Top-16 of music shops in Hostafrancs

Always a pleasure working with the New Haven store. Jim is awesome!!

Extremely friendly and knowledgeable!

Great help in the new haven ct store Also helped with new purchase and the employee had alot of knowledge and was very helpful. Been shopping at Sam Ash for years would not shop any where else

Same as always.knowledgable staff.good selection of musical needs.

The staff are super helpful and friendly. The store needs remodeling, very drab decor not bright or inviting.

A staple for all local musicians. Great staff!

I was considering buying a guitar, bass and an interface. I was completely ignored by all employees while I was one of three customers in the store(a pair of young men who were clearly there to buy were also ignored). Not even a greeting or goodbye. Find a mom and pop, or even a pawn shop. Don’t support these miserable people. They have a terrible selection, high prices, they profile and are miserable people to be near. I could have bought but wanted nothing to do with them after finally procuring the ‘attention’ of someone for a fleeting moment. I won’t be back.

No one greeted me and asked if I needed help.

Sam ash sale person did a terrible job with me

Quick replacement instrument shipped so fast!

Buen servicio

Employees have lots of knowledge. No pressure. You can try any instrument you want. They have used instruments and sales all the time

Es muy Bonito ay de todo y de muy buenas marcas de di ferentes .

I think this store is cool don’t have a problem. Everything goes good unles David Smith is in the store. I think he’s one of the worst supervisors in the store.

Not Happy with associate’s knowledge of products

No left guitars,
Will look elsewhere

Nice selection, but the wait for service is interminable. They need to have at least 3 more people in the store. This was during the day on a weekday, so you would think it would be easy to get service. No way to get a deal here; manager was unwilling to budge at all on a damaged guitar with missing parts. I don’t ever go to a GC on weekends (or nights, if I can avoid it) because there is always at least one shredder showing off so loud you can’t hear what you’re trying out.

No drum tech, poorest customer service ever. Sweetwater should open a Megastore here instead.

Fred Pedemonti no longer works there,that is why the 5 stars. Fred is scum.

They have fair pricing and will often give you a discount. Mark and Eric are great to work with at their East Hartford, CT location. You pay cash…they give you a better deal too. Tons of vinyl records for Beat Makers and Producers. All Genres to flip through.

Mi tienda favorita tiene excelente precios de instrumentos musicales y son muy generoso y amigable se la recomiendo a todos

First, the employees were excellent; friendly and helpful. I was extremely disappointed in the store itself. This was basically a dark, messy pawn shop, not the store I was familiar with from years ago. My only reason to go back would be to pick through dusty items to find something I might be in search of, more of an adventure.

Sent me a different accordion with no straps and a case that should of been thrown out

Closed even though the hours said it was open (3 pm on a Wednesday). The place looked like a hoarders attic. Absolute mess.

Ordered lugs for my snare. They sent me receipts and invoices and never shipped my lugs. I called and emailed multiple times and never got a response back after leaving numerous messages. Been 2 months and I still don’t have my lugs and am out $60.

We had a great experience at the music shop in Southington. We went in to buy a guitar for our son. Tyler was really helpful and answered all our questions patiently. Thank you Tyler!

GREAT SERVICE !!!

The best service on the planet. These guys are like music stores used to be

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.

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.

Buy local from an independent and honest retailer! Great to deal with.

Great small business with all sorts of instruments for sale and rent. Sheet music as well. Support your local!

Great prices and great service

Ordered a guitar on Reverb and Ken always answered the phone and was very helpful throughout the process. I ordered a Larrivee OM-40 and it was listed as brand new but definitely had a dent and 2 scratches which was disappointing but overall a good experience with the process.

The guitar however has a terrible extreme buzzing noice, especially when playing on the first 7 frets of the 4th, 5th, and 6th strings…even when playing a single note and strum lightly…a terrible buzz. I can’t seem to figure out where it is coming from. I will have to take to a luthier which is unfortunate given that it is a brand new guitar. He did say he sanded the saddle down before shipping to lower the action, suspicious that is the problem.

Update: Took it into a luthier. The saddle had been sanded down, action too low, poor job with the setup. Had to build me a new saddle. New strings, and adjusted trust rod as well. Buzzing gone. Sounds and plays like a dream!

Cool little music shop. Worth going and especially if you need a setup on your instrument.

Very convenient

Great shop, real nice people always willing to work with you. My son loves his lessons.

Corey is fantastic, he’s installed pickups on 2 of my guitars now and has done a remarkable job. Also, the best pedal selection in CT by far, highly recommended.

Great store love this place can’t wait until I go back.

Interesting store with some interesting gear. They don’t seem to carry Fender or Gibson. They had a stomp box manufacturing class going on when I visited.

As one reviewer already stated. They have a terrible return policy especially with online purchases. Good store as long as you know you’re going to keep the item but who really knows, its musical gear, its hard to tell if your going to dig it or not until you play it with your rig. Returning a pedal (or probably anything) is just not worth it due the return fees. 2 stars because I received it pretty quickly but definitely wasn’t packed that well. Without a doubt this will be my last purchase from this store. There’s plenty of other great stores to choose from that won’t bend you over on return fees. **Edit for response to the owner** Yes you do clearly state your return fees online. “Small restocking fee” is a bit of an understatement…your restocking fee is 10%. If I pay $250 for a guitar pedal. Right off the bat you’re keeping $25 of my return. I couldn’t imagine purchasing a guitar online through your store.

Purchased a guitar for 750, now walking out with 637. Unfortunately I was not told about a very unfair and sneaky return exchange policy until I had asked after already completing the purchase. Also could not see clearly a visible sign inside that states anything about a return policy. When I asked where the sign was upon trying to return this guitar he pointed to have a corner and I still did not see the sign. I do believe that a return policy sign should be at the register for full disclosure. The law does state you are entitled to a full refund if you are not told about the refund policy during the time of the transaction, which I was not informed of that. Limited selection and unfortunately subject to a very steep restocking fee or store credit, if you are a serious musician make sure you know this first as you know that buying instruments is quite expensive and it is hard to want to get locked into something that you do not truly love.

Very helpful.

Very friendly fast and efficient service! I love shopping local

Excellent Quality of both service and instruments.

Fast and friendly service

STAY AWAY from this company! I rented a cello early 2019. We returned the cello in Aug 2019 and are still getting billed for it! I’ve called and left messages since no one picks up the phone in the Milford office where I rented and returned the instrument. No call back and monthly payments for the cello are still getting charged off my bank card. Had to file a complaint with my bank to stop payments. Terrible terrible business practice!

In store service is good but can never call the Hartford Rayburn Music. Electronic voice prompts to dial 0 for an attendant but when do so it says “Your call cannot be transferred” been a customer for about 3 years. Never could get done anything over phone. Have to visit store for everything.

We rented a viola from Rayburn. The first viola wasn’t put together right (something to do with the bridge). after switching to another viola we realized the bow doesn’t quite fit with the viola.
we rented from the music store in the center and it was a great experience but pricier. though Rayburn isn’t cheap either
they will be replacing the viola once more, lets see how it goes this time…

love it

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.

My husband has taken music lessons at MMA for awhile now, and is very pleased with the instructor. He has also brought several instruments there for repairs or to evaluate for purchase, and has been really pleased with the owner, Matt, who does the repairs. Matt is very knowledgeable & thorough, and is a great help to determine whether instruments on eBay or craigslist are truly worth it. His repair rates have been extremely reasonable too, and he’s even made some repairs for free just because my husband is a student there. All in all, we highly recommend Matt and MMA.

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!!!

This place is great! It is well run with a staff that cares about delivering a great customer experience. I’m very impressed!

Staff is excellent! Highly recommend!!

This place is amazing. The people working there today were super helpful and professional. From the phone call inquiring about an instrument to actually renting it. The whole process was super easy and fast. I will definitely recommend them to anyone looking to rent an instrument.

Just stopped by quick. Had a great hour. They are the best

Good info from employees

Instrument rentals are great for their prices

The folks at Upton Bass are really knowledgeable and take the time to make certain you are satisfied. They also answer your questions promptly.

They are also a giving organization and will work with your organization.

Upton Bass is a wonderful example of an American small business- knowledgeable, enthusiastic, generous… Check out their no-bull YouTube videos on all things Bass-ic. I’m a guitar player ,but so impressed with their operation that I bought a beautiful upright bass and had it shipped cross country. Perfect service from them, gorgeous, competitively priced instrument!
Thank you Eric and crew!

Where to begin….?
It started with a curious test drive at the 2009 ISB. An unexpectedly resonant first impression, followed by a handshake. A couple of years later, two commissioned basses, a bass & bow consignment, a C extension, lots of barn visits, shop talk, laughs, and adult beverages. They are my “go-to” cats. Nothing but love for Upton Bass. If you can dream it, they can make or happen. Thanks Gary, Eric, Chris, Jack, Felicia and the entire UB team.

I purchased a ply bass that had issues out the door. The geometries where all wrong (e.g., the neck was too thin and was not pitched to the back of the bass) and it had a buzz coming from the fingerboard and bridge setup. They were unable to resolve the buzzing sound and I took it it to a local luthier to have the problem resolved. I ended up donating the bass our school district and purchasing a Shen.
Also do not purchase bows from Upton. I purchased a $2000+ bow made by J.R. Silva, Brazil, which developed a splinter just above the frog within 6 months and Upton would not warrant the bow. I now have a $2000+ paperweight.

Update, 10/28/2023:
… as to your reply, yes, I initially thought this was a great bass until I started using it for rehearsals and the buzzing appeared. I thought it was something I was doing or even due to the new bow. I drove 4 hours one way to your location to have your staff address the buzzing issue and they shaved a high spot on the fingerboard near first position and the buzzing did not appear while I was there. When I returned home and started using the bass again for rehearsals the buzzing reappeared. I wasn’t about to drive an other 8 hours to give your staff a second chance at addressing this. Instead, I took it to a local luthier who fixed the buzzing through a combination of reshaping both the fingerboard and bridge (the bridge was set up for jazz, even though I had told your staff that I play mostly orchestral music). While working on my bass, the luthier pointed out the other issues that I mentioned in my review. I am not a luthier, so I would not have necessarily recognized these issues except that through pro-longed use I might have developed muscular issues.

It also wasn’t until your staff responded last week that they could not help me with the issues with my bow that I decided to post this. I don’t like to post negative comments, but I wanted to warn other potential customers of my experience. Your staff could not even help with how I might get in touch with Mr. Silva. If you sell someone’s product, I would think you would have some form of contact information. I spent a lot of money on this bow ($2000+) and NO I DID NOT CAUSE THIS SPLINTER TO APPEAR. I do not appreciate you implying so by your comment. Had your staff handled things differently, I would not have posted this review.

You, as an owner, could have handled this differently as well. You *could* have contacted me by phone about this, instead of responding to my review in the manner that you did, and I might have considered removing this review. You could have even contacted me directly before I posted this review, as several days had lapsed between my speaking with your staff and my posting this review. At this point, based on the content of your reply, I will not remove this review.

What an amazing place. My daughter takes voice lessons with Lia, who knows how to connect with her students and keep them engaged and interested in learning. Owners Mark and Mary will quickly make you feel at home in this family-oriented environment. We just completed our first Music Fest, which was a wonderful experience. Not like your typical recitals; very laid back, informal atmosphere which focuses on the children and their talent. We left with such a feeling of pride at seeing our daughter perform and witnessing first hand her growth in such a short period of time. We are very excited about continuing our journey with Music Center of North Haven and look forward to what’s to come!

We’ve been going to the Music Center for years, and the owners are consistently great people. They also have incredibly trained and talented teachers.

I really enjoy being part of the Music Center of North Haven. Mark, his wife, and the staff are very friendly and accommodating. They make you feel like you are part of a family.

Great instructors. Great atmosphere.

Great place. Definitely stop in.

First experience here, but guy greeted me immediately and helped me pick out a capo. Nice feature to have a cafe inside.

UPDATE: To clarify, the small bag of “trash” was a small bag of shirts and pants that were out grown and not trash which the owner stated several times and now denies. He also forgets that I was sitting there in my car for several minutes trying to figure out what the poorly sprayed wording actually stated or if it was just covering up something and i even took out the clothes in the bag and showed it to him but he didn’t care and continued to argue with me. Again, I had donated to this location before it was deemed abandoned and was accused repeatedly to get my trash out of there. I did go down the street and donated the clothes to Goodwill. The issue I have is how the owner handled the situation and the accusations that were thrown at me even when confronted with the proof that they were wrong and I was clearly trying to donate a small amount of clothes and left when asked. Move this very prominent former donation bin to the back our your lot or put a proper sign up, chain close the handle or just politely tell someone its closed.

This music center used to have a clothing donation bin out front which I have donated to many times before. It has since been painted over with illegible spray paint saying bin closed. I was standing by the bin trying to figure out what the writing said and employee came out and screamed at me to take my trash somewhere else and was extremely rude shouting at me like I was doing something illegal. He told me to bring my trash to Goodwill. Would never bring my kids here for their music needs with staff like this.

I came in for my introductory ukulele lesson. The place was a mess. The chair I was told to sit on had metal pieces sticking out the side. The AC was not on. The instructor informed me he had been playing uke for about 3 years. I was charged $50 and it was the biggest waste of money. I was highly disappointed.

Guitar tech could not look at my guitar because he busy making egg sandwiches.

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.

Super nice owner. Shared his knowledge about local music scene and programs. I am coming back!!!

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!!

Great staff and very knowledgeable about everything in their store. Always take the time to help you even if they are busy. Also the new location is really nice. Must go check it out!!!

Corey at Spindrift is an amazing person. I didn’t end up buying but wanted to relay how legit they are from an online perspective. I was trolling Reverb for a Martin D12-20 and found what I thought to be the one. I put in a bid but Corey wanted to chat with me first about the guitar. After some frank conversation and additional pics I decided to pass on the guitar. During the conversation, Corey said that he always wants to speak with a buyer first just so there are no surprises and if you are familiar with Reverb and their buying system, I had committed to buy if they accepted my offer so Corey could have just completed the transaction and he would have been on the up and up, but he went the extra mile to make sure that it was the guitar I was looking for, which it ended up not being and I really appreciate the time he took. Not many places will do that!

It’s great to have a local shop encourage your will to learn. Both Corey and Whit make sure you leave ready to start playing

They really know their guitars.

Nice small ma and pa guitar shop

Shop owner very helpful with advice on adjusting the action on my mandolin. It is specifically a guitar shop.

I brought in vintage Gibson Les Paul custom for a Re fret and they completely ruined it there was surface scratches ,chips in the fret board the frets were un even and buzzed. After 4 attempts bringing the guitar back to the store with the problems only half way fixed every time or even new problems I just cut my loses and brought my guitar to a real professional if you want it done right I do not recommend bringing your guitar here for major repairs

Great small shop with world class guitars and amps. These guys genuinely love what they do and are extremely knowledgeable in many brands, especially PRS. I have been here plenty of times, either to purchase, sell, or use Frank for repairs/modifications. They are always a pleasure to deal with and Frank always calls with any questions or problems he finds. I would never shop a corporate store over these guys!

New to the area, I stopped in to shop and purchase a guitar, Graham was very knowledgeable and friendly, For a high end guitar shop, I was very impressed at how welcome they made me feel.

One of the best customer service I’ve had to date from a guitar shop. Really good deal on a quality guitar. And went out of their way to help trade in my old stuff and work with me to finance the deal. Great people , great store, great deals. Highly recommended.

BUYER BEWARE: If you’re shopping used online, call ahead and ask them to send you updated pictures of the instrument before you buy.

I just purchased a used guitar online, from Brian’s Guitars. It sounds and looks great.

HOWEVER: the pictures and listing posted online were not accurate. The listing said “near mint” condition. The pictures showed all the tags and plastic seals on the components still intact. When I received the guitar, all the seals were gone. There were scuffs on the pickguard, and there was a screw completely missing near the volume/tone knobs. After an email exchange, I learned that the pictures were posted from when the guitar was new. Still, why was a screw missing?

I may have scored a guitar at a sweet deal, but now my confidence is shook. Even though everything sounds fine, I’m left wondering if a screw was removed to mess around with the internal components. I’ll get that checked out, but given the inaccurate listing, I’m not sure if I would buy from Brian’s Guitars again.

Love the layout and they have beautiful guitars. However, customer service is lacking. I advice those that are interested in buying a high-end guitar and enjoy collecting these musical art pieces to look elsewhere as I was told so rudely. Especially if you are a minority. The stereo typing is real!. If you think this is a rant of someone that is not able to afford this level of guitars, well, think again. I have a small collection that keeps growing of high-end to medium range guitars, bass guitars , and amps. I Hope this helps someone that does not want to be profiled while shopping for their next piece of happiness.

I recently had a vintage bass repaired and appraised here. I left it with them to have the electronics fixed and a general setup done. I got a call that the guitar was ready to be picked up a few weeks later, but had to remind them to also do the appraisal.
I get the bass home and the jack is incredibly noisy. I called and was told that they would make it right at no cost. I take the bass back and the tech puts a new jack in. They still charged me $10 for the jack, the making it right part only included the labor (about ten minutes). I couldn’t care less about $10, but making an extra trip out (about half hour from my home) to have something fixed that should have been done in the first place, guarantees I will never go back here or recommend it to anyone.

Great service! Nice friendly owner

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

Really great place to stop by and get an instrument. The prices seem a bit higher but the quality is surely within the quality you’d expect.
I bought a ukulele here and the quality and sound lived up to the price.

Very knowledgeable and friendly.

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.

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!

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.

The seller was nice and did a generous discount for us. Guitar prices are good compared to online sources.

We stopped in right before closing while walking to a restaurant, but the guy working was still super nice and offered to stay and told us to take our time. We’ll be back again, we were impressed

I like this place because Fred Pedemonti does NOT work there. Fred is scum.
However everyone here is polite and talented.

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

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

Yeah it’s good!

The worst company in the world!!!! If I can give anyone advice it would be to stay away from this place. Their thief’s and I will never do business with them again.

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.

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