Randall has an amazing musical mind, that when combined with passion for outstanding electronics has led to the development of world class effects pedals and amplifiers. Drawing from his excellent rock and roll history and knowledge of how famous sounds were created, he then applies this with his own ideas, creating amazing effects pedals, amplifier recreations and innovations. Randall is truly a local treasure with world wide applications. Do not miss out trying Xenrelic effects or having Randall repair/enhance your equipment.
Randall took my dying Laney Protube 100 and turned it into my favorite amp in the world. Every time I seek a tone, I find it with the amp. He is able to get a lot of clarity in a lot of gain.
Best tone consultation prior to getting the work done. Matched components to the tone and feel I was looking for. Also took care of so many of the voltage regulating and noise I was having trouble with.
He took one of my favorite amps and made it an amp I won’t live without.
He is a great musician who understands what musicians want to hear and play.
Randall is a miracle worker! He can transform pretty much any amp to your liking within reason. Very knowledgeable and does very clean and reliable work.
I waited 5 months to hear ‘we can’t fix it’ on biasing a mono bloc OTL amplifier. This after 3 emails and 5 calls. That’s my experience – take it for what it’s worth. There are other more qualified repair shops in San Jose I’ve used before. Sure the turnaround is a couple of month but wow. Appalling customer service and a total waste of time
4. Park Avenue Music Center
Address: 1717 Park Ave, San Jose, CA 95126 , East Foothills , California , United States
I have been coming here for years now and it’s great! Band rentals, sheet music, the Amazing Wall Of Reeds, it’s a real resource.
I have rented band instruments here and if you are a kid or a big kid curious about playing an instrument it’s much cheaper to rent than to buy, and the first year of your rental fees go toward buying.
I even like the location; caddy-corner from the Rosicrucian Museum.
Rented a clarinet from the store. The person at the counter is knowledgeable about the instrument, got use everything we needed and processed our transaction swiftly. Returning was painless. Parking is a little challenging but good experience over all.
Love it ! Lots of really cool stuff ! I was like “a kid in a candy store” !
I’m sorry to say that I took my business somewhere else because the customer service over the phone was not helpful at all. I had to pry information about their products out of him. At The Starving Musician they helped me figure out exactly what I needed over the phone so that I could put it on hold and easily go and pick it up the same day.
Nice small music store that had a French horn we could rent. They were very helpful in helping to find a private teacher and have lesson rooms adjacent to them.
The instruments are great. The attitude and service are not so much. Maybe it was just a bad day.
Park Avenue sells defected/used items as ‘new’. Do not buy an item from here and expect to return it if you find a problem with it. They tried to charge me over $500 in a ‘restocking fee’ for an item that they shipped. Claimed they had photos of it undamaged but they never provided them. Had to file a credit card fraud report against them to recover the funds they decided to keep.
Drove down to make a purchase, but the store decided to close early–even though we had discussed with an employee we would be coming down to buy a clarinet. I’d phone ahead and get strong assurances they will actually be open if you’re driving any distance.
Called to inquire about a violin study book. Was on hold for over 20 min. Had to hang up.
I hired a mariachi band for my father’s 80th birthday party a couple of weeks before the event. The band that performed, Garibaldi was punctual, and professionally dressed. The women were beautiful, but most importantly, they were fantastic! They brought my father to tears with their song selection and music! I will hire them again for my next event!! ❤
6. Guitar Wars
Address: 4110 Monterey Hwy, San Jose, CA 95111 , East Foothills , California , United States
Great store, great service, unique atmosphere. Star Wars theme with lots of different guitars. He has a Reverb store so also buys guitars. Lessons are available if you’re interested. If you’re looking for a different vibe from the mundane guitar store, Guitar Wars is the place to go.
I like the $0.60 picks.
Fantastic service! Set up my acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, and ukulele over the weekend for extremely reasonable prices.
Very small guitar shop, but friendly owner and fair prices. Came across some nice Teton guitars in here and had to pick one up. These guys are the only local Teton dealer.
Really diverse selection of mostly used equipment. Old and new, some good or interesting finds. The staff was friendly and helpful. The store has star wars themed decor throughout–not just a poster or millennium falcon model here and there, but really well done doors, panels, counters with lights and effects built in and hiding all over the place, some was near movie set quality. It’s a fun visit. There’s quite a bit of stuff around, so you have to look hard to find the gems. The strip mall it’s in had a very sketchy feel, but I’m glad I went in.
Do not trust this shop they sell broken gear online and deny refunds even though the items are described as working. Horrible shop.
They sold me a $60 guitar amp for $135. Then they forgot to send me the chord that comes with it. Then they have the balls to send me a chord that won’t even reach my wall outlet.
They sold me a amp on reverb in “excellent condition” covered in dust scratches and buzzing sound and denied me a refund not trust worthy and doesn’t knew what excellent means.
7. GRUPO VERSATIL KARIS MUSICAL SHOW
Address: 4087 Gion Ave, San Jose, CA 95127 , East Foothills , California , United States
Michael Humphries can fix just about anything in this world, let alone instruments….
Came in to get my stuck mouthpiece out and get some valve work done on my Euphonium and the quality of service here is outstanding! Very professional and genuine people! Will be coming back here for sure!
Always dependable and the staff are professional and knowledgeable.
Super. I love this store
Helpful, friendly & knowledgeable. Prices are a bit on the higher side.. higher than amazon.
Overall staff could be a bit friendlier and way more professional. To start, the older gentlemen working here can be a bit stuffy. Once I asked one of the guys behind the counter who was ringing me up(short dark blonde hair, blue eyes, about mid 20s/30s[not the guy with a beanie]) if he could process payment for two items separately(I am a teacher and frequently purchase books for my students and have their parents reimburse me), and he loudly let out an exasperated sigh, letting me know he was clearly annoyed, then asked if he could just make two copies of my receipt in a somewhat indignant tone. There is also one very elderly gentlemen who is very, very quiet and seems to not like eye contact and/or smiling. An incident I should also mention is that once when I paid at the counter, a different male employee(I believe his name is Luis) told me I was “very beautiful” as he handed me my items and receipt. It made me extremely uncomfortable because I am not there to find a date, nor am I interested. Very unprofessional and neither the time or the place. As a teacher, I just want to be able to take my time browsing the store comfortably without worrying about whether an employee is eyeing me. That was the last straw for me-being that this is the closest sheet music store to me at a 20 min drive, it was pretty much my only choice aside from the Branham location. However, nowadays I make the extra effort to drive 15 more mins. to the Branham location instead-friendlier staff, and I don’t have to worry about employees checking me out while I’m browsing the shop.
9. Guitar Center
Address: 5140 Cherry Ave #10, San Jose, CA 95118 , East Foothills , California , United States
The staff are very friendly and helpful. Covid protocals are in place here, so you can’t just pick up and play an instrument- a staff member will help you! I will definitely return for more gear.
The people were friendly and knowledgeable. Gave me a good price on what I bought. I am going back to Guitar Center.
Great customer service.
Really nice customer service. I stopped by to pick up a gift for a guitar player while I dont know anything about music myself. The gentleman who worked there was extremely helpful and friendly.
Excellent customer service. The parking lot can be troublesome.
Nice selection of guitars and accessories, good customer care.
Clean Store, decent selection could do alot better. Most employees are friendly but john was a little pushy for my liking. Was a little hesitant to ask questions so ended up leaving disapointed and empty-handed. Other employees were not very knowledgeable in what i was looking for. Needs improvement.
First of all, I rate Guitar Center no stars. This applies to two stores: the Stevens Creek Blvd. store and the Cherry Ave store. Most of the electric guitars I tried to play had ridiculously high action, which made them almost impossible to play. In addition, The sales reps were unwilling to adjust the bridges to an acceptable playing height because “they aren’t authorized to perform these adjustments.” ( the manager at the Cherry Ave. store told me this).This is totally unacceptable and very poor customer service. Why can’t their in-store guitar tech perform the necessary adjustments to please the customer. Guitar Center probably loses many sales because of their uncaring attitude. Whatever happened to good old customer service ?
A very disappointed customer,
Ron
very rude young lady in keyboard area. knew absolutely nothing about products, inventory, or any questions i had for her about using Guitar Centers website. I believe she was just sent over to get me to stop playing the keyboards on display. Probably because I was just dressed in work clothes and didn’t look like a buyer even though I was. That shows more about the management than her individually. There’s plenty other places to go buy musical equipment. It doesn’t pay to judge a book by its cover.
10. Ukulele Source
Address: 599 N 5th St, San Jose, CA 95112 , East Foothills , California , United States
Super friendly owners who patiently answer all of your questions. You can try playing the ukulele in stock too. They have Ohana, Kanilea, Koaloha, Kamaka and other brands. They have a wide range of accessories and provide info for local events.
The staff are super friendly and the customers are too!!! They gave me info on groups of fellow practicioners that meet in different cities.
Anyway, after practicing on a starter Uke for 2 months, I was ready for a upgrade! Perfect timing because they’re having holiday sales.
I already knew that I wanted a Tenor. I just had to choose between the 3 different types of wood and finish. So I didn’t spend much time shopping. I probably spent more time talking with the customers and Janet.
Highly recommend this store!
Great friendly and knowledgeable owners. Super nice people and patient !! Very helpful.
Very chill, homey kind of place. Not many places around south bay have a good selection of ukes. It was nice to try several different ones in one store.
Friendly shop owner. Unfortunately I came in during a time when it was busy and the owner was helping out a couple of families. This is the place to go to for ukulele equipment in the South Bay.
Great service and selection. The repair service is also excellent.
Dropped in for a alto saxophone rental.
My family loves Music Village. They have a very wide variety of instruments that they know very well and also service. They do instrument rentals, too. Everyone is very helpful and the customer service is the best. Everything you’d expect from a neighborhood store. Thank you so much for everything over the years!
I completely trust these guys with my guitars. Caleb has done incredible set up and repair work for me for years. I play aggressively and my guitars stay in tune perfectly. He’s a musician as well and understands how to make guitars perform at their best.
I go to music lessons here. It is a great place to shop for many common instruments and to learn them.
Good place to get guitar strings
I recently rented a flute for my son. My son tried the flute at the store and it seemed ok. My son came home and practiced it and it had problem. We went back and they tried to repair. My son went to the class and the Flute teacher said that the Flute is leaking and asked us to return it. I rented it on Sat. and returned it on Monday. The still charged even though we mentioned that the flute was bad.
DO NOT RENT FLUTE FROM HERE. Also they charge very high for repair charges. I compared our son’s flute for repair between their shop and another shop. They were expensive by $200.
I will neve go back there.
Great place – The staff talked me through the ins and outs of a looping pedal that I was interested in. Their advice was awesome and they were very knowledgeable.
This is the only music shop I will go to for any of my music needs. I got my first guitar here when I was 12 years old. Guitar Showcase has a great, friendly, helpful staff that is very knowledgeable. Whether you are a beginner or a pro, Guitar Showcase will have what you need. If they don’t have it, they will order it for you.
Absolutely awesome place for guitar heads or music enthusiasts! People are friendly and guitars are cool!
I dropped guitar to be fixed and they called me back to get it few hours later! Couldn’t recommend more!
Not really happy with their repair job. Not at all.
I went there because the tuning of my guitar was off. I figured something’s wrong with the neck and I am not able to fix it myself.
I went into the store and told them that I want the tuning fixed. I also mentioned that the nut looks slanted (looks different from other epiphones in store)
Now I have a guitar that is professionally setup with a new set of strings and lemon oils covering the fret. None of the previous issues are fixed and it’s now buzzing.
When I pointed this out they tried to convince me that the buzzing is within tolerance. That the tuning issue is caused by the warped neck which means it a defective item and that I should talk to my dealer about it.
Well.
I know how to change strings of lower bridges or put lemon oils on my fret.. I came all the way up here because I wanted to have it checked and fixed. Not spending $100 and then get told what I came here for can’t be done. I would’ve returned the guitar or go to a different repair shop if they can’t handle the tuning issue.
Oh and I didn’t get the chance to talk to the person who worked on my guitar before and after the setup 🙁
Good.
First of all, Rob answered really kindness about question about their stock by e-mail.
Then, unfortunately, I couldn’t stay long enough there, but I could buy what I want.
Thank you,
Good service and experience.
The store is much smaller than it used to be, which is understandable because their old building is now being turned into something else. It was a little sad because the old store was large with a ton of stuff. The disappointing thing is they had a Takamine EF-307S with a heavily scratched top for $1500, which is insanely overpriced. In good shape these sell for a third of that. After I saw that I just left.
At first I thought I found the perfect place for my music needs, but their shady at best business policies and the lack of will sour the dealings. Staff unable to give prices on normal stocking items is just one highlight. Zero refund policy so beware of the money you give as it isn’t coming back. They appear helpful until you get in a bind then they ignore you. Poor business but then again I think I will buy my guitars from a big box store for at least you can save some money. Service sucks!
Limited selection. Just Gibson and Fender products. Special and rare guitars limited as well.
All in all not as good as expected.
15. Soulfulwake Studio – Professional Music Lessons
Address: 218 Kirk Ave, San Jose, CA 95127 , East Foothills , California , United States
Sarah is an amazingly sweet trainer. She’s very encouraging and will never make you feel shy/uncomfortable. She also conveniently offers virtual if you’re not able to drive to see her in person 🙂
I’ve had other vocal lessons, and none have compared. I always give up after a short while because I don’t see the results. Maybe that was a mistake and I should have stayed longer, but what I do know is with Sarah, literally in the first lesson I got more than I had gotten with any other lessons. I’ve now been with Sarah for a full year and have no intention on stopping. The growth that I’ve had is undeniable even to myself and I’m by far my biggest critic. Things I was struggling to record just 4 or 5 months ago I’ve recorded recently and those struggles weren’t even a concern for me. I almost didn’t go with Sarah in the beginning because we are in different states, but the lessons being remote don’t have any impact on the quality as these are better than all of my in person lessons of the past. Highly recommend!
With great joy, I give my HIGHEST recommendation that you hire Sarah Mitchell as your new vocal coach! In addition to singing, she also teaches song writing, guitar, and piano.
Not only is Sarah a naturally gifted teacher, but she is warm, personable, and so encouraging which keeps you motivated! So enjoyable to learn from her and see yourself progress as a singer!
Additionally, she is a very organized, focused, and responsive person with excellent communication skills which makes it easy to understand her.
As a caring coach, she uses various ways of teaching to ensure that her students learn the vocal technique called “Speech Level Singing”. This technique is what vocal coaches on the tv show “American Idol” use with contestants to improve their singing! It’s very effective!
When I was her student, Sarah introduced me to proper breathing, helpful warm up exercises, and had me practice singing one of my favorite songs to apply the new methods. Exciting!!
To be honest, she inspired me “find my true voice”. I no longer felt the need to sing a song the same way like the original artist, and I felt a greater sense of freedom to be myself as a singer! After only a few lessons, the tone of my voice improved right away, and I was able to sing with confidence!!
I am totally confident that you will enjoy working with Sarah as you put in the time and effort to pursue your singing goals and dreams!! Best to you!!!
We hired Rigoberto and his mariachi trio for a birthday party. They were so amazing! Customer service was great. They showed up right on time and were so good! They all had such beautiful voices and were amazing musicians. It really could not have been better. HIGHLY recommend these guys.
A friend surprised my sister with a guitarist for her birthday and he was fantastic! Great voice even with a mask on and sang a couple different types of songs. It was a wonderful surprise, would recommend them!!
These guys were funny, and energetic they had good vocals they sang great and had many choices of songs. I would highly recommend them and I would definitely hire them again they were also very professional and entertaining.
17. Guitar Center
Address: 3677 Stevens Creek Blvd, Santa Clara, CA 95051 , East Foothills , California , United States
The guitar center on Stevens creek in Santa Clara is the best center to go to I give them 5 stars for there caring and handling of my needs thank you Ridrigo.never going back to the guitar center on cherry ave.
Waiting time is too long due to staff shortage
They were nice and they attended fast.
service was good in the store. they aren’t pesky, but easy to find help when you need it. they were out of stock on several different adapters that we needed.
The store is a mess and ugly. They are out of stock of so many things and a lot of stuff doesn’t have prices. I was told patch cables were one price and got to the register and they were almost DOUBLE what I was told. They are either severely understaffed or just kind of not attentive I waited for like 15 mins at the register and left once they bait and switched me on the prices of the patch cables. Just gonna buy them online from someone else.
Arrogant, Kept passing off to someone who Ignored me. Could not fine anyone to pay for my gear…Ill just buy online from now on. Bummer….
Very very very slow for everything (even the most basic triaging would make a very large improvement), and… strangely hostile to very simple flexibility.
I had one (very slow) but pretty good experience, and when I went back because of that promising start, had one that was even slower and managed to set a new low bar for any store I’ve ever visited.
18. The Starving Musician – SANTA CLARA
Address: 3939 Stevens Creek Blvd, Santa Clara, CA 95051 , East Foothills , California , United States
Great service, went in recently to have a tuning knob replaced. Got me out of there same day without much hassle. And for cheap too! All in all, this is my go to place for all musical needs.
Friendly and helpful staff. Good selection and reasonably priced.
I brought a 1956 Fender Villager 12 string guitar to the Starving Musician in Santa Clara on Stevens Creek today. They were very impersonal very opinionated and basically told me that the guitar was not from 1956. They offered me 100 for the guitar and case. I told them they were wrong that I looked up the instrument online and it’s worth a lot more . Basically The older man and the younger guy both mishandled the whole appraisal. They never looked up the serial number . I went to Guitar Wars on Senter Ave in San Jose and they looked up the serial number on line and said it’s from 1956 !! They offered me 200 credit or 175 cash. TWICE AS MUCH !!
Horrible first time experience. Dropped off my guitar for a basic setup and was told 2 weeks. Over a month later my guitar was found in the storage area and never worked on. Guitar tech was extremely rude and blamed his incompetence on me the customer. The shop also stole my tremolo bar and instruction manual from my guitar bag. NEVER GO TO THIS SHOP as it is not worth trouble. Find my full story on yelp.
I was selling piece of equipment that I called in about prior to going down there and when I got there didn’t have the right equipment to just machine up so it was a big waste of time and gas
19. Guerreros del Norte – Banda Norteña en San jose CA
