Great place. Came in with a few questions and had them all answered. Stop by and check this place out!
The best music store in Monterey County.
Wonderful service! A good variety of guitars, both acoustic and electric, as well as a selection of ukuleles. Definitely recommend.
When people say their prices are bad here, they should have looked a little deeper into things. I may not know music that well, but I do know basic business practices, and that got me out the door with a cheap, brand new guitar. I was in the market for my first guitar, and yes they were all a little expensive, BUT I had seen the sign outside their glass doors that says “we match or beat any price.” Boom. Done. You can’t lose when a place has a sign like that. Sometimes you gotta do a little research to get what you want (in this case, look at prices online at other stores), and then ask for what you want, instead of just taking in-store prices As the final word.
Nice variety of instruments, and I’m sure the lessons are good too.
Not huge array for piano/keyboard. But great guitar selection.
Scam place. Tried to sell me a $7 Snark tuner for $30
The bad store trifecta: rude staff, absurd prices, terrible selection. They no doubt survive because they are the only store in the area. Do not shop here. +1 star for the cute dog.
I remember years ago when this place used to be Abinante Music. My uncle used to manage it. I visited the store one time when helping a blind friend that does business with them on transportation to the store. After my experience with this store….. i will never return.
2. KurtHeisig Music
Address: 512 Polk St, Monterey, CA 93940 , Monterey , California , United States
We loved this shop. The owner was very helpful and knowledgeable about many kinds of music. An accomplished flutist, he also gave our daughter a tutorial lesson on the flute. We bought our daughter’s latest flute from this shop.
I just walked in and was welcomed by Kurt, would love to spend more time and a few drinks w this gentleman.
He’s very intelligent on making instruments play their best and adapting them to do so.
World class instruments!
I find this to be a gem of the Bay Area. The owner is extremely personable, knowledgeable and is a business I have no problem supporting by patronage.
Kurt is flute knowledgeable and that is remarkable. His experience lies in Saxophones as he is an experienced player.
Don’t get trapped in a 2 hour conversation you won’t want to have.
3. Recycled Records
Address: 604 Lighthouse Ave, Monterey, CA 93940 , Monterey , California , United States
Great little record store! Found tons of good finds – some unopened! Owner is very sweet and just reopened after being closed for 3 months. Please go support him!
Great store really cool owner and a lot of old goodys picked up 5 on this stop in 15 min a must stop for vinyl collectors
Fine rare gems here!
Good selection, but Overpriced in my opinion.
Nice shop, with a large selection packed into a fairly small space. Relatively well organized, but not the easiest to browse or find things if you’re looking for something specific. Generally pretty average pricing, although some things seemed overpriced for what they were. Friendly and welcoming staff, although they didn’t know where to look for a few things I was trying to find.
I found tons of interessing stuff in here. A lot of Jazz and Westcoast psychedelich in good conditions and for fair prices.
Recommended!!!
Store is very messy and used records are usually pretty beat with laughable asking prices. Owner has a major attitude like people owe him something for existing. He has no sense of building community and is kind of a jerk. I try to spend money here but dealing with the owner is not worth it. If you’re gonna support a local record store I’d advise checking out Bob at Vinyl Revolution so you can talk to someone that is actually passionate about music and knows his records.
If it weren’t for the fact that I traveled more than 2 hours to visit Monterey and then spent 2 hours looking through the store, I wouldn’t have given a dime of my money to this shop. I have never encountered another human being with such a lack of common decency as the owner of this record store.
No. Don’t go to this place. First off, I couldn’t find anyone to help me for 10 minutes. When I did get help, the owner is cranky and isn’t friendly. I asked for help and he blew me off. Not to mention, the store was messy and it smelled. I won’t come back.
4. Mark’s Records
Address: 471 Wave St, Monterey, CA 93940 , Monterey , California , United States
Really nice selection of used records, much much better than your average booth at an antique mall (and rivaling some other close-by shops). All genres are mixed in a simple A>Z format.
Condition for the ones I looked at (and bought) was quite good, and prices are fair. Can’t say how often they re-stock, but it was a nice dig on a quick visit from out of town!
5. Bookmark Music
Address: 307 Forest Ave, Pacific Grove, CA 93950 , Monterey , California , United States
This place is great. Super, super helpful. Came in to get nylon strings for a steel string guitar (because I have no clue on guitars) and they explaned why you can’t do that. They had recommendations for all sorts of teachers (guitar, cello) and were generally just super nice.
Sweet local music shop.
Bookmark is an actual small business run by by a real person, not a chain. It’s a lovely store and you’ll get the best and friendliest service possible. Tons of sheet music. Lots of expertise. I even found a clarinet Christmas tree ornament!
Great music selection for classical music. Friendly service.
Good selection. The customer service may be poor at times, so I would recommend having an idea or a list of items to support your search efforts. The sheet music is very disorganized, so I would plan to spend a few extra minutes searching for genre labels.
Great selection. Very friendly and helpful.
Required to sanitize my hands before entering her shop. I did not enter her shop! ( Had my vaccine, both.)4/12/23 No one wearing a mask in shop. There was no greeting hello etc just pointing to a bottle of sanitizer and saying you need to sanitize your hands first. I have been playing for 30 years and never handle someone else’s guitar or musical equipment unless my hands are washed. Just flat out rude. Seemed more concerned with flirting with the person at the counter. This is why more and more people are ordering on line. I always give locals in Pacific Grove first shot at my business and if a bad experience like with you , I order on line. Because of on line business, store ownes should be going above and beyond. On line is providing better prices, service and slection. Will be going to Amazon for my musical needs. As I was leaving your store I found a bag of marbles just outside of your door? Look familiar?
6. Siren Records – Monterey
Address: 527 Ramona Ave, Monterey, CA 93940 , Monterey , California , United States
This place is awesome! My boyfriend and I had the hardest time leaving because we couldn’t stop looking through all the records.
We left with some great finds by the end our visit though. I definitely plan to come back here next time I’m in the area.
Great place, great selections and great prices. Especially compared to My home town.
Awesome selection of brand new records
Casi no tiene para mexicanos
I like Siren Record store. Their only product is new vinyl records (and a few posters). A big selection of albums, box sets and a few 45’s available. Just about anything new is here. Prices are competitive with other stores that might sell a few new records. My only real complaint is that records are priced on printed booklets available for viewing….which means you have to look up the price of anything you might be interested in. If your just casually looking through stock it can be a bit if a hassle. The disparity in record prices can be pretty significant from one to another. I tend to be a value shopper so it’s a slow process for me. Service is quite good once I’ve made my selections. Otherwise a great record store.
Lots of variety but prices are too high on most items..
Very good selection: all new and popular albums. After reading other people’s reviews I figured they’d be the same price online so I decided I’d check this place out. They were right in the sense that no vinyl had a set price on it. When you ring out, the cashier doesn’t even tell you how much each one is just tells you your total. They overcharged around $10 or more on every vinyl. It wasn’t until I had to ask the cashier myself how much it was that they gave me the correct pricing. Cool place I guess but because of the overpriced records, I recommend just buying them online as it would save you a considerable amount of money. Will not be returning.
HORRIBLE, THESE PEOPLE ALSO OPERATE INTERNET SALES UNDER THE NAME RAREWAVES US & RAREWAVES UK, EXPLAINS THE “F” RATING WITH THE BBB
Rude and seemingly dishonest.
7. Whackabilly Music
Address: 1056 Seventh St, Monterey, CA 93940 , Monterey , California , United States
She’s so much fun and perfect for kids of all ages. I used to watch her perform when I was a little girl. Unfortunately I don’t live in the area anymore so my son hasn’t yet had a chance to see her. I highly recommend buying her music and seeing her perform.
9. Alaina Musich
Address: 171 Webster St, Monterey, CA 93940 , Monterey , California , United States
