Very helpful staff and great selection of instruments and gear! I have been shopping here for over a decade and will not stop.
drum shop here is all pro level gear and things that are sold out else where they have by the loads here , been coming here for years don and rob answer all my drum needs and heres a new dw performance i just bought from gelb , will be coming back
Local music store with incredibly friendly and helpful staff. Don (the manager) spent a ton of time advising me on building out a drum kit. Really knowledgeable.
Kudos to the independent music store that has endured the test of time… probably due to their friendly, no pressure staff. Would have liked to see more guitars and basses not mass manufactured by Fender and Gibson and Rickenbacker. Gelb has some vintage and few boutique guitars by Anderson and Suhr… didn’t see any Zon or other California bass makers… which IMO they could use more, but being around for so long means they are doing something right.
Price is not the best
Great customer service. Big instrument selection.
You guys have a lot of overpriced and outdated merchandise. Go to Guitar Center where you get the most out of every dollar.
I’d love to support local music stores, but this one is overpriced and has a stringent return policy. I came in looking for cables, and after googling my speakers the staff sold me the wrong type of cables. Will not be going back.
Just another music store now since being under new management. Not much left in high end equipment.
2. Haight Ashbury Music Center
Address: 728 El Camino Real, Redwood City, CA 94063 , Emerald Lake Hills , California , United States
Ordered a replacement piano part. It shipped within a couple hours of placing the order and arrived quickly. Very safely packaged to prevent damage. Thanks!
Musical instruments and sheet music.
Nice people!!!
I was looking for this other used DVD store in the Haight, but I guess they closed their doors so we ended up here just walking by. They have tons of DVD’s, though some of the pricing was odd. They had better deals with box series. They have both new and used so you have to pay attention to what you’re getting. I like the way they organized the movies in categories and also had a series and BBC section.
Yes, Gelb Music is now also Haight Ashbury Music Center. A long standing fixture of the community, like Manor Music in Pacifica this is one of the few remaining original music shops.
My brother and I found the store by accident while visiting San Francisco. The staff was kind giving us freedom to try the instruments, explore the store and its stuff, and was very helpful to my brother giving advice about keyboards and stuff.
Terrible prices and worse service.
I bought a Rick high gain bass pickup from the shop over 18 months ago. I live in Australia so the staff had to go to a bit of trouble to arrange the shipping (via ebay) and I thank them for that. When I eventually decided to put the pickup in, I found the screws didn’t fit. After taking it to a reputable guitar repairer, he found that the threads hadn”t been cut into the pickup housing so there’s no way I could fit it to my bass. I’ve emailed them about five times without any response…
Walked in there interested in trying out a few electric guitars. I picked up one and started playing and the employee was rude to me. He said “we don’t do that here”. I left and will never come back.
3. Clock Tower Music
Address: 676 Laurel St, San Carlos, CA 94070 , Emerald Lake Hills , California , United States
They did a great job overhauling my flute. They were also very helpful finding music I needed. I really like this little store.
Outstanding sax lessons for our high school son.
Excellent service. I got my 5 string bass repaired here recently and they ordered custom strings, communicated with me throughout the whole process and charged an incredibly fair price. Thank you Clock Tower Music!
4. Gilbert Tuners
Address: 2440 Bay Rd, Redwood City, CA 94063 , Emerald Lake Hills , California , United States
I have had a very good experience. I bought them in 2016 and they are still intact. The tuning of my guitar is firm. I have traveled for a month several times and when I return the tuning has not moved. The best!!!
I just received my tuners and installed them. They’re beautiful and work wonderfully! I’d highly recommend them.
Are you still in business? I’m a return customer and your phone number no longer works a d you have not responded to my email ?! Please respond
5. Hornucopia
Address: 1549 Laurel St, San Carlos, CA 94070 , Emerald Lake Hills , California , United States
This is one of the best, if not the best woodwind and brass shop in the country!
Museum or store? – Both!
Great place to look around, tons of brass instruments plus saxes and flutes, some very nice instruments in here!
This is a special place. Many used horns and very knowledgeable staff. Always a pleasure to come to Hornucopia.
My dad has played trumpet since the ‘80s and has shopped at this establishment in the past. He has had multiple experiences where the staff was dismissive and rude. Most recently he wanted to sell a few of his trumpets, as he enjoys a fluid collection of buying and selling different horns to compare the artistry of the different brands. The clerk said that the police will let him know if the horns were stolen and that the store has no liability, strongly implying that she believes he stole these instruments and wants to pawn them in the store. Living in the Bay Area I would hope that people are aware that calling the police on a black man for no real reason isn’t a kind thing to do, and that it causes a lot of worry. I would hope that this review causes the staff to consider how they treat their customers in the future. She had no reason to assume that the horns were stolen. He has a thorough, years-long knowledge and experience of being a musician, marching in drum corps, he is a veteran and plays taps with the local veterans group, and her comments were absolutely uncalled for.
6. California Guitars
Address: 121 Industrial Rd Unit 5, Belmont, CA 94002 , Emerald Lake Hills , California , United States
Grant is incredible! Super friendly, with tons of experience and totally fair pricing for a small shop
I brought my Ibanez in for a little work and was very impressed with Grant’s knowledge & professionalism. Right off the rip he told me that if I was sticking around that he would not only allow me to watch, but teach me how to do what needed to be done. We had an excellent conversation about our musical influences and the wonderful state of California. Grant is a personable guy and does top quality work for a solid price. I couldn’t recommend a tech higher.
Grant is very friendly and seems to know his guitars. Cool little place with all the tools needed for custom repairs.
7. The California Conservatory of Music
Address: 777 Woodside Rd C, Redwood City, CA 94061 , Emerald Lake Hills , California , United States
Ccm is good wonderful place to learn music and our teacher Chris is amazing
Great place to learn guitar. The teachers have good experience and can teach you a lot. They also have concerts and group classes which can make you a better guitar player even faster. I have been with them for six years and counting and still getting a solid experience out of playing the guitar. Overall it is the ideal place to learn guitar.
” Fatima at Redwood City is so efficient and helpful. She sorts everything out and her communication is great. Teacher Breanna is loved by my daughter. She’s a great, kind and considerate teacher. She also is not afraid to challenge and to be direct when it’s required. We’re really pleased with the classes and Breanna s direction. “
8. Zon Guitars
Address: 780 Second Ave, Redwood City, CA 94063 , Emerald Lake Hills , California , United States
I am so grateful that I was led to Ms Bai as my son’s piano teacher. Her kindness and patience is amazing. My son is 5 and it is not an easy task at times as one could imagine. She gets creative in terms of findings ways to encourage him to practice, and very gentle but clear on techniques that he needs to focus on. She listens and accommodates my son’s interest so he is very engaged in her lessons. He has steadily grown his confidence and passions in playing piano, and always looks forward to Ms Bai’s lessons every week.
Excellent environment, very nice people. Teacher Rongrong is amazing!
Last week, I bought a 1/2 size violin from Ken Su Violin, recommended by our teacher. Ken Su violin let us try three different violins for a week. The service was very good and the sound of the violin is good as well comparing to other well-known brand. You also have an option to trade-in for upgrading your future violin. If you are looking for a professional workshop for good violins, I recommend Ken Su violin.
Great store to buy violin and its accessories. Friendly service
Very friendly luthier, allowed me to try on multiple violins and gave useful tips on how to do the maintenance and care. Always responsive with questions and after-sale service.
We went in for purchasing bigger size violin, the employee, didn’t let my daughter tried on any of the violins, insisted that we trust him for picking the violin and pressured us to purchase. We didn’t realize the violin is a poor quality one until my daughter played it at home.
Went back to Ken Su for return the next day, the employee insisted that my daughter did play the violin before(how is holding the violin for sizing considered playing?). Ken Su then acted hostile in front of my kids and our violin teacher who accompanied us, BLAMED me for not trying the violin.
My kids had been renting and then purchasing his violins & viola for the past 5 years. I thought we could trust him that all his instruments are of good quality.
We will not be going back.
My student was pressured into buying a violin without the option to try it (she is advanced enough to make her own decisions and would have brought it to me for approval). Ken su’s assistant played them for her and let her only hold it before saying that this was a good instrument. She came home and did not like the tone and found it to be lower quality than her previous instrument so I accompanied them for a return. Ken su’s assistant lied to me and told me that she had played on it and that the mom seemed happy when she left the previous day and tried to deny them a return. I was asked what took them so long (they bought it before closing the previous day, and it was an hour after opening on the following day when we were all in). The return eventually got sorted out, but Ken demanded that my student’s mom admit that she was wrong, which she only did so he wasn’t more aggressive.
I have a lot of students rent instruments from Ken Su, but this experience makes me unable to continue suggesting this as a viable option. I don’t want my students to be denied the option to play on their upgraded instruments nor do I want employees pressuring them to buy instruments.
Ken later apologized to me in a private message, saying if he knew it was one of my students then he would have pulled out the “good instruments.” Seriously?! Everyone should receive the same quality shopping experience.
Furthermore, I tried posting this several times on yelp and encouraged my student to do the same, but our review was taken down each time. Why can’t we speak openly about what happened?
14. Mike Gold
Address: San Jose, CA 95129 , Emerald Lake Hills , California , United States
This is a really pleasant small coffee shop. Ownership changed maybe a year ago, and everything has improved. Coffee is great, snacks are fresh, and it’s open longer.
Our new go-to! Love the coffee here and we use the beans at home too. Super friendly and knowledgeable staff, excellent all around!
Hershey’s syrup hot coco, canned whip cream:$3.50. about 15 indoor seats. Free wifi. Bicycles on the ceiling.
It’s too messy inside to call this place fancy. Latte was meh. A lot of flies flying around the food.
Nice coffee, loud music
Closes at 1pm!
Croissants were raw on the inside. Assuming they were purchased frozen and baked in house……..
They close at 2 pm. I found this out after a half hour walk to come check them out. Arrived at 2:30. I suggested they update Google Maps. The reply was, “Yeah… well. We’re about to change it back.”
I guess I’m kind of an outlier for having arrived from outside the neighborhood, but I did tell them I had walked for half an hour (it’s pretty hot out today) to come see them and the response was so apathetic… I mean… even an, “Oh, can I get you a glass of water before you head back?” would have made a difference – in this review, or for the likelihood of a return visit.
Best place ever to find music treasures. I found a KISS album that was difficult to find and it was a reasonable price. If you are an I Love Lucy fan, they’ve got DVDs of all of the old classics. Lol.
Truly a national treasure. The vibe of the place alone is worth the visit. Cannot recommend the Record Man enough if you love classic Vinyl or even old school games and movie in their Planet Mix!
Classic vinyl in a vintage setting but with customer parking at the gravel lot immediately adjacent to the records shop. Tens of thousands of classic vinyl records and some memorabilia and instruments. Expect pennies on the dollar for any records you sell to the store, unless classic rock albums in excellent condition. Most your records will likely be donations, but better than sending to the landfill. A smaller CD, DVD and Video Game shop is behind the record shop. Expect to be accompanied by the friendly house dogs while you browse.
Outrageous prices, no deals to be had.
Peculiar customer service with certain staff.
Friendly service. However all used vinyl is very overpriced. I spent over an hour picking out used 80’s records. They would be rated G for sleeve and maybe G+ to VG in vinyl quality. They are very dusty and not cleaned. They wanted 24.99 each for records that maybe would fetch 12 on discogs. I bought two new records for that price ea and passed on all the used vinyl. I’ll never go back.
19. LuDog Records
Address: 1075 Curtis St, Menlo Park, CA 94025 , Emerald Lake Hills , California , United States
Business hours:
20. Elena Orduyan Piano School
Address: 720 El Camino Real #401, Belmont, CA 94002 , Emerald Lake Hills , California , United States
We heard about Elena from a friend who also sent their kids here. My 7 year old has been learning piano with Elena for about 2 years since then. I really appreciate how patient Elena is to young kids. My son has enjoyed his lesson tremendously and has grown a lot since then.
Elena has a great selection of songs that are not only age and level appropriate but also sound beautiful. She takes her time to teach him music theory, improve his technique and most importantly build up his love for music. We don’t have to ask him practice piano at home, but he’d rather play piano to us because he’s so excited to show us his new songs, or to show us his progress, which is a beautiful thing to see. He doesn’t just learn piano at Elena, I can also see him learning how to be focused, patient, how to deal with frustration when he can’t play certain part of a song well, how to not give up, how to keep showing up and practicing. I can’t put into words how much we appreciate Elena for teaching him all of that. Thank you so much, Elena!
Elena Orduyan’s Piano School is the most incredible environment for learning piano at a young age.
As a constantly-studying musician and instructor, I can vouch that her method is as fun as it is incredibly effective, and the fact that materials are included in the price of the lesson is beyond belief. All of her personal students are so lucky, and she takes amazing care of her teachers, which is so apparent by how uplifting and encouraging the lessons are.
Whether your child is casually interested in beginning piano or has a true passion for the instrument and can’t learn enough, this is *the* perfect music studio for young musicians.
