Premium music shops of Municipio de San Marcos: Our Top-5 selection

Helpful staff. Guitar repairs. Love this place. Just wish they had a better selection of books for beginners.

Went in with a problem, ten minutes before they closed, and they fixed it right there. I was out before 9:05 pm. I was so impressed with their willingness to fix my bass at the end of the night.

Great thanks

Decent selection but some instruments are in disrepair. Seems some brands that arent big box names are missing. Decent prices though. Gear buy back isnt worth it.

It’s loud. It’s crazy. It’s guitar center! Huge selection, somewhat competitive prices. Sometimes haggling is needed, which is a pain, but hey– used cars and guitars, I guess. Getting help can be hard and this place can be overwhelming but they certainly have a huge selection. I bought a ukulele here once, as well as strings and a patch– reasonably priced. It’s just easy to leave with a headache too.

Great place, a little expensive but very informative!

I drove from Poway to the San Marcos Guitar Center to find a couple specialty effects pedals. One Morley pedal was mismarked as a Wah/Volume pedal. It was just a volume pedal. They had a used MXR delay pedal on display that couldn’t be sold until the next day to be sure it wasn’t stolen. Then I asked about a good boost pedal. The sales rep suggested a very good brand. After a search, they didn’t have one in stock. The management needs a check up.

Really difficult to get somebody at the store to help a guitar beginner. Order online a new guitar instead based only on reviews and they want it to send me a displayed guitar with missing items for the same price claiming that the guitar did not have anything wrong. Really????!!!! Had to cancel my order and went somewhere else.

They have a stupid law, they offer a used instrument for sale but you’re not able to buy them until one more later because they have to check if is stolen, but is on display

Very friendly and helpful staff.

The people work here was helpful and awesome place a lot of music supplies no one can beat this store

San Diego Music Studio is the best place to shop for musical instruments, and any item you need that has to do with music. They go above and beyond to help you get what you need. I will never shop at guitar center again!!

Update 9/28 – Ryan called to apologize and made things right. In light of that I have upgraded the rating to 4 stars. Often times it’s not the mistake, but the reaction and I think Ryan did a good job resolving the issue.

The customer service for the rental is horrible. Bliss was terribly rude. I had an auto debit for a rental and I had that for a couple of years. The bank issued me a new card and it had lapsed. That happened in the past and they would call. This last time I got a new call saying it was two months past, but I never got a call for the first month, or an email, and she couldn’t do anything to waive the late fees, which were $15 for a $19 a month rental (79% of the rental cost). All because they couldn’t call or send and email. Sounds like their business model is to just make their money on the late fees rather than be reasonable.

We were looking to get a flute repaired and visited this location, having heard good experiences from others and being quoted a quick turnaround for the repair over the phone. Unfortunately, our service experience was rather disappointing. The staff present seemed inexperienced in working with customers. We were told they required a $20 for a same-day evaluation of the instrument, which we agreed to as the repair was urgent. However, the staff came back afterwards saying the instrument required “General Adjustments” (for which we were quoted a charge of $95), without explaining what was wrong with the instrument. The staff didn’t make much of an attempt to understand what was wrong with the instrument or provide clarification when we asked what exactly what was going to be fixed.

We came back a few days later when the instrument was ready for pick up, and the issue we were facing was not fixed! After this, we talked with one of the mechanics there and explained the issue, and they were able to identify the issue and repair the instrument, rather quickly in fact! Had we been able to do this from the beginning, we could have saved a lot of time and headache.

We will not be returning to this location for future repairs.

Just got a Kawai digital piano. Art was the kindest guy ever. He is very knowledgeable and passionate about pianos-it’s contagious. He schooled us on how traditional and digital pianos work and how they compare. I felt no pressure from him when he was showing me different price ranges of digital pianos. Most importantly, I love the piano I purchased!

Art and Tyler are knowledgeable and nice people. I did not feel any sales pressure when I visited their store and tried their pianos. They have a good selection for all levels of piano players.

This is the best place to buy a piano.

Does not know how to sell a piano. If you want to sell something that is all ready over priced, don’t lie or B.S. the customer. You never know who is listening or who you may be actually talking to. I would never buy an instrument from this place.

Great service! They helped me & my son find everything he needed for beginning band. They were very friendly and knowledgeable! They made it so easy for us, as we knew very little and just had the list from the teacher. They did mention that their main store in Rancho Penisquitos has more selection, but they were still able to get us everything we needed. I highly recommend Bertrand’s.

These guys are real champs. Great work and good communication. thanks.

Amazing customer service and prices

Quick and capable but prices for repair were really high. We don’t have the money for the repairs so will have to pass, wish they were more economical.

Very skilled.

Brought my PRS Custom 22 to have a setup/adjustment. In addition to that, the guy that worked on it also polished the body and neck finish. The guitar finish is now radiant. As far as the setup goes, the intonation and playability is extraordinary. Any chord & any note any where up and down the neck is very sweet sounding.

Thank you James Hood Guitars, Escondido/San Marcos.

Knows his stuff!

Great guys with a passion for guitars they did a nice job on the repair and putting in a new pickup in my Martin d-35

I broke the neck off my Les Paul.A few miscommunications with the desk about timing, but we’ll worth it given the craftsmanship. Tucker did an amazing job! Can hardly tell it was in two pieces!

Thanks for everything James.

FINAL UPDATE: I returned to James Hood Guitars after being reached out via the owner. The gentleman at the front desk was extremely helpful and accommodating in correcting my previous concerns; Thank you kind sir! There wasn’t an ounce of awkwardness and I was welcomed back kindly. It’s hard to find a shop that sticks by their work but James Hood did just that and didn’t hesitate to make things right with the customer. I would most likely return to try different services should I ever need any major work done to my guitar in the future. Thank you James and the team.

UPDATE RESPONSE:
James Hood Guitars, thank you for the informational response to my review concerns. I can definitely understand if the guitar sits case less and collects dust for days while the shop waits for the customer to have time to pick up their finished product but that unfortunately wasn’t the situation here. I was waiting for my guitar completion and never received any updates claiming it was done to begin with. I only came in on a whim to see how it was going and possibly shop around when I ended up being told it was ready while I was there. So in this particular situation, my guitar wasn’t sitting there long enough to collect that much amount of dirt on it. The bridge was completely caked in dust with debris all over various areas including pick up and headstock. Along with this review were the pictures taken directly after I received my guitar, if you needed further reference of my concerns.
I appreciate the offer but have since de-strung and finished the clean up and polish process myself, so I’ll have to pass on the cleaning compensation you offered. I was hoping to pay your shop to have those stresses avoided doing it myself lol but that didn’t end up going well. Thanks though.

FIRST REVIEW:
Called ahead to get information on a full clean with polish before deciding on this location. Prices were a bit higher than competitors but I was assured they do a phenomenal job and it was well worth the price here. The wait was estimated at a week and throughout that time I never received any email or text updates. After the week was up, I called to check in on my guitar and they said they were really busy so I gave them a few more days as I wasn’t in much of a rush anyway. Those few more days go by and still no update via email, call, or text… I drove down to ask in person how everything was going and I guess it was ready? Lol! Attached to this review is the condition of my guitar upon pick up. Caked dust and debris all over it. I swiped the dust with my pinky to see if it was that difficult to clean, and it came right off. String swap and action adjustment were fine but not the main service I inquired about and was assured they’d do a grand job on so thus the dissatisfied review.

Took in my Historic J-45 Gibson acoustic guitar. Requested a new neck nut and new bridge saddle if needed and set up. New nut was requested because of intonation problems and string slots being cut too deep. Then I specifically asked the guys in the shop if this work could be performed at the luthier level proficiency. I was charged 180 and assured of their quality of work. 3 weeks or so later I pick up my guitar am am in utter shock. Super glue dripping down the neck, guitar extremely un-intonated, buzzing strings…the list goes on. I’m informed that the new guy, who is apparently a sound guy, decided to take on the job. I left my guitar at the shop. I contacted James directly and he assured he would personally fix any issues on my guitar first thing the following day and be in touch. The next day I went by the shop to grab my guitar and most of the issues created by the “Sound Guy” were fixed, but the guitar still had string buzz and intonation issues. I just took my guitar at that point But asked James, who, no doubt knows his stuff concerning instrument repair, could let a shop sound guy/entry level guitar repair guy work on my instrument. Poor Shop management and poor quality control. Beware guys.

James is a wonderfully confident guy who convinced me to spend more than my guitar cost to get more out of it. Original cost for my Ibanez electric–$150. I spent another $150 with James promising to fix the scratchy pots and amplifier hum and set the guitar to play faster/better.

I was there 3 times for this. First time, the pots still scratchy. Second time, I had to wait 20 minutes, while he attended to other customers. And I regret letting him talk me into more work.

Had to leave my axe for a total of 3 weeks. Sad to say, not only is the amp hum worse, the strings buzz and the pots are not Ibanez originals, but what James had on hand. He forced the original knobs on and I can’t get them off.

Really hate what he did to my guitar. This was a nightmare.

I don’t normally write reviews. Never complain. I would never take any guitar to him. I don’t care what other people say. This was the worst experience I’ve ever had. I had to fix the guitar myself. Lesson learned. Never again.

James Hood stole $3600 from the sale he made on my late husband’s consigned guitar. The money was to be used for my daughter’s college tuition. Mr. Hood knew that I was desperate to collect the funds, as financial debt resulting from my husband’s death left our family in dire straits. Six months after the sale was made (which he failed to notify me of) I discovered that his business, Buffalo Guitars, went out of business and he declared bankruptcy. Today, James Hood is in business again, but has made no attempt to pay me the money he made from the sale. I have taken this to small claims court; however, his BK filing prevented any small claims from affecting him. As a result, the next step will be taken to complaint of consumer fraud. This was unethical and criminal. My husband passed from pancreatic cancer, which left four kids and a widow with tremendous debt. It was difficult to part with his treasured guitars, but even worse to be taken advantage of by someone we trusted.