Exclusive selection: The top 20 music shops of Fort Collins

Great

Call Rooster for a finely crafted banjo!

Mark fixed my banjo and did a great job for a reasonable price

Amazing!!! Highly recommended.

after purchasing a used piano i knew i didn’t want to move it myself, so i reached out to mike and within a few days the piano was safely in my home! i could not have asked for a better, more seamless experience!

I had a great experience dealing with Mike. He purchased my used piano. The awesome thing is that Mike actually paid me more than my asking price because he knew it was worth more, and did not take advantage of my lack of knowledge. If you want to do business with someone who has integrity and is honest, go to Piano Dude!

Great record shop! Owner is super helpful!

Very Cozy Place to shop for vinyl records and other materialities. Shop owners/employees were beyond kind. We enjoyed the atmosphere and the spacious areas to browse. Will be our first stop for vinyl from here on.

Best record store in Foco! Owner and his family are super nice people and a great selection!

Great knowledgeable staff. I have purchased plenty of quality equipment from them. Recently, they adjusted the truss rod in my bass free of charge! I highly recommend them.

I’ve been a customer for a handful of years now. My passion is electric guitar.
95 percent of the time, I find something in MGR that I can’t pass up. I’m always pleased by the pricing here, whether it’s pedals, strings, guitars, or amps.
The staff is super friendly and the ones I’ve come to know, make suggestions on things I might dig.
I recently obtained a 90’s JCM 900 head from MGR in great condition for the price, the owner had their amp tech go over the amp and tune it up. I find a lot of gems in their store, hopefully you will too. Great vibe, great people, great selection.

5-star first time experience . They were extremely helpful and responsive at all times, with a primary goal being customer satisfaction and satisfaction with the product . Pricing for the NS electric cello was OUTSTANDING. Will definitely keep Music Go Round in mind for future purchases .

Good deals and knowledgeable staff .

Pricey stuff. But good condition. Great service. Would love to go back and see what else I may want to get in the future

Asked about where to repair my amp, told him I had it looked at by a local sound guy that has been repairing amps for decades(including four of mine, which I was very happy with) but wasn’t sure if I wanted to return it to the factory to be refurbished. The guy behind the counter(the manager) took that opportunity to bash the guy I went to(pretty excessively), and try to convince me his amp guy would be better than having it factory refurbished. It was rude, unprofessional and I’m doubt I’ll ever be back in the store.

Do not sale or buy equipment from these crooks. I came down from Wyoming to sell my speakers which they said on the phone they would make an offer. They offered $5 for my speakers which sell for $400 new a piece. When I said that $5 wasn’t a real offer I was cussed out so I left and ended up buying a guitar at Guitar Center instead of one of theirs. I have since sold my used gear online for way more than $5. These people insult your intelligence so they can rip you off for their benefit and cuss you out if you disagree with them.

I do not recommend this store. I have been a faithful customer for many years and tried to support local business, however this particular Music Go Round is by far the worst. I have brought in guitars and basses that I have played for years only to be told they have warped necks or something else is wrong with them. I have brought these same instruments to either Guitar Center (Fort Collins/Arvada)or the other two Music Go Rounds in Denver (Littleton specifically) and they had no issues and said all they needed was a little set up. While the owner is a good guy, the manager is completely un-knowledgeable and very rude. Also, their return policy is completely different from the other Music Go Rounds only allowing 7 days and in store credit only, and while they claim it’s stated everywhere it is not musician friendly as sometimes we need more time to see if equipment is going to work for us. Guitar Center is a much more musician and user friendly store, and I would highly advise taking the trip to the other locations to be treated fairly.

Had good experiences in the past here both buying and selling but chose to offer me $200 for $1500 worth of bass gear. At least guitar center offered me 50% of the total worth. Avoid if you are selling. If you are buying check EVERYTHING over as much of the wind instrument stock has issues.

EDIT: Went back last week to trade another guitar. The salesperson claimed that the neck was twisted (so they of course couldn’t buy it) which was debunked later by a good luthier. I really want to like this store but they don’t employ honest people.

Best record store, 10/10

I love All Sales Vinyl. It’s a perfect business for the nook it’s in, and the staff are all fantastic. I’ve had great experiences with impromptu visits as well as times when I’m looking for something very specific. If they don’t have it, they’ll happily order it for you! All Sales Vinyl makes for a fine addition to Old Town.

Cool collectible vinyl and new vinyl albums. Cds, art and shirts

Great selection, and I got a record I was looking for, but the owner gave me really weird creepy vibes. Not sure I’ll be going back unless I can’t scratch a musical itch anywhere else.

This is a very cute sball record store. It has almost something for everyone and the staff is very knowledgeable. This is the perfect hole in the wall for collectors.

Today was my first time in the shop. I had looked at Google reviews and pictures and had been wanting to stop in for a while.

I had a good first experience. I was able to find a lot of albums that fit my tastes. That alone was refreshing. I often hit the shops in town and leave empty handed and disappointed.

The shop is fairly small, the selection is decent, not great. With limited space, it’s hard to pack a lot in.

I was happy to see record players on hand, I didn’t look to closely because I’m happy with what I have. But I did see some new Audio Technica players.

There were record sleeves/bags. Always good to have. I also saw cork turntable mats, I need to get one of those. Next time I’ll see if they have any cartridge upgrades, I didn’t have much time today. I recommend you check the place out.

went today to buy a vinyl and the dude in front was rude, no respect, was angry just because I told him I didn’t want the vinyl anymore because they raised up the price. And showed him on eBay it was cheaper. he took it very offensive and personal just because I was showing him the proof of it. if you do shop here I would not recommend going in here again!! Very disrespectful.

Store clerk ignored us the entire time we were in the store
Pretty sad first impression. Won’t be back.

They’re really nice if they think you’re going to buy something but try to sell them something and it’s another tune… I tried to explain that I had gone to ebay and checked out the sold items for some albums and knew how much they would sell for on ebay and ask how much they would sell them for in their store he wouldn’t even discuss it.. He knows everything he’s worked there 23 years well he’s worked 23 years and didn’t learn a whole lot did he Especially about the fact that I may have friends that maybe won’t shop there anymore and maybe I’ll spread the word how much is that marketing worth to you.. All he knows is how to buy low and sell high.. Too bad you’re not gonna see my 100 albums some of which are rare and collectible

I’ve been looking for a specific colorful vinyl release that my local shop did not have. I messaged Driver 8 Records, and not only did they have it, they shipped it to me quickly. Great taste in music. Hope to visit IRL soon.

This is a great little record shop that carries a lot of good stuff I don’t see at other record stores very often. Their prices for new and used records are lower than most as well. I’d say this is the best place in FC to buy new records.

Wonderful little neighborhood record shop! Good selection and great service.

This is just another one of those pop-up record shops that doesn’t have any selection, a horrible listening station, and a completely checked out staff.

Customer beware!
Bought a brand new album (animal collective Merriweather Post Pavilion $35)
got home, noticed a warp (bad enough to make my cartridge skip) Brought album back to driver 8. The owner saw that it was warped but was not willing to do anything for me. Because it did not skip on his very entry level table. Basically said not his problem and he was not willing to take the financial hit to make a customer happy. At the time of purchase I bought 2 other albums which are perfect. Totalling $120 for a new store in town I’d expect better customer service. Will not be back, which is too bad because I’ve enjoyed every other aspect of the store. So now I am stuck with a warped piece of unplayable vinyl.

Ps for audiophiles. My setup
Mmf7.3 turntable,
cartridge- Grado gold, tracking force 1.5grams as suggested from Grado

Very disappointed. I would suggest taking your collection to a larger dealer. This store is very limited. After comparing to larger stores, we don’t feel the amount paid to us was a fair price.

Keith DJ’d my niece’s wedding. He was very professional and did exactly what he said he would do. Very happy with him. His band, Daddy Rab performed for a friend’s private party and they were a lot of fun. I think he does a good job as a DJ and band member. I would reccomend him, did reccomend him, to family and friends.

I’ve got an 1893 M.Hohner Harmonica that’s been needing some work. After contacting just about every music store in the Fort Collins/Northern Colorado region, I found absolutely no one who could help. Finally I was referred to ZEN HARMONICAS created by Graham Elliot. I left him a message and he got back to me almost right away. Not only was he able to work on it immediately but he did an excellent job cleaning and adjusting it. In less than 24 hours my harmonica was ready to be picked up. It is in AMAZING shape. It has never played or felt this good. Graham was super friendly and very insightful and knowledgeable on the instrument (hard to come across folks like this) and the price was absolutely reasonable for the repairs. I highly recommend contacting Graham Elliot if you have any harmonica issues or need any customizations, he is suited to fix all types of harmonicas; old or new.

It’s a bounty of books, magazines, vinyl records, DVDs, all cheeep!

This place is awesome. They have such an eclectic variety of books, music and players, and collectable things. They also buy back books and other things they sell. This place has something for everyone, seriously.

Really inviting and friendly atmosphere. People say the vinyls are overpriced, but go to Barnes and noble to see overpriced. This store has records ranging from $5-$40 and I always love looking for just the one I’m looking for, or finding something new I haven’t heard before. Very helpful staff, will be returning again and again.

Kind of a weird building, but there are a lot of good finds if you’re willing to look for them. There are tons of books and a pretty good selection of music and movies

Nice used music store, book store and used audio store all in one.

Interesting store. Buying book policy is good. They have random taste… or should I say bizarre.

holy crap. VERY OVERPRICED. trying to sell an average copy of ziggy stardust for 95 bucks. wow, way to go you idiots…..and in response.. discogs, ebay. etc. they list a price they WANT not a price that SELLS as for the hawkwind lp. it listed and sold for 20 bucks. fair deal, fair deal for once in a while. you folks are NOT MUSIC LOVERS, NOT COLLECTORS your in it for a buck, and this will bite you back later. im also a business owner as you know. i have been doing business much longer than you have, and know how to be an honest, caring man. i will never buy from you again, and the thousansds of bucks ive spent i do not regret. but spooging of of david bowie is an insult, and just plain wrong. all the good lps will be re-released in feb. but alas, bizzare cant sell them due to restrictrions from the riaa to you. so i have heard ok wow, read the response from the owners. so much for having class. and grace. i call you out and you want to assault ME. HMMMMMM UPDATE……THE BOWIE RE-ISH ARE OUT! 20 BUCKS FOR A NEW COPY OF ZIGGY! YEA!!!

Tried to come in and was disgusted by the terrible service given by the woman at the counter. I cannot wear a mask due to severe asthma and weak lung function. Most stores have recommendations urging people to wear masks, however, people who have weak lung function cannot be made to wear a mask. I didn’t want to have to argue about it so I turned towards the door and the lady starts yelling about “THE LAW” . I could have walked out quietly, but you decided to raise your voice and make a scene. Don’t preach to me about the law, because you are in violation of ADA law by requiring me to wear a mask with my low functioning lungs, which can severely impact my health. There’s more of a chance that I’ll trigger a severe asthma attack than contracting covid with the ONE other customer in there. Also, it’s not a law it’s an ordinance. It wasn’t voted on; the local government made a recommendation. Yes, you can deny service, but first be aware if you’re denying service to someone who has a legitimate health concern. Yes I have asthma, but that doesn’t mean I should be confined to home because of it. Maybe I should get a lawyer and see if ADA laws have more legal standing than the temp local ordinance. Maybe you should look it up lady.

Edit: there was one other person in the store so in sure with there being 2 separate rooms that you could enforce social distancing, however you opted not to go the extra mile and put up the plexiglass barrier as recommended by the county and placing signs on your floor. That’s laziness not, inability. Also, as I was already turning to walk out, you decided to yell and raise your voice and SCREAM about the “LAW”. Maybe then, you should have allowed me to leave quietly without the verbal assault. I didn’t want to bother mentioning my condition considering that I was actually walking out to get a mask, as I was very interested in your store. But rather than allow me to walk out quietly, you started screaming. Also from the Fort Collins government page:
“ If a face covering would cause you implement due to an existing health condition, documented by a health professional, you are not required to wear a mask “.

Also from the city page:
“Please have compassion for people who chose not to wear a mask for fear of discrimination and do your part to create a safe environment for the people of our community.”

Under HIPPA and ADA laws I do not have to disclose my medical condition, only state that I am exempt from the ordinance. I chose to walk out and follow the guidelines, but you decided to scream at me and cause a scene, so why would I bother coming back in to act civilized to someone who chose to violate my rights? I believe Poudre Valley Feed has a lawsuit brewing for asking a woman with oxygen to wear a mask, perhaps you’ll be next.

Overpriced, mediocre selection. Pretentious owner & staff.

Michael does excellent work, though too busy to do individual other mfg guitar repairs. I would recommend the custom guitar builds.

This is a full service actual Lutherie shop, capable of international caliber work. Authorized for factory warranty on Taylor, Martin and more. Quality, solid, serious work. Quality Custom instruments as well. Be patient. Recommended. Chris Cecil @ Cecil Electronic / Global touring U.S..

I took Michael my 5-string banjo to install some spikes on the upper frets. He told me that he could get it done and ready the next day. Sure enough he had it done it they perform great. Will definitely see him for all string instrument repairs going forward.

Great

Nice, fast, friendly. Great service!

Great instrument rentals. Have rented there for all my three children.

Great service and instrument repairs.

The music store itself is great. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable. I would definitely recommend it, especially for someone looking to buy a drum set or guitar. They also do the best rentals in FoCo.
I would just like to mention that the lesson rooms owned and rented by Boomer are in poor condition – stained carpet and peeling paint.
This is absolutely a great place to buy instruments, but I would love to see the management do a little bit more for the rest of their space.

Boomer music seems to be a decent place for instruments. We went for a percussion set (bells+snare+ stand.) when we first arrived there was this awful smell from the overcrowded amount of people, and nobody was willing to help, and when we were, we were told that the “bell kit” costs $400 and the “snare kit” costs $400. Sounds way overpriced
Especially considering that normally this would cost around $400 for a full percussion set, not $800. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the Amazon percussion kit costs around $300. Overpriced for the amount.

Great selection of music!

Products are heavily marked up, sometimes even twice as much as they should be selling for. Several years ago I purchased a Hercules stand for my instrument and it cost $52. I checked online a couple months later for the same product and it was only $30 on Amazon or through Guitar Center. The only thing decently priced is reeds. Shop elsewhere for music, products, and even instrument care.

Repair shop is okay for emergency repairs, but nothing more than that. The pads they use are really cheap and the quality of the repairs is sub par. They put a pad that was too large on my instrument, causing a hum, so I had to bring the instrument back in. Take your instrument to a well-established technician who will do it right and outlast the so-called repairs they perform here, saving you money in the long run.

Find an alternative place! Owner is not reasonable businessman. Zero stars if there was one.

Go anywhere else but here!! They quote times for repairs that are so far off. My daughter has waited for her instrument for a month (when it was estimated to take 2-3 weeks) and they just told me another 2 weeks.
They told me I didn’t need instrument insurance for normal wear and tear, and then stung me with the bill that was equivalent to insurance anyway.
This is not the only music place in town….go find another place!

The cutest

What a fun shop! Could easily have spent an hour here sifting through their treasures. Scored a very crispy, like new Neruda from the 70s— a treasure! Would definitely visit again.

Quaint store. Tons of records to look at and lots of fun little treasures. Employee we interacted with was very chill and friendly. Fantastic experience all around.

I love this place! Though can never catch them when they’re open – I work a 9-5 so the hours being 11-5 are tough during the week. I went by today around 4 and they were closed, and it’s the second time I’ve gone by during business hours and they aren’t open. Wondering if the hours have changed? Let me know!

Awesome shop

Very cool little shop with a neat assortment of books and vinyl.

I was really looking forward to checking out this shop, but I was severely disappointed and frankly disgusted. One employee was barefoot and half awake, while two others were cleaning beer cans and discussing how inebriated they had gotten the night before. I am fully aware that this is a college town; however, what an embarrassing circumstance to walk into.

My fiance wanted to check this store out as she thought it looked pretty neat. I was excited to see a large assortment of vinyl and even some hip hop, including a J Dilla album I’ve been eying. However, one of the employees really put us off. She starts rambling about Easter, Jesus, and how there’s no evidence of his existence. All while we’re minding our own business just trying to check out the store. Even with our awkward nods and non responses, she just couldn’t take a hint that we both felt uncomfortable. It’s cool with me no matter what religion you practice or if you’re non religious like myself. But I think that you should be able to freely enjoy the shops in Old Town and not be asked to question your possible religion. Even the Christians who pass out pamphlets downtown don’t bother you.

0/10 do NOT recommend.

I am pretty frustrated with this place after trying to place an online order through their website and waiting all week to be disappointed. Here’s what happened:

On Monday, I ordered the vinyl Beatles album “Revolver” online and paid with a gift card. I was emailed an order number, confirmation number, and had pickup directions to pick it up from their Fort Collins location on Thursday after 11. I thought that was kind of weird that I had to wait so long for an album to be ready to pick up, but no big deal. I patiently waited all week to pick up my album and on Thursday afternoon I drive over to the store.

In my confirmation email, the pickup directions prompted me to call a number provided to them them know I was ready to pick up. So I called the number and talked to who I assume was a male manager in an off-site location. I told him I was ready to pick up my order and he seemed to know what I was talking about, and replied with something along the lines of “Yeah your order is ready for you in the Fort Collins location, you should be able to walk in and the girl working can help you out.”

So I walk into the store, tell the girl working that I have an order to pick up and she looks at me confused and said she will check the back for any orders. She quickly comes back out from the back end of the store and starts searching the vinyl bins for the record. Then she says, “I have to call my manager to see where she put it.”

After waiting for her phone call to end with her manager, I’m informed that they don’t have the record because it was sold earlier this week. All they did to compensate me was give me $30 in store credit when the record was already $25….. this is incredibly disappointing because I literally waited ALL week for this record that I ordered online, and they carelessly let someone else buy my order without even telling me until I get in the store and look like a total idiot. And ALL I’m compensated with is 5 extra dollars?! What a complete waste of my time.

Their excuse was “well online ordering is really new for us,” then why are you allowing people to order things online if you’re just going to blatantly ignore it, sell the item being ordered, and not even remotely try to fix the problem until the person is in the store asking for their order that ISNT there?

I feel like they don’t care in the slightest, when there’s no doubt that I was the one that purchased the record first and in the end gets screwed. They obviously don’t care about me as a customer if all they did was give me an extra $5 store credit. They should have refunded the order AND given me $30 store credit for wasting my time, getting my hopes up, and doing NOTHING to fix the problem until I was at the store wondering where my order was.

Great store with a pretty good selection would recommend got my Scarlett 2i2 at a really good price although they did not have any of the XLR cables I ordered those on Amazon so no big deal.

I love this place, always available for questions and they love music!!

We participated in the rental program. The program was easy to enroll in and for us worked great for our kiddo who played the violin. Many don’t know that there are different sizes of violins and the rental program allowed us to size up with ease.

After three years of renting, we made the decision to use our rental equity to get a new violin.

It was a great option for our family and appreciated the great customer service!

The staff are nice & know their products.
Got a speaker that came without a charging cable for some reason. They gave me a new one. One of the employees even went above & got a part I was looking for. Out of curiosity & to have something in the store. No problems with the store whatsoever. And I’m a hard please Lol

I wish i could say I had a good experience but a sales person who didn’t listen to me ended up selling me in a bad way and then i was only informed on pickup. you got me once, ill never come back though.

Complete rip off. Rented a clarinet for purchase, to find out the contract doesn’t allow a purchase. Can get some store credit, but not much. Can not believe they won’t work with us. We can’t keep the instrument, and if we don’t return it they keep charging for rental…wth???
BBB investigate…apparently we are not the only ones!!! DO NOT SHOP HERE!

Horrible service. Had my daughter’s clarinet cleaned and tuned. They took two weeks longer than promised, qoted me $50 but ended up charging me $130 for what they could only explain as routine cleaning and tuning, and when we finally got it back, the mouth piece was MISSING!! The sales people are friendly, but BEWARE the maintenance is all sent off-site and is completely incompetent.

Great, knowledgeable staff. Offered me fair prices (for a retail store) on my used gear. They knew what it was and priced it accordingly. It’s my first stop if I am selling used gear and my second when buying it. Highly recommended.

EDIT: They also treated my students very well when giving information.

Bought stuff for stream. Have good quality equipment

Great people and excellent music products.

Helpful and friendly staff

So I baught strings which are mass produced an the low e string snapped an broke my guitar neck the guitar my fault it’s old the strings I be leve should just be changed out every few weeks I hope this is a change in store that can be made for the better and for customer experience also cudos to Wessly for throwing a free replacement pack of strings i after this fiasco 🙂

They need to stock more amps.

Stores general manager is rude and lacks passion for ANY customer service. They have no set rates for guitar repairs and are not honest in estimates given for those repairs. As a musician I recommend doing business elsewhere.

Staff were alright but they canceled my order multiple time without notifying me. Staff were having a hard time ordering guitar and didn’t know if it was in stock after checking.

The manager and staff are a bunch of incompetent idiots. Also, they just don’t care. The customer service is abysmal. It would be laughable if not for the money Guitar Center Fort Collins continues to draft out my checking account for lessons that I canceled months ago. It’s funny that I received an email confirming that my son’s recurring lessons were canceled months ago, BUT they continue to take money out of my account for these cancelled lessons. Is that theft? The actual instructor, Dakota is awesome. Unfortunately, he is associated with a JOKE of a Guitar Center. Be very careful when scheduling lessons with these dolts. I wish the drafting out of my bank account for services NEVER rendered was the only issue, but it wasn’t. Every week I had to call to make sure my son was even scheduled for these supposed recurring lessons and without fail, every week he was NOT on the schedule, so they’d be scrambling to reach the instructor to make sure that he would be there. Oh, and try getting a straight answer about the weekly mess. Trust me, they will use “Catalina” as the scapegoat. “It’s Catalina’s fault! She did it!” Give me a break!
***”Owner” do you know many times I was assured that this would be followed up on? About 4000 times. Nobody has ever followed up or refunded my money. Don’t present yourself as someone who cares!

Love it

I’ve been having some issues with Ibanez parts not fitting correctly on my guitar and I was also wanting to change the pickups as well.

I went into spotlight to see if someone could help and maybe answer some of my questions. The staff was very nice and seemed to run over to help me. It was clear right away that they were more interested in making sure I was getting everything I needed instead of just trying to sell me something and get me out the door.

They cleared up all of my questions about pickups and they were going to contact Ibanez about the issues with my new cover plate not fitting.

They continued to follow up with their Ibanez rep and kept in contact with me the entire time.

Currently we are still working on the issue but the way the spotlight team has handled the ordeal has won them my business in the future.

I’ll be buying my next guitar from them for sure.

Always top notch service and knowledge. Excellent instrument setup too…GO HERE.

I would like to thank spotlight music for their quick response and service for me in purchasing a guitar from them . Was very pleased with the way they shipped it in a timely manner and the way they packaged it. Thank you again and would definitely recommend and purchase from you again!!!!

The atmosphere is friendly, and this is clearly not a corporate chain establishment. Unfortunately, they no longer carry Taylor guitars.
.

nice selection of guitars and equipment ,and associated equipment … of string’s piks & suff!

I’ve got a Breedlove Stage Pursuit, 7 years old, played nearly an hour every day. Prob needs some setup by July 1 for getting back on-platform at Timberline Church. Do you have a tech available (a number of guitar stores – including Guitar Center – say they don’t have one anymore) who could do the work? Would love not to have to drive up to Cheyenne or down to Denver. Thanks.

Flea markets have better warranty support
Cable companies have better customer service
Any Questions?

It was the worst customer service. All I needed was my guitar tuned up. I was given a time quote for when the guitar would be finished. When I called to ask about the guitar after the time quoted, some one told me, it wasn’t done and it would be another 3-4 days. When I asked why I was told the original time frame, and what changed that a tune up would take 5 days instead of the 1-2 I was originally quoted, the response I got was, “Well, I don’t know what to tell you.” The customer service was deplorable. I decided to go pick it up with out the work being done. When I picked it up and made a comment about why couldn’t someone have figured out how to quote it correctly, or at least notify me when they realized it was going to be longer, the guy I spoke with at the shop was rude, and even suggested that the reason it wasn’t done was somehow my fault. So, not only did I have to go pick up a guitar after it was not worked on I was then told I was also my fault that the it never got worked on. After years of me having exclusively shopped at Spotlight. I will never ever return.- As a local business I expected that customer service mattered. The current employees don’t reflect any of those values that I assume the owner does, unless I’m wrong and the employees DO reflect the values of the owner….unfortunate.

These people are the biggest rip-off artists in the world.
Selling defective guitars and equipment. ..
These are all factory seconds, and cheap cheap cheap Chinese knock offs…