Great place to take guitar, drums or bass lessons! My Son’s been in 3 sessions here and has progressed immensely.
My 13 year-old son has been taking drum lessons at North Shore Music for 2 years. He’s also in the studio’s band camp which places him with other students to form a rock band. They perform in public around Wilmette. He absolutely loves it and so do we parents. Alejandro and his staff are terrific!
This is an awesome place to improve your skills in music. The owner really knows his stuff and the staff is always helpful when it comes to rescheduling lessons. Can’t recommend enough.
2. William Harris Lee & Co.
Address: 1138 Central Ave, Wilmette, IL 60091 , Kenilworth , Illinois , United States
I can’t believe stores a place like guitar works still exists but what a gem! Although I am in a different state and called to inquire about a guitar, I am still over the moon with the level of customer service i received. Dealing with Larry and the crew was so effortless and genuine, I felt like everything was a throwback to a much better time. Such great people and I feel really lucky for the entire experience. And get this, the guitar I purchased? Was even better than they described.
This won’t be the last time I purchase through this business.
Guitar novice here very helpful getting me setup…
Unique guitars and good deals.
Great local place with friendly staff!
Brought in two of my Rickenbacker basses, one for a bridge installation and both for a setup, and wow. They feel great! I’ve never been more comfortable on my Ric basses, absolutely flawless setup done by Erwin. Not to mention the fact that they were both finished within 24 hours of bringing them in and they were set up perfectly. The only thing keeping me from leaving 5 stars is that there was a minor accidental scratch on the front of one of my basses, but honestly overall, the playability is the most important part, and they nailed it!
Thanks!
Great friendly place.
Two stars because of the employees that just give you a glazed over zombie look, no greeting, when you walk into the store. Not cool. A simple “hey, how ya doing?” is always nice to acknowledge ones existence. It’s a small shop otherwise with vintage stuff mixed in with new reissue stuff, so it can probably be a little confusing to the average guitar buyer. However, I’d still rather come to this place than to Sam Ash. The staff, including the owner, just needs to work on some basic customer service skills.
I had the worst experience, I left my guitar for strings replacement and calibration. The gave my guitar back with the truss rod !loose! And the neck with a giant bow. I ended up calibrating the guitar myself.
Brought my five string J Bass in for repair. They were not able to fix the problem, and even worse they forgot to put the battery cover back on the bass, lost the screws, and didn’t even offer to replace them!
8. David Coots Artisan Piano Tuning and Service
Address: 1927 Lincoln St, Evanston, IL 60201 , Kenilworth , Illinois , United States
I have been using David Coots’ piano tuning services for the last several years. [He initially was recommended to me by Grand Piano Haus in Skokie]. It is easy to schedule appointments and he is always punctual and thorough. The instrument sounds great after the tuning!
David just tuned my piano. He was extremely lovely and talented. He came on time and did a beautiful job. Thanks David. Highly recommend him!
Just got our piano tuned by Mr. Coots and are very impressed by his work. Not only did he do a great job tuning the instrument but also he fixed
He is a real professional and his great work is very reasonably priced.
Highly recommend for professional pianists as myself as well as for any household, school or concert hall.
9. House of Engl Amps
Address: 3640 Dempster St, Skokie, IL 60076 , Kenilworth , Illinois , United States
Jim is probably the most knowledgeable and highly respected luthier on the north shore. He’s done excellent work on two of my acoustic guitars at very reasonable prices.
Great place. I started bringing my Martin here for service in 2013, and I’ve since brought in other acoustic and classical guitars for service and repair. Jim is very knowledgeable and professional. I’m always amazed at the playability of an instrument when he works on it. Thanks, Jim!
They were awesome! They helped me set up my new banjo and got rid of an annoying buzzing sound (trust me banjos are buzzy, but this was LOUD). They did it quickly, with care, and at a reasonable cost.
Decent place, teachers aren’t great but they have good quality instruments.
Horrible exeprience. Don’t trust the guitar “luthier” or repair guy whatever you want to call him. Yes this is the guy you charged for the action setup and you dinged and cracked the back of my beautiful OMJM martin guitar. Guitar is priceless to me and it breaks my heart that you can be so careless towards MY beloved instrument. I hate myself for trusting anyone with my guitar. Long story short, check your guitar before you put it in the case and leave with it from the store, better yet, don’t hand your guitar over to man who will work on it inside the store.
11. The Wilmette Piano Studio
Address: 425 4th St, Wilmette, IL 60091 , Kenilworth , Illinois , United States
12. Innocenti Strings
Address: 114 3rd St, Wilmette, IL 60091 , Kenilworth , Illinois , United States
Wonderful group of musicians. The music was beautiful and really set the mood for our wedding. We loved working with Innocenti Strings. Would highly recommend them to anyone.
We can’t say enough how amazing it was to have Innocenti Strings at our wedding ceremony. From the beginning, we were incredibly pleased to see how broad of a music selection they had, and it was easy to find the songs we wanted for every part of the ceremony. Beyond the song selection though, the group was perfect on the day of the ceremony, arriving precisely on time, knowing exactly where to set up, and understood the acoustics of the venue perfectly. They even worked seamlessly with our family friend, a professional tenor singer, with only minimal rehearsal time. The pricepoint was great as well. We would happily recommend Innocenti Strings for any event.
Innocenti strings played at our wedding in August and they performed beautifully. Communication leading up to our event was quick, easy, and efficient!
13. Evanston Band & Orchestra
Address: 4141 Main St, Skokie, IL 60076 , Kenilworth , Illinois , United States
I went here to rent a trumpet and the price for a rental was surprisingly low. I think the reason some people gave this place one star is because they are too sensitive to talk to a blunt person. So what if an employee speaks their mind, the service is good.
5 stars for friendly service and prompt, reasonably priced repairs and accessories, good communication, etc. I will gladly pay the price for reeds and such here as to not have to support the evil empire (Amazon). Jim always sends me on my way with some reeds to try and knocks a few bucks off my purchase.
I always come here for all of my musical needs. I even bought my first trombone here and I’ve been coming here ever since. It’s a great place to get whatever you need for your musical instruments.
Very friendly and alwaus willing to help
Very helpful staff
I’m not using my real name for a reason. BE WARNED! Instruments are ridiculously overpriced and you will NOT get the bang for your buck! Look for a different store that sells instruments at their REAL price or LOWER. I’ve recently used Facebook Marketplace or Amazon. Take this seriously! Don’t waste your money on instruments that aren’t worth their price!
I called to ask about replacing a string on my bass guitar. I’d tried another location, but due to the recent ice/snow storm, parking was within walking distance was impossible or illegal. The man who answered the phone was very “short” with me and impatient… Because of his demeanor, I would NOT recommend anyone doing business with this company. Who wants to pay to have someone be so rude to them (outside of certain Chicago resturants)? I’ll take my money and future busines elsewhere~
I paid $68 by check January 8 to rent a flute for 3 months (J, F, M). The check cleared January 10. I gave them a credit card number at their request which I did not mind doing. I returned the flute early on March 9 in the same good condition: well before the 3 months rental was up on April 8. On March28 , they charged my credit card for $68. I called when I noticed it on my April statement and requested a refund on my cc. The owner apologized sheepishly and offered an excuse, but did credit my card $68 on April 30. Then he charged my card again (!) on May 1. I have requested another refund. He charged me three times for $68 and credited me once. In other words he tried to steal money from me. Avoid.
14. Woodside Avenue Music Inc
Address: 2859 Central St, Evanston, IL 60201 , Kenilworth , Illinois , United States
MY Piano Study is top notch if your looking for musical education for you kids. Both of my children took lessons with Martha when her studio was still in her home. The high demand for her excellence, caring and amazing teaching skills has led to her opening a beautiful studio in Evanston. Group lessons for little ones let your child try piano without breaking your budget. Highly recommended!
My Piano Study has excellent teachers! My twins have been students here for 4 years now and they are progressing very well! Thank you My Piano Study!
Wonderful space to learn and instruct music at!
16. Kenilworth
Address: 400 Richmond Rd, Kenilworth, IL 60043 , Kenilworth , Illinois , United States
Kenilworth Is A Nice Station, Has The Basic Amenities You’d Expect At A Train Station (Station House With Benches, Train Status/Arrival Announcements, Etc.) Overall Pretty Nice.
Seems like a nice place to take a bike ride or stroll with family
17. Bleachers Sports Music and Framing
Address: 1100 Central Ave #E, Wilmette, IL 60091 , Kenilworth , Illinois , United States
Great store with lots of unique and rare items. I have purchased two great pieces of memorabilia and have enjoyed my experience there. Looking forward to visiting them again soon.
The owner is such a nice welcoming guy. I just stopped in with family to look around and he has such an awesome place. I really had an amazing time talking with the owner.
Awesome store with great products. Knowledgeable and personable staff. I highly recommended!
I DONT suggest buying cards here. I was super excited that a card shop was opening right by my house. I come in most days after school because it’s on my way home. I would come in and see the cards and then I wouldn’t see anything I was interested in and I would leave. I come in today and Im looking around and I asked if I he could lower the prices on a card that was listed for 400 dollars but has recently sold for 80, 125, and 149. I asked him if he could lower it and he starts getting angry and says that prices in store have nothing to do with eBay. Then he goes on a rant about how I always ask prices but don’t buy anything and I then responded with “because it’s too overpriced and I don’t like the prices” he then kicks me out and says I shouldn’t come back. Tried giving a shop a try.
Tried to give business to this local shop but I sadly learned my lesson. They had advertised a signed and framed jersey on both eBay and their website. I called, discussed the item, and agreed on a price directly with Keith and I made an immediate payment via telephone. Went to pick it up the following week and Keith attempted to give me a framed jersey of the person agreed on BUT not the one i actually discussed/purchased (again, was on their website…), which was still sitting behind the counter. I advised that I purchased the other one (which is clearly shown on the website) and he advised that “we never discussed the particular jersey” and I couldn’t take the other one as “2 people had come in earlier in the day and showed interest in it, they were longtime customers and he did not want to upset them if they came back.” Then tried to argue that we never agreed on the actual jersey/frame. I think anyone who collects and buys memorabilia will know exactly what they are buying, as it’s important to the value and the individual collector. He THEN went on to tell me if I paid $200 more, he would give me the other one (although 2 minutes earlier he said I could not allegedly have it due to “longtime customers” might wanting it…). I continued to argue, and he finally agreed to refund me. However, he calls me 2 hours later telling me that the “longtime customers” didn’t end up wanting it and now I could have it….Although he then claims he was trying to make it right, how I was treated AFTER making the purchase was unprofessional. I won’t be buying or recommending to anyone to buy from this company, which is unfortunate as they are local.
Negative experience. We were in there looking around and dealing with one of the employees, who was great. Everything was going well. I didn’t catch his name, but the older, bald guy, who I think is the owner, felt the need to interject himself into our shopping experience. And not in a way that was helpful or to provide customer service. Rather, it was to bloviate some nonsense for whatever player he was fanboying for at the time. Instead of fostering fun conversation, he started personally attacking us with insults and being rude in general when we weren’t buying into his shtick. I’m always a bit caught off-guard when people behave like this, but I have stopped trying to figure out why people do this. It was our first time in this shop, so we were total strangers to him. Why act like a jerk so quickly to someone you don’t even know, let alone treat a new customer poorly like that? It’s simply not necessary. I found his interpersonal and customer service skills to be absolutely abysmal. And it was just normal sports talk and he acted like this. Just a bizarre encounter in general. It’s a good thing he has his own business, because if he worked for me and I heard him talking to customers like that, I would have fired him on the spot. As a former potential repeat customer, all I can do is fire him by not visiting ever again. Ever. He doesn’t deserve my business. He should stick to the back office and let the other employees handle the customers as he doesn’t have a knack for it.
It’s a shame that his behavior and his behavior alone produced a negative experience for us, because we were looking forward to going there. I cannot in any way whatsoever recommend this shop to my friends and family.
18. Flatts and Sharpe Music Co.
Address: 6749 N Sheridan Rd, Chicago, IL 60626 , Kenilworth , Illinois , United States
Hello, My twin collegiate daughters have been talking about taking up the ukulele and guitar the past several months. During that time I have been gathering instrument information and tips. I ended up purchasing a Fender MA-1 starter guitar and a Kohala Concert Ukulele. I stopped in to Sharp & Flatts Music Shop on a few occasions and talked with Christian every time(on Sundays). He is just about the friendliest guy that I have ever met and he is a wealth of information. Each time I brought in a new set of questions he took the time to explain everything that I needed to know and then some. I brought in the Ukulele and he took a good look at it and tuned it up on the spot. He would not take anything for this service. I would recommend this shop to anyone playing guitar, ukulele, violin, or keyboards. I will return as a customer for knowledge, accessories, and maintenance of these instruments.
Flatts & Sharpe Music Co. in Rogers Park is my favorite music store in Chicago! They have a great selection of instruments and a ton of sheet music. Cool little stage in the front room where they have in-store performances. I am always treated nice by the folks there and love stopping in whenever I can to see what new goodies they have out.
As an active musician I loved Flatts and Sharpe’s extensive amount of equipment and help that they provided. The owner, Chris Bell, is a wonderful woman who helped my band out by recommending musicians she personally knew who were looking for work to add to my group. She also let us use her facilities as a practice space when we couldnt use ours. The experience there is wonderful. I often will just walk in to talk about music with the employees or browse books of music. The place is my go-to for music and always will be.
My daughter says her Violin instructor is very nice:)
It’s better to walk there, if you’re local; no parking 4 to 6pm….
There’s a pleasant, vintage vibe.
Friendly staff. Fun little old school music shop. Sheet music selection kinda light. Look forward to going back, though. They offer music lessons, too.
i couldn’t believe how nasty to me one of the women at this shop was. feel terrible for anyone that has to work around her cause wow! i would’ve come here again as well if not for her!
I purchased an antique, vintage trumpet for my 78 year old father to inspire him to play again, he played from age 7 thru mid-20s. I found this store to repair and update the trumpet, my goal was to make it usable and as perfect as possible. After dropping it off, I called to pay for the service and was talked into buying a brand new case by the owner (woman). She seemed friendly and was happy to make a sale, I told her that my father would be driving a long distance, over an hour, to pick up the trumpet & case and that he had had recent surgery, and now a difficult time walking – I specifically asked her to be extra helpful and kind to him due to the nature of his journey to pick up his gift.
What happened when he arrived was the exact opposite. He said the owner was abrupt, and not helpful, so much so she denied having the trumpet mouth piece when it was simply on a counter right in front of both of them, he had to show her where it was. He said it seemed she was trying to rush him and get him out of the store asap. She was preoccupied and didn’t give him the attention needed to do a simple transaction let alone with the extra courtesy I had asked of her. My father told me she was very abrupt and rude to him !
I recommend you do your research before doing business with this owner, After this incident I read reviews on another well known review platform (I know a bit too late!) and saw a post left by a patron mentioning that this woman may be racist – I thought, isn’t that interesting, my father is Hispanic. Makes me wonder!
Took my les paul in for a set-up, and it was no longer playable when they were finished. Would not recommend.
19. Tobias Music
Address: 5013 Fairview Ave, Downers Grove, IL 60515 , Kenilworth , Illinois , United States
Great communication online and over the phone. Fast shipping, and perfectly packaged. Will definitely buy another guitar from them in the future!
My 25 year old strat plays like new after a quick pit stop at Tobias Music. Super fast, friendly and professional. Definitely my new go-to spot for all future guitar purchases and service.
I went in because of their ads and I like small family shops. Just walking in you feel welcome. I am an old beginner. They treated me as well as some of their regular “pros” that were hanging around the shop. They represent many brands, but their collection of Taylors and Martins is outstanding. They took a lot of time with me and helped me find what I really wanted without pressure. Whenever I’m in the neighborhood, I stop in. They have a beautiful comfortable “lounge” showroom. Great atmosphere.
They are more of a acoustic guitar place not really a place for bass players .
***EDIT***
So, I am knocking down my review from five stars to three; due to my most recent experience a couple months after the first one. So I reached backout to buy another guitar (place order) as I really wanted an AD22e or another model I can’t remember, but after confirming they could place the order I let them know that I wanted the AD22e and to provide me the full price so we could close the deal and they went silent, mind you I didn’t even get a copy of the receipt from my AD27e that never came which I had also requested from the last conversation.
I did finally get my guitar ordered but I had a national retailer place the order. I was disappointed I didn’t hear back from Tobias Music about completing the purchase and obtaining a copy of the receipt for my AD27e that never came.
** original **
Just bought an AD27e (Taylor) from them after finding it for sale online. it was a great buying experience. I’m a lefty, buying guitars online is the norm, and most of the time guitars I buy take a day or two to pack and ship. we had a few emails back and forth and they were quick to respond and very professional. These guys had it packed and shipped the same day, and I didn’t place my order until after lunch; that’s service.
They also took the time to dial the guitar in; it came with the action set and was tuned ready to play out of the box. Paul did a great job and really made this buying experience easy, and hassle free. I’ll have to check back often to see what other lefty guitar they get in. If I have the chance, I will buy from them again.
