Discover the top 20 music shops in Essex Village

Wonders can be found there…dog friendly and people too!

Awesome place! Amazing people!

Dee at Gracie’s Corner is the Dog Guru! My rescue has been on the Fromm dry food Dee recommenced for 4 years & she is thriving. Dee stocks only very healthy food and treats. All my pups food, treats & toys are from here!

Ok

Wonderful selection of good quality clothing, shoes, bags & accessories. Very personable helpful staff.

Really nice local store!

Terrific store with stylish, accessible, smart apparel. Deb is a shrewd buyer and an engaging owner.

The people here are friendly, knowledgeable, supportive and very helpful. I have been taking bass guitar lessons here and am absolutely amazed with my progress. Besides the one-on-one lessons, I also enjoy their group sessions where we get to learn and practice songs together. I also bought a couple instruments, strings, amplifier and some accessories from them at great prices. If you want to take lessons on any musical instrument, or want to rent or buy any musical instrument, I highly recommend the Music Bureau, conveniently located at Salem Four Corners.

Personal and attentive, knowledgeable and professional. You’re not getting treated like a faceless wallet in a warehouse shop here!

Great lessons, friendly environment, incredible music. Highly recommend.

This business has changed hands a few times. But still has a great selection of core instruments and accessories. Also offer lessons.

Beautiful area and a ton of history!

Maritime Museum in the delightful, charming and fun town of Essex. Home of the amazing Connecticut Sea Music Festival. Don’t waste your time and money on Mystic Seaport, this is much much better.

Beautiful property on the Connecticut River

Nice well maintained museum

The river tour for the Eagles, while educational, was still hard to jostle for safe footing in a sea of people trying to elbow you out of their way to see the eagle. On our trip, several parents completely ignored the dangerous behavior of their younger children. No staff ever stepped in to tell the parents that the children needed to be instructed to follow safety rules.
The museum itself is very small. Very small. There is nearly no parking close enough for any disabled person to access the museum and boat tour.
Most annoying – the address they give you for the boat tours is incorrect. GPSing the address sends you a mile beyond. Once you finally figure out the GPS is incorrect, you find the address and realize there is no parking and must park a mile away anyway. The person who is parking the vehicle runs the risk of missing the boat all together. The ONLY reason I gave 3 stars is the majesty of the Eagles we witnessed.

Small museum that fortunately preserves the history of the river. Friendly staff. Beautiful views from the waterfront. Boat tours start from this area, but didn’t see where you make reservations or get tickets. Fenced off area so not clear how to take a tour.

Came here for some guitar strings and the employee was super awesome

Gil is a super friendly guy! My son really enjoys guitar lessons with him!

Great service! Nice friendly owner

My daughter is signed up for lessons and her teacher is great (I hear the others are as well). Just try not to deal with the guy that owns it.

Very knowledgeable and friendly.

Arrived at 10:00am (they open at 10am, but not today). I waited and they finally arrived. All I needed was guitar strings, but they had none. What a waste of time.

I tried to return my daughter’s Viola due to the school no longer providing classes. It was a total nightmare to get an answer in regards to my credit. They are very irresponsible and I am very disappointed by the lack of care towards my return which was even misplaced! Mom and dad are not helpful at all and he should really look at keeping them home, they make things worse!

Great selection of men & women’s good quality clothing.

Jim, the owner, is a very friendly and knowledgeable guy. He has impeccable taste and is able to help you select the best options. Wonderful,selection of mens’ clothing. The best in the area.

Outstanding clothing and gift shop in Essex, Ct. You will always find something that you love. Highly recommend.

Thank you Amy for promptly sending my purchase (black suade pecketbook) to me. I love it. Your service is awesome. Carol

I bought a Yamaha U3 from Caruso Pianos last year and was very happy with the whole process. They were very easy to communicate with from start to finish. The piano had to be shipped across the country so I appreciated it being shipped for free to a local rail hub even if I had to pay for local delivery from there. I will definitely take advantage of the lifetime trade-in when it comes time to upgrade!

Just bought a Steinway B from Caruso Pianos. Brian provided an amazing buying experience. Truly went above and beyond. No pressure sales environment and incredibly knowledgeable on the whole inventory. I cannot speak highly enough.

What an incredible purchase experience! Huge shout out to Richard and the rest of the team at Caruso Piano Gallery.

Before I purchased, I called with many questions about this piano that Richard took time to answer immediately. He provided knowledge and opinions when asked.

Once the piano was purchased, it arrived at my doorstep in about half of the time we discussed on the phone! The team that delivered was quick, professional, and thorough.

There was one minor issue in the piano when it arrived (squeaky sustain). Richard personally/quickly took time to make a video explaining how to fix it. A little WD-40 does the trick!

5/5 stars no question!

I went to their store and also called them multiple times showing interest in one of their pianos. Despite the fact I showed interest and called/messaged multiple times on a piano, that piano was sold to an online buyer. There was no follow-up or a courtesy call to let me know that the product I was eyeing was gone or was about to be sold.

Nevertheless, I think that they have a good variety and a great knowledge base on pianos. I wish they were a little bit more responsive and courteous as buying a piano is a big purchase and takes time and thought.

EDIT: After my initial review, Caruso Piano contacted me and let me know that they have not reached out to me due to not getting a piano that was comparable to what I was looking for. Which is understandable. I truly appreciate them reaching out to me. I have to write that I learned a whole lot about piano buying from them when I first went to their store. I wish them good luck and hope they continue to be successful as a local business.

UPDATE October 5 2018: Richard Caruso promptly called me the day after I posted the review below. He apologized again, and very willingly reimbursed me for my travel expenses. I feel this was the ethical and right thing to do, and am glad that he made things right with me.

Original review: I flew in from Chicago to try out a Steinway B I had on deposit. The staff knew of my travel plans, and were very hospitable and welcoming. The piano, however, was noticeably out of tune on my arrival. While more accomplished pianists might not have seen that as an issue, it completely stopped me from getting excited about the piano. No sale for them, no new Steinway for me.
They were apologetic and realized their mistake when I pointed this out, but were unable to get the piano tuned while I was there.
This is a shop with perhaps good intentions, but they completely dropped the ball in this instance. I’m writing this review because I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.

I purchased a used U1 3 years ago from Carusos.

Please be aware: these are GREY MARKET pianos. They were originally built and sold in the Asian market. You will have proof when you remove the knee board and see the holder for the lease agreement. And due to that fact, the wood of the pianos is dried to standards for Asia. Not the U.S. or Northeast U.S.

I do like the piano, BUT I and my piano technician are having a heck of a time keeping the damper pedal from squeaking BADLY.

I had the piano saver system installed almost immediately. It has helped the piano hold tune very well.

But because this instrument was not built to the specifications of an American instrument (or North America) it is expanding very badly from the humidity.

I have a dehumidifier in the room with the piano, no heat or doors or windows near it. And I have my technition here AGAIN trying to shave down the knee board to try and eliminate this terrible groan/squeek.

My opinion? Buy a piano through a local piano tuner/technition or through a referral from a tuner tech. If you are going to purchase one of these grey market instruments bring your tuner with you. Pay them for their time and have them tune the instrument you choose BEFORE you give Carusos your money.

Great service, Matt and Jim and the rest of the crew there are wonderful.

Great service – they fixed my instrument while I waited, gave clear instructions on follow up care, and I was all set for my gig that night.

Highly recommend for instrument repairs. Staff was knowledgeable and helpful. Got my sax playing like new again for a very reasonable price in 4 days. I will be back here.

The sales team made it possible for me to afford a piano for my son

I paid $80 for a setup on a guitar and got it back with the strings a mile off of the neck and the floyd rose studs so high out of the body I could park a car under it. The bridge pickup was raised until it was practically touching the strings and the neck pickup was lowered to below the pickup ring. The tech then told me that 10-52 strings don’t exist. They’re light top heavy bottom and aren’t even uncommon strings. Every time I go there they give bad advice and clearly don’t know what they’re talking about. My friend tried to buy a tubescreamer (basic overdrive) and they tried to sell him a phaser instead (completely different thing).

I signed up for a piano lesson trial online. Their site is very confusing and it’s not clear if the lesson is in-person and online. I called them, left a message but they never called me back. In the day/time of the lesson, I called them 3 times because I was having problems to contact the teacher. The guy who works there, Jim, clearly doesn’t have any customer service skills. He was rude and unpleasant. He didn’t make any effort to help me, told me a was confused and nobody else had problems. I just canceled the future lessons there. It’s easier just hire a private piano teacher. Hopefully I will never have to deal with this guy again.

I would give Middlesex Music Academy a 0 if I was able to. I called to inquire about a $150 charge when I haven‘t been confirmed by John the guitar teacher. I made a request to Matt that Tuesday was my preference but John was booked so he scheduled Thursday at 6pm. I received a text and email from John yesterday that he had a conflict for Thursday and offered Friday. I responded via text/email that would not work and inquired if this was temporary or permanent to which I did not receive a response. I let John know this may not be a good fit then. I called today to have the charge refunded and Jim proceeded to call me names, saying I was yelling & screaming over the phone and I was being rude. No need to go into the dramatics but Jim needs a lesson in manners, telling the truth and understanding that being a manager does not give him the authority to behave poorly. Never once did I raise my voice but did correct Jim several times throughout the conversation all because i asked for a refund. Extremely unprofessional and a bad look for Middlesex Music all around. I will be taking my business elsewhere. Inexcusable & theater worthy performance by Jim today folks!!!

Excellent buys! Great variety! Friendly staff! Love this place!

Wonderful selection of dealer spaces.

Love the staff here and always find Unique Treasures

Great antique shop a little something for everyone to check out

Some good stuff here. Check it out if you like old stuff.

A great mix of interesting items. Everyone can find a reassure here!

The lady working here today was downright mean to me and completely bothered by the fact that I (nicely) asked how much something was that didn’t have a price tag. I’ll never go here again. Not to mention everything is way overpriced.

jordan is the most knowledgeable and friendly guy i’ve ever worked with.

First time in Sam Ash in New Haven, Ct. Salesperson was great, knowledgable and extremely helpful. He listened to my needs and directed me to the products I purchased. He also carried the keyboard and stand out to my car. A courtesy that seems to be a thing of the past. Cudos to your store.

I was very impressed with the store and it’s variety of musical instruments, music books, etc. I will definitly recommend this store to anyone looking for musical equipment/instruments.

Bill the manager, and Mike and Rob in Pro Audio always go out of their way to help me. If they don’t have it in stock, and I tell then I’m interested in a particular item, with a small deposit they get it for me right away. I get much more personal service at Sam Ash then I do anywhere else locally. And it’s great to have them within driving distance.

If you get anything on credit make sure the clerk writes down everything correctly. He wrote my birthday wrong and now the app to make payments won’t work unless I fax them a copy of my license. Forget it.

No Gibson Acustic gutairs wanted a j45

Extremely knowledgable staff in the guitar / strings department.

the strings section is very little, and the person who is supposed to help is very unprofessional. didn’t even know what case size to use then decided that there wasn’t actually a case. don’t recommend for string instruments like violins

Edit: This review was written over ten years ago but a small edit and it has now posted as recent. Not sure why but that’s not why I’m writing this edit here. This review being posted prompted a manager from Sam Ash to contact my father (who has the same name as me) to try and address whatever issue prompted the negative review. My father called me to let me know and told me the manager would like me to call him. Well… I’ve called around 6 times now and can’t get through, it simply hangs up on me after pressing #2 for a manager. I decided to give the 1-800# a call to see if they could connect me to the New Haven store manager because it kept hanging up on me. Guess what? Twice I called the 1-800#, twice they hung up. At this point it’s comical. I don’t even really remember what my issue was when I wrote this review but things must not be any better down there at Sam Ash since I can’t even contact anyone. Keep up the great work guys.

Original Review:
“You want a real review then look no further. When you walk into Sam Ash it is like walking into a garage sale. Used products trying to be pawned off with brand new retail prices. Almost everything I purchased from Sam Ash had to be returned or replaced. Customer Service hah! Forget about it. Some preemie-punk band wannabees who know only what their 1978 computer programmed screen tells them on how low they can go without making a commision. If you are a novice they will clean your wallet without even blinking! Do not buy into their trade-in program HUGE let down. They will not take anything!! You are better off going to the local pawn shop with your gear. I brought in a workstation worth triple what I was trying to trade for and they looked as confused as George Bush at a press conference and still would not trade. Do not waste your time with this Flea Market! Do yourself a favor and make the extra trip to Guitar Center or if you need orchestra instruments see your local music shop you will be 100% better off. I am a 25+years musician and HAVE NOT and DO NOT work at any music store so what you read is the truth do with it what you want.”

Use the excuse they own the company to screw you on a guitar you bought from them 9 months earlier . Brought in as a test and they failed a guitar should not lose half its value in 9 months if you sell it as your brand!

Great food, and Sea Shanties on Monday night are not to be missed!

Food was phenomenal and caught the band Cherry Pie on a Thursday night, incredible performance, absolutelygo and see them if you can!! Nothing but great things to say, rock on!

Great menu offerings with highly professional, friendly, attentive & courteous staff

It’s always great. How can’t you love the griz

Had a really lovely time in the Tap Room. Quiet Friday afternoon. Great service, tasty drink!

Cool historical hotel and bar

Food has really gone down hill. It wasn’t a busy night. Just a Monday. Plate the food so it’s at least presentable and not like a quarter pounder from McDonalds.

Bought silk sunflowers and blue ribbon to put on my mailbox in support of the people of the Ukraine. Staff very helpful!

Excellent service and quality products

I have had terrific customer experiences at Riggio’s. The staff all really care about their customers, and their plants. The height of these experiences was today…I have been seeking help with a very important plant that is having issues. Cindy has been so helpful and caring about the situation. As I arrived to my office today, Cindy had stopped by to check on the plant’s health. I was so impressed and grateful. Keep it up Riggio’s!

Wide variety of plants and garden accessories. Plants are of high quality. Prices are standard for a garden center. Worth checking out if you’re in the area.

Anazing service but my Christmas tree turned brown the same day I brought it home. And yes, I watered it immediately.

Good selection of things, but a little high priced.

Snobby phone service

Your plants are okay but you treat the customers like dirt! I hate going or calling your store. So rude!!!

I stopped at Riggio’s on Saturday, October 24th. Before I went inside I spent time looking at pumpkins and other Fall decorations outside. There was an employee that seemed to be very busy talking to a friend. Too busy to acknowledge me in any way. Not seeing what I wanted I then went inside the store. Again, I was walking around; looking at a lot of their gift items and not one person said hi or asked me if I needed help. Everyone was too busy putting out merchandise. The final blow was when I stood at the register to ask a question and once more was ignored. Four people were helping another customer. I finally interrupted politely and asked if someone could answer my question. The woman behind the counter just looked at me and did not respond! Finally someone else answered my question. I have never experienced such poor customer service. I managed a store and every single person was greeted and then checked on during their visit. Apparently Riggios doesn’t need the business!

Excellent service from Peter. I need to return!

Staff is always attentive and polite. Knowledgeable and helpful with any sort of question about an enormous range of instruments. Plus, my favorite, they aren’t just trying to sell you something ! Melanie M helped me and overall the experience was stellar! Thanks Melanie !

They help me every time I come in and they are so kind.

Yeah it’s good!

I have condensed my original rant down to the following- we really like our children’s teachers- but the front desk needs saving

Limited retail space, but the staff is helpful and knowledgeable. Music lessons are offered on site.

My child joined band program at her school in West Hartford. Using their online system, I placed an order for instrument rental and a book for the program. The date I placed my order, they charged my credit card.

However, they never delivered the instrument until I called and confirm the status. The book was never delivered with the instrument. A week later, I called them to confirm about the book. They told me that it was back ordered. Since the book was available in Amazon for next day delivery, I asked Music & Arts to cancel my book order.

After few weeks, I still did not have my credit back for the book. I called them to ask for the refund, and the customer service told me that I have to return the book (which was never delivered!) in order to get the refund and hang up on me. I used the chat function on their website to explain the situation. Here, the customer service told me that they would never charge the credit card unless the item is delivered, and conversation did not go anywhere. (Again, my credit card was charged on the date I placed order!) Not knowing what to do, I called the store in West Hartford, left my phone number with an employee so the manager can call me back. No one called me back. I sent polite email to the manager, and also emailed the customer service. No response from anyone.

I will NOT order anything from this business in the future.

Imagine spending your life blowing air into a piece of metal. Unbelievable

JUST HIT BACKSPACE ON YOUR BROWSER AND PICK ANOTHER COMPANY. YOU’RE WELCOME.

Called your West Hartford CT store early today, after calling around to several other of your stores, to see if the had a certain string for my cello and if they could fix the one string today. Was told yes on both. My husband drove 25 min there to find out they did not have the string. Drove to the nearest store that had this string (which was an additional 15 min out from my house) and they had no one to help with the cello. My husband ended up purchasing the string. Had I talked to him I would have told him not to make the purchase. Now every place is closed so tomorrow I have to go to another store to get this string put on. We needed the cello for tomorrow so you guys were literally no help. I will be returning the string and doing my business elsewhere. I should have listened to the other bad reviews. First time customer turned into last time customer.

I’ve been doing business with Scott at the music shop for years, he knows about the needs of musicians and great on any repairs or just info on your current instrument. Will hopefully be doing many more years here.

GREAT SERVICE !!!

Best

Great place but website could be better such as pics of some used equipment. I’m a drummer and would like to see what they have for new and used cymbals,stands,drum kits etc. And prices. I have done business with them and always had a great experience the reason for three stars is the website doesn’t do the music shop justice. All and all great store great people.

The cellos were in not in good shape and we had to pay a luthiere to redo repairs that were poorly done when we received the instrument.

I love this place!!!

What a pleasurable experience. Must go to and find your treasure. So very organized and neat. Owner, Mica and associate were so helpful and nice. Enjoyed our conversations with him. I’m going back today and
Bringing him about 60+ nice hard covered cookbooks.
Fondly,
your new friend from Portland

Lots of variety!
It’s like a treasure chest.
Wonderful staff & owner, very helpful & awesome energy.
Will definitely be returning.

Service excellent. Items well priced. Range of items that appeals to everyone who visits.

Sad I drove out and they were closed. The hours don’t reflect correctly so deff call before you take the ride .

Needed a ukulele capo and they had it in stock. Very friendly and also great assortment of guitars, ukuleles, drums and other instruments. From what I can tell by pricing it’s very reasonable. Would definitely recommend if in or near Greenwich.

The Music Angel in the Pandemic.

The pandemic just started. We left New York City to find space in Connecticut. Everything was closed and we were in a new town My son’s cello string pops. What to do now when you need a cello string in a pinch. I called a number of places either no answer, we can’t do it or we can do it for a big price. Businesses taking the opportunity to gouge at the onset did not sit right with me. I left a voicemail at one store my last try. Next thing I know I receive a text from Joe at Greenwich Music asking for my address. He will have his distributor drop ship it to me. Done. No questions. Seamless. We can’t wait to give Greenwich Music more business. They deserve it. Thank you Joe. You are a class act.

Great

We were kindly helped in the store, but we were buying a guitar for our son and we don’t live in the US. We were having problems with internet so we couldn’t research correctly at the moment, but they assured that the amp could be used in 220 current. We arrived home and we connected the amp and it didn’t work. So the amp was burned. Apart from that the price was a bit higher than the same thing in other stores, it’s not nice to pay 50 dollars more, but that is just business and anyone can charge what they want. It was our fault that we didn’t do a good research before buying. But the very kind person that assured us that it would work because he used to be an electrician, and it only needed a basic adapter, was totally wrong and now we are home and we lost an amp, so we paid extra for the set and it didn’t work. You were very kind indeed, but please if you are not sure about something, don’t sell it. Because we lost money and we can’t go back because we don’t live there.

It’s a nice place! It’s a bit small but otherwise it’s nice.

Terrible customer service. Called and said I would be by in 10 minutes for an emergency repair. Guy was nice on the phone. When I arrived 5 minutes early they had closed up and locked. Super helpful…

Rudest customer service I have ever encountered. The man I spoke to on the phone yelled and hung up on me. When my daughter went in person to drop off the instrument for repair at the agreed upon time, he remained upset and kicked my daughter out of the store. Strongly encourage anyone looking to have their instruments fixed to look elsewhere. Disappointing experience to say the least.

Their hours aren’t very convenient and I was having a guitar strung and I dropped it off and I didn’t get a call before the store closed and then they were closed the next day Sunday so I didn’t get my guitar until Monday and that was extremely inconvenient. They also have a very small selection of basses.Update, they aren’t even open a couple hours on the 4th of July so I won’t get my guitar till Tuesday I am very upset with this store.

Our 13 year old son has been taking private saxophone lessons at ” The Music Shop” for over 4 years, starting with Leo Liddle. Keith Wilson, a very talented musician took over as his teacher and we love his dedication and perseverance to help expand our son’s musical knowledge with the sax, while also making it fun. The expansion of his new location makes the updated atmosphere a wonderful learning environment, and also has great on site repair service.

Keith was very open and helpful during his purchase of my son’s used drum set. He explained everything clearly and followed through on his statements. Courteous and respectful throughout, he helped make the transaction pleasant. I would definitely return to his shop.

Keith took great care of me! I’m a beginner guitar player and broke one of my strings, had no clue what to do. I purchased the strings there and he taught me how to put them on right in the store. He even tuned my guitar, and gave me some tips to keep it maintained. Service like that is RARELY found. TY Keith!!

I bought a Maton Mini from Blue Bus – great service, price and product. Will definitely go back to them again!

Good prices friendly service. Fixed up my old Yamaha acoustic guitar and got it sounding great.

I bought a Maton guitar from Blue Bus. Excellent service, excellent product. I am highly satisfied and will go back to them for my future purchases.

Nice looking small shop with an interesting selection of off brand guitars. I always like when the smaller shops aren’t afraid to stock higher end gear. The selection of acoustic guitars especially. The pedal section could use some fleshing out.

Needed one string for my son violin rental. The lady was trying to sell me on a pack of strings that I do not need.

Bought a Maton guitar ….. company doesn’t have a clue on how to set a guitar up….. I have purchased no less then 50 guitars been playing for 50 years…. this company shouldn’t be allowed to sell guitars much less Maton .