Top-20 of music shops in Near North Side

Thank you Jak Pott for helping us get our business in order….. I didnt have a clue Sad but true.

Hey Dude! I am outside of US. I know little about this. Is there any way to convert that to actual money?

As an up and coming Artist Jak Pott Money Music Inc. was a great place to record and produce my music, thank you to everyone at the studio helping me make this possible, excellent production atmosphere I couldn’t be happier!!

Amazing place to try out Saxophone and Clarinet equipment!

Great place to try out equipment! Try out some Bass Clarinet mouthpieces and ligatures and the employee (Richard) was great as well. Would totally recommend it to anyone looking for a place to try out new clarinet or saxophone equipment!

A professional place good place to be on.

Cant reac as wrong number listed

new setup and fretboard leveling, guitar is like new

I’ve brought a number of guitars to 3rd Coast, and they’ve treated me and my gear great, every single time. I’ve also brought a number of my friend’s guitars in for work – these are full time music pros – and every one of them has been very happy with the work. I’ll be dropping off one of my acoustic/electric guitars today for a drastic change in pickups… and I can’t wait to hear the results. You can’t go wrong with 3rd Coast.

Last year after his passing, I inherited my brother in law’s 1974 Guild F50 which was unfortunately in very poor condition. I contacted the current Guild Guitars company in California to inquire as to whether or not they offered restoration work on Guild instruments. They said they did not, but highly recommended Third Coast Guitar and Amp Repair in Chicago. I now know why.

I then contacted Third Coast owner Chris Eudy and learned that he is a Guild enthusiast. He said they were very busy at the shop, but could indeed do a complete restoration. The F50 needed a proper neck reset (had to sort a previous botched neck reset) and refret, a new bridge and bridge plate, new bone nut and saddle, new pickguard, the head block replaced (not headstock) and because of the state of the finish, I decided to have the instrument refinished (which I typically would not do) but I felt as though this guitar deserved a new lease on life. I should also mention, that even in it’s almost unplayable state, I could tell this top of the line Guild jumbo flattop had an amazing voice.

The ultra talented Third Coast luthier that performed this complete restoration is Zach Duran. Thanks to Zach, the guitar is now a “time capsule” – a 1974 Guitar that looks and sounds like a new guitar, only better. The playability, intonation and voice of this instrument is incredible.

If Third Coast can bring a guitar like this back to life, I’m confident that they can do anything.

Many thanks to Chis, Zach and the entire staff of Third Coast Guitar and Amp Repair for preserving this legendary instrument. I can’t stop playing it!

Good People who does great guitar repairs and upgrades.

Very respectful and good price

They were really knowledgable and helpful.

I rarely ever leave poor reviews anywhere, but feel the need to inform potential customers of a potential problem they may encounter.

Third Coast Guitar may have excellent technicians as others have stated. Unfortunately I will never know.

Facts: I dropped off my Martin guitar for a repair. The technician that checked me in and took my guitar told me it was a minor and easy repair (trim on the neck started to come loose). He said it would probably be a few weeks given it was around the holidays. 12 weeks later I called to just come in and pick up my guitar which hadn’t been touched – no repair started. I gave up.

Unfortunately, Third Coast Guitar never called me even to just give me an update. I had to call them twice for updates. First it was they were waiting on Martin regarding warranty work. The second call I said I would have gladly paid for the repair myself. The third time at 12 weeks, I just said I want my guitar back.

I will have to find another repair shop now.

Observations: 1.) There seemed to be little urgency to follow-up with Martin regarding warranty work. I got the sense that if I hadn’t called the first time, they still wouldn’t have followed up. The Technician to which I talked said they would check with Martin. This was a month after I dropped it off. Again I would have gladly paid for it myself. Stay on top of that if told it could be warranty work all you potential customers. 2.) A courtesy call or two with updates would have gone a long way, even if it’s bad news. My guitar would still be there waiting. Whether they have 10 guitars to repair or 2000 to repair in the backlog, a courtesy call takes 30 seconds and keeps the customer informed and usually happy. 3.) I expect there will be a reason or two that it took this long. But seriously, 12 weeks and not even touched. No apology when I picked it up. That made me wonder how often this happens. But that’s just an observation and I could be the anomaly.

They are smug and judging. They weren’t always this way, but something has changed in the last year. It’s also hard to find parking.

Had two of guitars worked on both came back with same problems. I’m out with you guys don’t spend all the money I gave you in one place .I got burned.

Total pro operation!

Julie is a great teacher!
She is very dedicated to providing the best piano lessons.
I highly recommend her studio.

Very good place

Helpful staff has helped me purchase two of my guitars as a relative newbie.

Wonderful experience buying a starter guitar for my daughter. We were helped by the very capable Hann.

Helpful staff

Helpful staff

I just went there to jam, and the staff was super cool with it.

Stay away from the Halstead Guitar Center!!!! They are very unprofessional and waste our time driving there over half an hour for a case they told us they had and with an half an hour of getting there it was a lie. Prior to getting getting information was like pulling a tooth.

Their rude asl , store needs to close

I went to look to purchase a specific type of keyboard today and felt that the one keyboard “specialist” who I had to wait awhile for, did not want to be bothered by my questions as he gave short, uninformative answers and then had to go. Not sure where he was going as there were more staff there standing around than customers when I was there. The other staff seemed friendly enough, but they did not know about the keyboards they sell and most just standing idle. I historically like Guitar Center and have bought from this store a few times before, but won’t be back at this location.

Amazing spot!!!

Alexander was awesome! I was having issues with stringing my guitar and he fixed me up in a jiffy, answered all my questions, and most importantly didn’t make me feel stupid being a new guitarist. I would highly recommend checking out this shop as they have a good selection of instruments and used stock as well! Talk about excellent customer service!

Amazing customer service, great selection, and super helpful.

Cool little used gear shop. They did seem to have some new items, as my friend purchased an amplifier. The employee was nice and knowledgeable.

Great service

Staff is friendly. Nice little selection if you dig around. Unfortunately they are not consistent with purchasing used gear. But always good for a trade.

Bad setup.

This place was a rip off. Purchased their 1 month 30 min guitar lessons on Groupon which was $60. I found it weird how Evolution Music was no longer available on Groupon shortly after my sons first day. Went before my 7 yr old started school and Josh still charged me the whole $120 without checking my Groupon and said we could extend his lessons for 3 months instead and was guaranteed my money back ANY TIME. A little later I started facing some personal problems along with my pregnancy and also my son was starting school. The latest lesson I believe is at 3 pm which was cutting it close. I asked for my money back and the manager refused. It really wasn’t even worth it at all. It would’ve been better if it was more than one day a week for a 30 min guitar lesson.

The inventory, service and space is unbelievable! Far better experience here than any of the nationwide retailers. This is how a music store should be. Great selection and the used vintage equipment is in great shape. This is a favorite of mine, for sure. Pricing is competitive. Parking can be difficult, though it is definitely worth it. Selection is fantastic.

Such a great place! Daniel and Dan were so wonderful explaining the process of selling my guitar thoroughly. They handled an emotional sale with geace and compassion. I also observed the other interactions between staff and customers and was impressed with their friendliness and knowledge. I would recommend the store and the entire staff for all your music needs.

Great place, let’s you try out tons of equipment.

I’ve been to a couple of great guitar shops but honestly this might damn near be my favorite. They had a fender 79 Tele custom with a beatiful brown body all original. The gentleman pulled it down and I fell in love with that pricy little lady. They have private rooms with amps you can go in and play was a super cool experience. The guys there are very friendly not pushy they love the gear just as much kind of caught me off guard honestly used to guitar center guys who don’t know history this staff SAS extremely knowledgeable. I’m exuded to go back and buy my electric dream

They have alot in stock and helpful staff. The luthiers are great at what they do.

Cool guitars, but expensive as all hell.

Cool place with an absolutely stellar selection. Where things go south for me are the employees. Out of the 5-6 times I’ve been there I’ve never really had a pleasent interaction one. Out of all the workers I’ve met, which has been about 2-3 per visit, all of them have been somewhat to extremely unhelpful, cold, pretentious, and sort of snobby. All of those things. All the while I was shopping with my sister, who is 10 years old, and had a few questions (she has been playing guitar for a few years)
And upon her asking questions politely, they showed the exact same qualities; flat tone, one word answers, not looking at you while talking, not sharing information on something I’m interested in buying, etc.
The Chicago Music Exchange Employees being super snobby is a joke among my 4 bandmates and I. We instead go to Midwest, RocknRoll Vintage, and Dynamite instead.
I’d expect a place with such a reputation to hire better.

Expensive place

Took my guitar in for a new set of pickups to be installed. When I took my guitar home I found that it was missing several screws from the back plate and one missing screw for the pickup selector. The back plate was all cracked and after a week the bridge pickup stopped working. When I took a look at the inside I could see it was a terrible soldering job that I had to fix. I am greatly disappointed in the poor workmanship and will never take any of my guitars here again.

Mark Zeboski is the owner and is a friend. That said…he is one of the best and most professional engineers I have ever worked with. I recently recorded 8 songs with Mark and he got my vibe right and kept it consistent throughout the sessions. ARU is top notch.

Best in the business, located at this address.

Very professional but still had a lot of fun! Had a blast learning about the voice acting and recording process

Carl Becker is the kind of man you want to deal with. He is a world renowned violin maker, yet he is down to earth and concerned for each person who visits his shop. Carl and Tim worked above that which would be expected to help us get the right violin for my daughter. We are grateful for their efforts and expertise that reveal why people shop here. You ought to visit and see for yourself.
2 Years after we purchased our violin, I still have a great respect for Carl Becker and the instruments produced by him and those he has worked with. My daughter is complemented everywhere we go about the tone and quality of the instrument the crafted.

Helpful, knowledgeable, and fair.

Came to Carl Becker & Son from out of town and was very impressed at their professionalism, kindness and quality of service. Customer service and communication exceeded my expectations for standard string instrument maintenance.

Caring customer service and great advice to find what is best when purchasing a string instrument.

He’s the best!

They have a wonderful and large collection of high end instruments

productos de calidad

Very helpful and flexible personnel. An excellent stock of instruments, and fine surroundings to evaluate and choose those instruments for longer term evaluation. My first choice when selling or buying a fine instrument.

Went over there and did a rehair on my viola bow. Wasn’t that satisfied. If it was a emergency, you can consider this place. The guy who welcomes the guests is not that really welcoming.

Tried to buy a bow there a few years back. Kenneth Warren, Jr. did not want to do any bargaining. He was actually insulted I tried to do some bargaining. Had many colleagues have similar experiences. I don’t recommend his shop.

They were able to find me a time for an emergency bow repair when I was in town for an audition but the repair didn’t last. 5 months later and the new eye they installed is stripped again. Will not recommend.