of guitars. Never had a bad setup or service. Everything 10/10
This placed rocked!! Great service and great prices!!!
Buenos precios, y sin amables con los clientes.
Cute little guitar place good prices great service also they are family owned
This seller was just terrible. One of the worst experiences ever with an internet sale. The guitar arrived with issues that made it unplayable. He was truly a pain to deal with on the return. He threatened a restocking fee requiring that I get the listing agent involved. Once the guitar was recieved I had to reach out to him again for the return. He then made a point to send me an unprofessional message. I was a repeat customer and will never buy from this seller again! My advice go elsewhere. There are lots of professional shops out there to chose from. Who needs hassles like this!
I went to the store to see some amplifiers that were advertised on Craigslist. When I got to the store NONE of the equipment was available in the store. It had all been sold. Very lame business practices… I will never be back!!!
*follow up….Besides NOT having either the cabinets or heads as advertised, there were NO heads at all. The ads were still up at 10:00am when I left for the store. The ads were only canceled after I arrived. Poor business practices as I said earlier. Good prices for merchandise not in the store??? Hahaha.
Just got there to pick up a tube amp. Drove all the way from PB. Grey haired guy was sitting there and playing the guitar behind the counter the whole time. I didn’t wanna interrupt him waited for him to be helpful but he kept playing. I said thank you as I am walking outta store he didn’t even say nothing. I Would never be back again for sure.
What’s problem with those people who works at the music stores. 🙂
I walked in to get my amp channel switch repaired and Mr. Jarvis and I fiddled with the channels until it started to work. Impeccable customer service and outstanding moral support. I recommend this shop for amp repair, keyboards and piano.
very happy with the price, quality of work, and customer service. he knew right away what i was asking for which was very impressive given the breadth of his offerings
Randy at Keyboard Services fixed my organ over the phone there was no
charge. Thank you Randy
I hope they read this review. Their voice mail is full and I can’t get through to leave a message.
0 stars. They kept my vintage synthesizer for 6 months with no contact, when I finally called them they had not yet touched it and had excuses about how they had computer problems. They had it another four months, charged me $125, and not only did they fail to fix the problem, when it got back to me it was in even worse condition and completely unusable. These guys are a bunch of overpriced hacks, I’m not sure of anyone else in San Diego who does this kind of work, but you are better off driving to LA than dealing with these people.
edit: Of course they respond with lies and even more excuses. Never was I offered my money back, the fact that they refused to refund my money after effectively destroying the synth was the entire reason I wrote this review chronicling my experience. This place is a scam and I hope they are out of business by now and the incompetent geezer running the place off to a place where he can’t steal from anyone else.
No response to my voicemails. Perhaps out of business?
Have emailed and called for an appointment to have my synthesizer looked at/repaired for about 3 weeks. No return call after leaving voicemail messages or email response that was entered online. Not sure this business is still open or not. Was linked to Jarvis Music, when I searched Korg service and repair, but came up Keyboard Service. I hope to get a response soon.
Relaxed and friendly atmosphere, cool guitars and equipment, I purchased a unique Amp and am very happy with it.
I walked into the store to find a peg for my niece’s guitar that I borrowed. Owner went the extra mile to try to find one that would fit. Although nothing was readily suitable he went out of his way to help me tune it so I could practice for a gig next day. While at the store I saw this beautiful guitar leather case, so unique and at a great price so I just bought it on the spot. I’m very impressed with tbe customer service and I encourage all my musician friends to come to El Cajon Guitars where they are very friendly to the musicians. They also have a nice unique selection of cajones and other percussion instruments.
All I can say is Wow!! Maria and Frank are truly amazing. Service and quality of products was superb. My friend and I purchased ukulele. Maria explained extremely detailed features of various ukulele and enhancements along with set ups. Amazing knowledge of products they share with customers. I give it a two thumbs up for great service and friendly owners. One of these, Eddy Finn Bamboo Beach Concert is what I bought. The recipient of the ukulele can’t wait to play it. They were happy to see it appreciated the quality. Thank you to El Cajon Guitar and Music located at 172 E Main St, El Cajon, CA 92020. Best place to go for musical instruments.
6. Latebloom Music
Address: 152 W Park Ave, El Cajon, CA 92020 , Crest , California , United States
Excellent music lessons. High quality instrument repair on my cello. No problems whatsoever with billing/accounting. I have empathy for anyone who has had billing issues but it appears that they have revised their system and taken the bugs out.
Family owned business and you can feel it. Gentry and Lori are so welcoming, they really work with our family to make lessons happen. My daughter has been playing the cello with Ralph as her teacher for over 2 years, and she truly loves him. Ralph has her playing most of the time so it is that hands on learning not just auditory, which I really appreciate. My other daughter started playing and they have the first 5 lessons for free. Can’t say enough great things about this place!
Been shopping here for 20 years and never had a bad experience! My family had bought a sax, a trumpet, and a clarinet from here and all were fantastic!
My kids go here for piano lessons and we’ve had a good experience. We’ve been doing the lessons for 2 years. They’re pretty disorganized, bordering on hoarders and Gentry is forgetful, but I like them and they’re friendly/chatty. The instructor my kids see is nice and gentle and positive and I’ve seen nice progression in their skills.
This is the real deal, musicians running a business. As such you’re gonna get some good along with some bad. they’re not very organized but they love music and they love teaching music. So I guess my real question is do you want your child being taught music by a musician or an accountant?
I got my daughter’s cello here. They are a bit unorganized but they do have great customer service. This store will upgrade your instrument to a bigger one for no charge if you buy from them. I’m a satisfied customer 🙂
Horrible experience. I would never go there again and would not recommend it to anyone. Read all reviews carefully
Don’t go here. Gentry will rip you off and you’ll spend the next year if your life trying to get your money back. And chances are you’ll never get it back.
Go to Alans music Center down the street. Much more professional.
It may be cheaper, but the people who work there, especially the main guy, are so oblivious to what’s going on around them. He completely disregards people when they’re asking him anything and he can’t focus on a simple task at hand. They are super unorganized overall. Take your money somewhere else, it’ll be worth it. No thank you.
Love this site I have learned about uke in the past two years.
It was an excellent service, fast delivery and well packed.
Would happily purchase from here again.
Thank you.
My order was processed and shipped promptly and arrived in god shape and as advertised.
Ukulele arrived packaged well and on time.
Order arrived as scheduled.
I ordered some heavy, Herco, guitar thumb picks. They are just what I needed and wanted. However, the ad made it sound like I would get a pack that included several picks, with different colors. I was very disappointed when they arrived and it was only 1 pack with 3 picks. I think $7.99 is pretty expensive for just 3 picks.
Well product said ukelele humidification system and ended up just humidification pouches that are way too big for ukelele sound hole only able to put in case with instrument wasn’t really what I was looking for thought they’d be smaller I’ll use till I find something better like Dadario guitar type with humidity pouches shipping was kinda slow also I guess their a bit smaller than guitar ones not much though
it has been 6 days and I still have not received my strings I will never buy another thing from you I EVEN HAD TO PAY FOR SHIPPING! ! !
The shop is overpriced and the owner is shady as hell. If you even do the most basic of comparison shopping, you’ll see how much he’s trying to take advantage of ukulele players.
Carter’s NOT the only game in town and uke players deserve better.
9. Guitar Center
Address: 8825 Murray Dr, La Mesa, CA 91942 , Crest , California , United States
I’m giving it 5 stars because the quality of the merchandise and equipment is excellent. The customer service has been great too, there’s a couple of know it alls that need to drop their ego and realize they gotta sell their company’s merchandise and not hate on some of the customers that go and play, but other then the one or two dudes in there who need an attitude adjustment everybody else is super cool, super nice, and super professional. Be stern with the employees, there is always deals and you have every right to ask for an online price comparison and any sale or possible discount. Excellent music store.
Pleasure the staff were great and very helpful it was worth the money
Pretty good selection of guitars. Sales guy was very nice, I got me a Schecter 7 string series. Love it.
Busy store, no one even asked if we needed help.
Nice to be able to get hands on with gear. Got an Akai MPK mini mkII at 20% off MSRP during the president’s day sale.
I bought an E-drum kit I wanted at a great price. I knew what I wanted going in, got immediate service and the guy was loading it into my car within 20 minutes of me arriving. Could t have asked for anything more.
Horrible customer service. They were too lazy on helping, the cashier told a customer on the phone that there was 5 people that he had to attend to before helping. No one was in the store except me and two other customers walking around.
This dude waited 30 min to check me out as I stood there and I only needed to buy strings
In my personal experience beatshop productions is home, from a business perspective it’s just what’s needed in the industry… Good creative space, exemplary engineering..and an all around experience.. glad to be a part of it…
This place is wonderful. The staff were very professional and I felt very comfortable during the recording
12. Artesia Pro
Address: 1308 Magnolia Ave, El Cajon, CA 92020 , Crest , California , United States
I met Ignacio over a decade ago at the infamous Blacks Beach drum circle where he learned to play djembe on this drum. I’ve rebuilt it many times and got it sounding decent but never was happy. His recent complete overhaul with just pulled verticals sounds so crisp and professional that everyone in the circle wants to play it. I almost gave up on it but am super stoked to have a finger tapper of my own.
My friend and I each purchase drums last December. The quality was top shelf. The hand carved wood of the base is exquisite. Most importantly, these instruments sound amazing! Ignacio was a true pro sharing the benefits of each piece so we could make the best decision around which drum fit. Highly recommend.
When it comes to buying authentic cultural instruments or artifacts in a world where indigenous cultures have been stolen from and exploited for centuries, integrity and trustworthiness are among the most important virtues I look for in vendors. This is why I buy from and refer people to Mundo Music.
Ignacio is not just a businessman he is a man of the community. He is not just in it to make money but to also educate people about culture and music from all over the world.
His instruments are vast in variety, high and quality and reasonable in price. I purchased a beautiful djembe that I will likely have for the rest of my life.
I highly recommend investing in Mundo Music for your authentic instrument needs.
This business was in Kearny Mesa when my grandmother asked me to take her there. They were professional and comfortable to deal with, and sold her a Kawai organ, with seat and music booklets. Soon after they delivered it to her apartment in Escondido.
After she recently died, and I was selling all her possessions, it occurred to me that this business might be interested in buying back the organ. I phoned them, and eventually one of the principle persons of the business was able to visit me.
After test playing the organ, he got out a moving dolly and we rolled it to his van. After getting it up and secured in, he informed me that he prints company checks from his computer, so he would have to create and mail one to me. I was surprised and vaguely suspicious that he didn’t bring any payment method with him. But the organ was in the vehicle, and I wanted it gone, so… off he drove.
A few days later, I was pleased to receive his check in the mail, and even more pleased when it cleared into my bank account. If he had failed to pay, I would have had no proof of sale. So, kudos to Organ Stop for being ethical.
17. Music Central
Address: 8139 Mira Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92126 , Crest , California , United States
Friendly greeting from Brian when I came in. Immediately helped me with what I was looking for. Manager or owner (didn’t get his name) was also very nice and helpful. No high pressure. Just genuine interest in helping me. Let me try as many guitars as I wished and I walked out with a beautiful Mahogany deck acoustic. Great buying experience. Ssssaaahhhwweeeet!
Amazing private lessons. If you have a string instrument, and you want to get good at it, go there
They are a great local store with some friendly and helpfull staff. The music lessons and instrument rentals are very reasonable and their instructors are encouraging and patient.
So-so. They didn’t have 2A 250V fuse for a Fender Amp. Poor selection of instruments. Other than that, the staff guy was very knowledgeable and helpful.
Small shop with a large selection of sheets/tabs, a selection of guitars/ukuleles, and a room for music lessons in the back. Went in looking to see if they had any amps. Staff there at the moment (piano player & oboe player) were not knowledgeable about guitars or amps, but I got help from other guitar players who were hanging out there. I found an amp that I liked, but it didn’t have a price tag or box with it, so I asked the oboe player (don’t remember name… Max? young guy) about the price. He immediately started looking for the box/price in the guitar section and in the back, and then he got on the phone for a while to ask someone about it. Eventually he found out that the price was normally $110, but the box was still missing. Because of the box missing, they knocked the price down to $90! I appreciated him spending so much time helping me, and the discount they gave. Overall a good experience. Might come back for lessons!
Just stopped by because I needed some drumsticks, literally the worst and most limited selection of drumsticks I have seen in a music store. This is why people buy online or go to guitar center.
Called ahead to make sure this store had the drum sticks my son needed for band. They confirmed they had them and quoted me $30-40. I drove all the way from Escondido in traffic to get them. Upon arrival the clerk informs me that she misquoted me and the sticks are actually $50 and they wouldn’t honor the quote. As a musician and a previous music instrument store clerk, I can say with certainty that this kind of behavior will make Music Central and any other store like them the newest victim of GC in no time.
