Discover the top 17 music shops in New London

Tech service is incredible. Instruments are high quality and fairly priced. Large selection of high quality playable in store Martins. Easy parking.

Incredible shop with astounding costumer service. I brought in my acoustic guitar and my partners ukelele to have 1 restring on each of them and Cory made it happen quickly with NO CHARGE!!! They gained my respect and loyalty. Couldn’t recommend them more.

Mike the owner was amazing, Vince was just the greatest help getting the right guitar at the right price.

I will be purchasing again.

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.

They really know their guitars.

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

Buying a piano while being outside of the continental United States seemed to be a somewhat difficult experience. Being quite exigent, I began looking at various options through the Internet, when I found the Caruso Piano Gallery webpage. I looked at the preowned Grands and was impressed at the extensive selection of quality pianos available and their competitive prices. I had been looking for an American-built Baby Grand and a Baldwin Model M was available. This was the instrument I was looking for; it had a fine tone and was in mint condition. I called and the response I received was fantastic! These people are top notch. They showed the highest level of professionalism. After sealing the deal, they coordinated everything to make the delivery of the piano to New York City a complete success. If I were to buy another piano, I would look nowhere else.

This place is by far the best. There is a felt passion and pride in every ounce of their service that speaks for itself. Thank you again!

Richard and his team are truly pleasant to work with! They are very knowledgeable, responsive and helpful. They made this online piano shopping experience smooth and painless, which is beyond my expectation. Piano looks and sounds great, would definitely recommend Caruso!

I went to their store and also called them multiple times showing interest in one of their pianos. Despite the fact I showed interest and called/messaged multiple times on a piano, that piano was sold to an online buyer. There was no follow-up or a courtesy call to let me know that the product I was eyeing was gone or was about to be sold.

Nevertheless, I think that they have a good variety and a great knowledge base on pianos. I wish they were a little bit more responsive and courteous as buying a piano is a big purchase and takes time and thought.

EDIT: After my initial review, Caruso Piano contacted me and let me know that they have not reached out to me due to not getting a piano that was comparable to what I was looking for. Which is understandable. I truly appreciate them reaching out to me. I have to write that I learned a whole lot about piano buying from them when I first went to their store. I wish them good luck and hope they continue to be successful as a local business.

UPDATE October 5 2018: Richard Caruso promptly called me the day after I posted the review below. He apologized again, and very willingly reimbursed me for my travel expenses. I feel this was the ethical and right thing to do, and am glad that he made things right with me.

Original review: I flew in from Chicago to try out a Steinway B I had on deposit. The staff knew of my travel plans, and were very hospitable and welcoming. The piano, however, was noticeably out of tune on my arrival. While more accomplished pianists might not have seen that as an issue, it completely stopped me from getting excited about the piano. No sale for them, no new Steinway for me.
They were apologetic and realized their mistake when I pointed this out, but were unable to get the piano tuned while I was there.
This is a shop with perhaps good intentions, but they completely dropped the ball in this instance. I’m writing this review because I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.

I purchased a used U1 3 years ago from Carusos.

Please be aware: these are GREY MARKET pianos. They were originally built and sold in the Asian market. You will have proof when you remove the knee board and see the holder for the lease agreement. And due to that fact, the wood of the pianos is dried to standards for Asia. Not the U.S. or Northeast U.S.

I do like the piano, BUT I and my piano technician are having a heck of a time keeping the damper pedal from squeaking BADLY.

I had the piano saver system installed almost immediately. It has helped the piano hold tune very well.

But because this instrument was not built to the specifications of an American instrument (or North America) it is expanding very badly from the humidity.

I have a dehumidifier in the room with the piano, no heat or doors or windows near it. And I have my technition here AGAIN trying to shave down the knee board to try and eliminate this terrible groan/squeek.

My opinion? Buy a piano through a local piano tuner/technition or through a referral from a tuner tech. If you are going to purchase one of these grey market instruments bring your tuner with you. Pay them for their time and have them tune the instrument you choose BEFORE you give Carusos your money.

Recently bought a Rockerverb 100 MK3 from this store! I was worried about it getting mailed to me with past experiences with Guitar Centers HORRIBLE packaging BUT I was surprised! This package arrived a week later traveling 3,000 miles in great condition not a scratch on the box. Opened it up to see it was very well packaged for the first time ever!!!! Yes, they didn’t take the tubes out like policy says but no damage was done and the amp is in perfect working condition. I was very happy with the service I got even though the guy sounded stressed on the phone but he did say he was the only one there that day!

Very helpful sales crew.

very impressed with the steps taken for Covid.They take everyone’s safety serious. Very satisfied with safety precautions. staff was friendly, knowledgeable and helpful…. I ordered a used Amp from Reed. he was a pleasure to deal with and was very helpful . If you need to order a item online do it through the store instead of the website. if you order it through the store these hardworking employees get commission for the item. its a great way to put money in local employees pockets and help your local economy.

It’s a great store. Staff are helpful. They could use a bit more technical experience since they only have one technician working there

Plenty of equipment and friendly staff.

Not much Starr on hand. Guy who was workin ( he has been a huge help in the past) was working on a sale and I didn’t want to bug him with my small purchase.

I called about 3 weeks ago to ask about getting my guitar strings changed and the guy said “$20 a guitar and you can bring them in anytime”. I called today to double check that they had time to change the strings on my two guitars, and the guy said “I think it’s about $39 a guitar but it’s been so long since we’ve had a guitar tech that I couldnt even tell ya”. Bottom line he said they couldnt change the strings because they dont have a “tech”. You’re telling me there isnt one employee at GUITAR CENTER that knows how to change strings,
like the most braindead easy thing to do on a guitar? I’m convinced this dude basically told me their mcflurry machine was down.

Lesson learned. Spend as much time as you can with the instrument pre-purchase, if there’s a buzzing string or the action is too high or truss rod is off, they must charge for that adjustment. “The instruments come in from the factory and then we sell them, no adjustments are done pre-purchase”. Buyer beware.

I don’t hate it I don’t know it

Probably our favorite place to get vinyl in the state. Great sales bin and really nice selection. Rich is such a supporter of the music scene and hosts shows at his store as well as Hygienic Art Park and all over town with the I AM Festival. It’s worth the trip!

You’d be surprised by what treasures you will find in this awesome store. I go back every 2 weeks because so much stuff comes in and out. Great selection

Friendly and knowledgeable guys working here. Helped me figure out what was wrong with my player.

I walked in here to find more records for my record player, the guy working didn’t seem really helpful. He said “that all we got” while sitting at his desk

A good selection of records, but rather pricey.

Careful of quality of records here, overpriced but if in need of certain album and do not care about price good place to go. Just make sure you look at record quality. Does guarentee they don’t skip but was giving small attitude about return for different record . I just personally expect when I pay over 15 to 20 dollars for a record it has no scratches. With all this being said I still go here on occasion to look for the rare albums.

Had high hopes after reading the other reviews and took a trip down to visit. Very disappointing. Sure, they had tons of records, old and new but c’mon. The prices were higher than what I pay for at Barnes and Noble or Urban Outfitters! Some weren’t even in great condition. And the service was horrible. Not a “Hello” or “Welcome” when we walked in. Just gave us a look and he went to the back to keep talking to some other guy, not sure if he was also an employee, that was sitting down.

Had a great selection of used vinyl, but prices are high. I bought 7 Lp’s and some of them where very noisy and a couple skipped. If it wasn’t for the lunch at the Hot Rod Café the day would of been a waste.

Very rude owner, disorganized and a bad area to park or fell safe in

Great big band jazz/ swing music with focus on teaching with students playing beside professional musicians. Incredible experience

Good place

The Glenn Hansen Orchestra is an outstanding band. We’ve seen them many times and always first class! They play a good variety of songs and have tons of energy! Very professional people!

Nobody has more attention to detail, and delivers such flawless results as Bill. I did all of my own luthiere work for many years before meeting bill and now I won’t let anybody but him touch my stringed instruments.

As a person with much computer knowledge but lacking in the audio department, the team at 1428 has been EXCEPTIONAL with advising and consulting me in the right direction.

Many places will happily let you overspend for something you do not need and I am finding that to be the opposite here.

I’ve been in automotive sales since 2003 and can be very troublesome as a client, I am handled very well here.

Excellent work fair prices. The end.

The owner is a scam artist. I would be very cautious about letting him work on any equipment that you have put money into.

Very professional!!! Clean space!!! EXCELLENT QUALITY!!!

At a music school you want people from the administration on down to be passionate about music. I found that here. This is not to take focus from the excellent teachers who I’ve found to be patient and helpful. I look forward to each lesson. Practice rooms allow proper social distance. Lessons can also be taken a la carte.

good instructors

Great school and amazing teachers!

Living near this place is an absolute nightmare…. being able to hear the drumming non stop ALL DAY LONG… today alone I’ve been able to hear it in my home since 10am with the windows shut and tv on, its now 9:57pm and still the effing drumming continues!!!! Miserable to listen to all day every day. Why a music place would be allowed to move into a residential area without soundproofing is beyond me. This summer lwill be hell istening to the same drumb beat over and over for hours on end into the late evening

Tremendous performances.

Wonderful to still have quality music locally.

I love the interesting concerts the ECSO presents and the wide variety of music. The pre-concert lectures are fascinating and my family loves the post-concert refreshments. The ECSO is my favorite part of living in eastern CT!

Please promote cheyenne!!!! I called the store and the customer service she provided me was something you don’t see everyday. Cheyenne even gift wrapped my sons new drum just so he could have it as a great surprise for Christmas. Do whatever you can to keep her around she is worth it.

Love it

I have been coming here for eight years now, and this place really feels like home. Wouldn’t go anywhere else for my music needs!

Music instructors are the best.

This store usually has my sax needs.

Good music instructors, great service and great staff.

I rented an instrument for my son there over a month ago. The instrument was supposed to be delivered directly to the school but never arrived. Over the coarse of 2 weeks I called 3 separate times to inquire when the instrument would be delivered and was told “I don’t know, we will call you back” every time. We never received a call back. When I called today, the woman told me that they ran out of the instrument I ordered and they have no idea when/if they will get more in. They didn’t call or email me to let me know the instrument was back ordered and THEY STILL CHARGED MY CREDIT CARD HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS for the rental that they didn’t/couldn’t fill. Their customer service and transparency needs alot of work.

No ukulele’s or song books for ukulele’s even thou they advertise that they have them.

Buyer beware!! They charge you for lessons in advance! Staff up front can be RUDE! They give you give you misinformation and it costs you!