North Little Rock: Overview of the top 17 music shops

Hey! Just wanted to give a shout out to Brandon Toney of Renown Music in North Little Rock. Took my MusicMan Stingray to Brandon to do a set up. My bass came from the factory in virtually unplayable condition. Brandon was able to adjust the neck, bridge, pickup height, and intonation to put my bass into perfect playing condition with a set of new strings which I provided. And he did all this work in the space of one-hour! He thoroughly explained every adjustment he made on my bass. Brandon clearly has masterful skills when it comes to servicing guitars. And he’s a great guy! I was about ready to trade-in my MusicMan but now, after Brandon got his skillful hands on it, you couldn’t pry this bass out my clutches for any amount of money! It’s a keeper! I highly recommend Brandon to anyone in need of guitar repairs. Thanx Brandon for a job well done!

Great place to get gear and their luthier work is amazing! They have fixed several of my guitars other shops couldn’t! Highly recommend!

I drove 2 hours to have my bass guitar setup by Brandon he went out of his way to help me and took time to explain everything to me he did an amazing job on my new Bass it plays just how I want it to. I highly recommend Renown

Very knowledgeable and nice prices and good staff

Basically everything you need. Friendly people with diverse products,

Love it

Friendly staff, small selection instruments. Musical instrument lessons given here

Nice, clean store with nice stuff. A helpful staff that watch u coming in and out. Slightly high priced, but good quality merchandise.

In and out. Didn’t stay long. However, they had what I wanted and no one in the area complained about the half Naked Trucker with a guitar in the parking lot zoning out in his own world.

A few months ago, I visited Saied Music’s North Little Rock location to look into used flutes (online flutes are too hit-or-miss, I discovered, so I wanted to be able to try one before buying). Not wanting to spend a small fortune on an instrument I wasn’t sure I’d stick with, I figured used would be a safe bet.

The gentleman who was working that day showed me a Jupiter flute that had a price tag of $380 or $385 (I just distinctly remember it being in the $380 range). It had a head joint with a gold-plated lip plate that I found rather garish, but for the price, I was willing to consider it once I tried it and realized it played fairly easily. So, I went home to think on it, but I ultimately put off getting a flute for awhile.

Yesterday, I returned, and lo and behold, they had the same flute still in stock. However, this time a different guy brought it out, and the price had been removed, leaving only a partial green tag with some text on it. The man made a fairly loud show of talking to the other guy, who had originally showed it to me the first time I saw it, saying that, since it had a green tag, he could sell it for below the “book price.” He thumbed through a binder, ran his finger down a list of prices, and landed on $480. Then, he quoted me $450, saying that price was $30 below list.

I immediately thought of the scene in Legally Blonde when the clothing boutique worker pulls a tag off a dress from last season and tries to sell it to Elle for a huge mark-up, believing her to be too uninformed to know any better.

I closed the case without taking another look, then left the store without saying another word.

I lost all trust in Saied Music in that instant, and I will not return.

Not very much guitar stuff. Didn’t even have strap studs.

The absolute worst store ive ever been in will not be back

Great service and lots to choose from will definitely be going back

If there was a list of best record shops in Arkansas, Arkansas Record & CD exchange would be in the top 3. Their prices are reasonable, and their selection immense, and Bill (and the rest of the staff) will bend over backwards to find something for you. At least 80% of my collection came from here. I can’t recommend it enough!

Arkansas. Best music experience

Amazing selection. Not for the clostrophobic, and bring cash for best experience. Staff is helpful and knowledgeable.

Went in first time to check it out. Guy with glasses was helpful and nice. Burned up some time trying to work out the odd system of organization and ended up only finding one record I wanted. Went to check out and some different guy with a cold personality said “sorry 10 dollar minimum” … really? You can’t pay your .40 cent merchant fees considering I drove to this crumbling part of town and spent 30 min looking around? I don’t see any reason to return.

Not to mention they order

Wow. The only good thing I can say about this place is the selection and organization. Otherwise, I will not be back. You may not bring backpacks, large purses, or jackets in. He literally will make you take off your jackets. He also has a big velvet purple rope at the entrance. It looked gross and had been taped up. I didn’t want to touch it. I stepped over it. Don’t do that. He will get mad. He quickly snapped at me for stepping over the rope and my husband for not taking off his jacket and said didn’t you read the sign. The other bad thing besides his attitude are the prices! Yikes! 1 week prior I bought a new vinyl from Books a Million for 2 dollars cheaper then he had priced. Sure enough everything I picked up was more then what I could buy online or at Books a Million. I came here for a deal, but didn’t find any!

More than an hour to checkout 20 items and could not figure out what the total was, highest I saw written down was over 17,000 dollars for for what came out to be $350

The organization of the records in this store is absolutely atrocious, so naturally I needed help finding items. There were two employees there when I went, one was extremely friendly and funny, and the other older gentleman was strange and unapproachable. I asked him for help and he didn’t seem too happy to give it out and was even plainly rude. He would follow me around the store as if I was going to smuggle records out in my pants.

This is the great place for pipe organs.

David puts the customer first. He is open and honest with information and suggestions and has a wealth of knowledge in music.

Best local music store in Little Rock!!

Very warm and caring staff. Mr. Rosen is a honest and caring person, making sure all customers are satisfied

Staff really works with you.

I love this place!

Has lots of great accessories and great prices too!

Unique violin shop

I love that there’s a local place to have your stringed instruments adjusted and usually while you wait. My only complaint is that they charged me two different prices for the same service. My family is new to violin lessons and the instrument, so I can’t be absolutely sure that there was no difference…but there should be a uniform price for tuning/restringing a 1/4 sized violin. The staff is very courteous and informative. They also have a list of great string instrument instructors.

Great selection and an attentive staff.

When I first spoke to Steve (the owner) he told me “I have your piano”. He wasn’t kidding. After giving me a tour of the shop he let me roam around at my leisure to try out the pianos until I found “the one”. His knowledge of pianos and their care made it easy to make this important decision.

Very good selection and knowledgeable staff.

Professional great showroom lots to see delivery in the price just pay taxes

Best Piano store in Arkansas hands down ( no pun intended) I purchased my very first Baby Grand piano from Steve and play it everyday .. Definitely recommend Steve and his knowledgeable staff to
anyone who is interested in quality pianos Grands, uprights etc.
Before you put your money down someplace else
you owe it to yourself to visit The International Piano
Gallery.

This store is great I took my 14 year old son in Sunday and the salesman ( Charlie) was more than helpful on helping him pic out a guitar my son is just learning to play and a bit bashful so Charlie played various guitars so he could hear what they sound like and even ended up giving him a quick lesson just so he could play a few tunes on the one he picked out this store and the people are amazing going back this weekend.

I bought a ukelele as a new hobby. These guys are always professional and helped me find a quality product for a fair price.

Buen servicio exelente lugar

Great and knowledgeable staff. Great selection. Great products. My only complaint is the prices are a little high (it’s the reason for -⭐) but we all know this about Guitar Center at this point, right? Nothing’s perfect.

It’s always a good visit. Ed is the best guy to talk to very friendly and willing to help, and very insightful.

Staff is cool. Some nice guitats, missing that high end professional service you would get at a local music shop. Geared towards rock only. Go see Zach and get your guitar fixed or setup though! One of the best in Little Rock!

The new staff is very unprofessional.

I guess you need to be a musician to be worthy of help at Guitar Center. I called them earlier today because I wanted to purchase a banjo and lessons. I am not a musician and have never really played an instrument, but I have always wanted to learn to play Bluegrass on the banjo. The friendly gentlemen I spoke to on the phone (no need to mention names online) told me to come in and ask for him.

I went by there this afternoon and he said he had to leave for a lunch break, but he could show me where the banjos were located. So he pointed me to a wall of banjos and then left for his lunch break. I understand needing to take a lunch break…no worries at all…but I asked if someone else could help and supposedly someone was going to come help me.

So after standing there picking up random banjos for 20 minutes, and feeling like a total idiot, I went up to the front desk and asked for help and asked a couple of questions.

I was told he would check on my question. I walked around the store for about 10-15 minutes, always within sight of the front desk, and saw multiple people arrive and get help. I sat on a stool for a while and finally a different gentleman came up to answer my question and I said I came in to get a banjo and sign up for lessons and that I needed someone to show me the banjos and answer questions. I was interested in a nicer used one (more expensive) versus the lower-end new models. He asked me to wait a moment and he went to the desk to answer a returns questions for another sales rep. That was no problem, they are busy, but he then moved on and helped other people. I stood around for another 10 minutes or so thinking he would return. I again watched as they helped other people that not only came in after me, but even ones as they arrived through the door. And at different points in time the gentleman behind the desk was helping no one at all and even looked over at me a couple of times.

They were clearly very busy, and I do understand that. But I was ignored consistently and felt foolish. I had cash in hand and was ready to make the purchase. I was really disappointed and felt silly…like I really didn’t belong there.

I am not big on writing negative reviews, but this really bothered me so I thought I would share my experience so other people new to the music scene will at least be aware of my experience. Perhaps this was an anomaly…I just don’t know.

Was goin to buy a guitar and the salesman was trying to push me to buy a different one. Eventually I didn’t buy anything.

Infrared is the best! I recommend them for all recording needs big and small! Great service, exceptional talent!