They’re really nice and knowledgeable. Got a mic stand for my Theremini and they throw in an adapter for nothing! Definitely will do my future purchases here, it’s local and it’s better than online shopping in every sense.
I love this place. The guitar repairs are superb and nobody knows vintage instruments like these guys.
Great guys and great instruments.
The kids loved it!
Very knowledgeable staff. The prices are a little higher than other stores around for the same item, but they also have more higher end items. Almost exclusively guitars, very little of any other instrument.
Staff is always friendly. Wish there was a little more selection.
I’m an older woman who plays electric guitar. Have purchased top-line new guitars there and sold some equipment there, and they did the job. But I have never been comfortable there. The boss is angry, curt and dismissive and the staff doesn’t seem relaxed or happy. There are unwritten rules about how long you can stay, what you can touch etc. Not for me any more.
Look, I get it. You’re right in the middle of downtown where all the vagrants pass through, but the attitude has got to go. I used to occasionally stop in here whenever I needed strings, picks, etc. And every time I felt like I wasn’t welcome. Avoid like the plague
I called asking to hold a guitar I really liked a lot until I could get there THAT SAME DAY…they said ok, no problem, it is on hold only for me. When I arrived THAT DAY a salesman said they sold it THAT MORNING. I felt very disappointed.
2. Sound Healing Temple
Address: Gather Room, 708 Capitola Ave, Capitola, CA 95010 , Opal Cliffs , California , United States
Frantic my Les Paul had a wiring issue I took it to Steve at The Guitar Shop.
Prepared to be without for 1 possibly 2 weeks. It was on the bench and within 20 minutes it was fixed. I highly recommend with your pride and joy you take it to The Guitar Shop.
Even Reverb says: Boom!! Steve Crisp rocks!! Keep that guy’s number. 🙂
You know what… I think I will.
Amazing service. Steve knows his stuff. I had my ’52 RI telecaster rewired, fully set up and adjusted perfectly within 48 hours! Very nice guys, too.
Expert repair and service. Making my old guitars sound better then new every time I take one in. Excellent new and used inventory always changing. Go by you won’t be disappointment.
Nice little place, a little slow on the customer service.
Quality merchandise, was surprised how low some of the prices were.
Recommended.
Professional
Didn’t return phone, email/website inquiry from a week ago…nobody is that bitchen. At least return a message letting me know you’re to busy and cool to accept more business work…
I had the feeling that this wasn’t a legitimate business. The guy knows his guitar strings and he didn’t rip me off or anything, but I won’t visit again.
4. The Starving Musician – Santa Cruz
Address: 1003 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 , Opal Cliffs , California , United States
Good place and the employees make you feel welcome and are knowledgeable of products. Its a plus thatvthey carry used items
Very friendly lots of merchandise
first time to this location, as i usually go to the one in santa clara, near where my parents live. it’s always a cool store to go to with cheap and funky stuff as well as some new stuff.
service is always a good balance of courteous without being obtrusive. you can try out instruments without being bothered or harassed, but you need to be cognizant of not being that guy who cranks up and just noodles unnecessarily.
there isn’t a lot of stock these days, but that’s with nearly every music store. the santa cruz store had some cool yamaha revstar guitars, which were pretty cool. also, the location is near a bunch of other things within walking distance, so you can spend a few hours walking around and doing stuff.
The help is experienced and they add some humor to your shopping
Great music store you’ll never know what you’ll find here prices are great
New location and staff suck
They were rude , and so sterotyplxL
Tried talking to staff and got ignored. All I wanted to do was try out one if the digital pianos. Couldn’t even do that. Wouldn’t recommend to those who are “artists ” its clear they don’t care.
5. Sylvan Music
Address: 1521 Mission St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 , Opal Cliffs , California , United States
Super cool guitar store. Nice selection if new and used.
Remarkable selection of high end instruments
Super nice and my violin looks great with jts new strings
Its a good place to get strings… Cost a little much for me
Don’t show up @ 6 o’clock
Not helpful with violin, violas, cellos. Not recommended for those looking for set ups or bow rehair.
The old guy with grey hair is RUDE and Stingy. T
Incredibly rude and unprofessional staff + expensive equipment!!
I brought my family violin and bow to this shop. The violin was a student violin but the bow was very nice. We got the violin back but was told that the bow broke and it had been thrown away. We never got our bow back.
6. Streetlight Records
Address: 939 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 , Opal Cliffs , California , United States
Just sold a few hundred quality DVDs and Blu-rays to Streetlight and they beat online sites by a mile. Hitchcock fans, Asian horror flick fans, and just plain videophiles-get thee to Streetlight! I want these movies to find good homes. If you have seen Michel Gondry’s “Be Kind Rewind,” you know: music/movie retailers with heart are a gentle and rare breed.
Awesome place and cheap CD and movies.the workers there are very nice and friendly.huge selection of movies and music
Best music store around! The people are polite & well read in the music Industry. If they don’t have what you’re looking for no worries they will help you find it!!
If you’re into vinyl, welcome to your Santa Cruz mecca. A huge selection of records, from oldies to new releases. It’s fun just to flip through the records to pass the time when you’re meandering up Pacific Avenue.
They also sell some video games, CDs and DVDs, though honestly their prices on those aren’t any better than what you can get off Amazon.
A great used record store in Downtown Santa Cruz. Just wish that the prices weren’t too high though.
It’s nice to know that there are still record stores. If they could only bring back drive-ins.
The employees always nice and very helpful,I only go to them for movies,for me and my Grandsons.Thank you streetlight.
Doesn’t even deserve one star. The buyer sells all quality records on discogs and puts out all of the trash for the people who actually go to record stores to dig. No respect for record store culture. It is buyers like this that are ruining vinyl culture. Only go here if you want trash cheap records.
Selection is shoddy at best. For an old school classic record store the 80s selection is garbage. Nothing rare, nothing collectible and nothing worth stopping in for. Don’t waste your time.
7. Cole Piano Services
Address: 908 Sumner St, Santa Cruz, CA 95062 , Opal Cliffs , California , United States
Tom has been tuning my old Baldwin grand, piano for years. He does a great job and is very professional and reliable. I recommend him highly.
Tom’s the best! He’s highly skilled and also a nice human being!
Will always call Tom to keep my Kawai piano in great sounding shape.
I have known Tom Cole since the early 1970 he has been my piano tuner for years. I love how he takes care of my 1918 Knabe grand piano. In fact Tom found this Knabe for me. Hope you love him too.
8. Churchill’s Piano Rental Services
Address: 3509 Portola Dr #5140, Santa Cruz, CA 95062 , Opal Cliffs , California , United States
Keith Churchill has kept us in rental pianos for the past 4 years as we’ve moved in and out and around the area. No matter where or when we moved, he would get the piano to us or back from us in a timely fashion. In five rental deliveries he has not let us down. Throughout the process he has been pleasant and professional. He returned calls. He showed up when he said he would.
The first time he brought us a piano, he brought it up steep stairs to a second floor apartment (with a helper) within a week of my call. Another time, he moved a piano down a narrow alley and turned in up on one end to get it through a doorway.
After a few more moves, we got a place of our own. He let us buy the rental piano my kids had become attached to.
If I needed another rental piano in the Santa Cruz area, I’d give Keith a call again.
Keith’s prices were fair when compared to others. He did what he said he was going to do. Hard worker. Good delivery of a grand piano and hauling away two others in its place. Thankful.
I never even agreed for him to do the job – he just went ahead and tried and couldn’t, then called me a pinhead.
Would give Negative – – – – 5 Star. Late, no show, rude, unprofessional and made wrong accusation so he never admit his fault. Found at another platform and regret not looking up the reviews elsewhere. Terrible service ever!! Read all the 1-star reviews. They are all true. (And the owner sent very rude message and accused me after I gave negative review, I am very concerned and this business shouldn’t be running in the neighborhood)
Keith and his “team” were three hours late, and very underprepared. They didn’t have enough guys or dollys to get the piano up the five stairs I told them about. The piano was stranded outside on the stairs for about an hour while waiting for backup.
Keith had told me beforehand that he would check out my house before moving the piano to avoid that exact situation. He obviously hadn’t checked and was very unapologetic about the whole incident. While he bumbled the piano up the wooden stairs, he took several big chunks out of the wood and messed up the paint. Thanks, buddy.
After all of this, he TRIED TO OVERCHARGE ME. Very late, not prepared, and tried to rip me off. Three strikes, zero out of five stars, DO NOT RECOMMEND.
9. DTXPerience
Address: 2400 Chanticleer Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062 , Opal Cliffs , California , United States
Excellent guitar setup and repair services. Good selection of instruments for sale.
there is a good variety of guitars, except they only had 6 string guitars and i was looking for a seven. besides that it was a good place
Friendly music store. Owner Jody is a complete doll. I always shop there first for my music needs ❤ ❤
I’ve been doing business at this great store since they were on Main Street in Watsonville. Shame on you Watsonville for letting this business move to Aptos. Wide selection of all musical instruments, as well as sheet music and musical accessories. Good friendly store. Parking can be limited at times, but not always.
I take voice lessons here. Expect a bit of bleed from one practice room to the next. Nice display of instruments. Very friendly & knowledgeable proprietor.
Good service but not much variety.
Unfriendly customer service. wouldn’t let me try a amplifier, and told me if that if I had the $1500 then he would let me try it. I have never experienced this at any guitar store. I have shopped here in the past and it has always been a mediocre experience. the man who works behind the counter always has a mopey attitude and their products are usually priced over normal retail. Spend your money somewhere else (Sylvan Music, Midtown Guitar Company).
11. Johnny Beane TV
Address: 4768 Soquel Dr #232, Soquel, CA 95073 , Opal Cliffs , California , United States
David Morse is one of the leading violin makers in central California. My experience with him has been wonderful. David has shown me many of his master violins and his wisdom about violins is extensive. I am looking forward to owning one of his creations.
Very respectful gentleman.
I play Mariachi violin and my violin is one of David Morses’. I love my violin! Thank you David!
Craftsman extraordinaire
14. Redwood Records
Address: 320 Cedar St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 , Opal Cliffs , California , United States
Great selection of vinyl, with a limited number of cassette tapes available. Customer service is top-notch.
Great vinyl store with wide variety of music both New and used. Equipment for sale also I believe
Large volume of used vinyl in a small space.
My fave of the 2 places in town. Kind of small. Found some cool stuff digging in the dollar bins.
A little bummed they were closed at 2:45 on a Saturday. No note & tried to call the number but unfortunately out of luck. Ubered out to them as they were highly recommended. Hope they reopen soon.
Hired Laurel to play a wedding, she knocked it out of the park! Professional, courteous, prompt, and a wonderful player.
The Bride described her playing as, “Amazing. The ceremony music was perfection. A fabulous experience and made our wedding sweetly memorable.”
We hired Laurel Thomsen to play as a trio throughout our wedding ceremony and cocktail hour and couldn’t have been more pleased! Laurel was an absolute pleasure to work with throughout the entire process and the trio performed beautifully. 10/10 recommend. What a delight!
Laurel Thomsen is a consummate professional in every aspect. I’ve been taking lessons with her for 3-1/2 yrs. as a new adult violinist. My lessons have been consistent, organized, progressive, and challenging. Laurel has a way of cutting through new player frustration with her kindness and patience, as well as her ability to diagnose the source of those frustrations and work toward solving the problem with her students. She is quick to respond to emails any time I have a question. She also has a bank of technique videos that she makes available as they apply to my lessons and the level I’m at. I cannot recommend Laurel enough…her care, knowledge, encouragement, and teaching style have brought me this far in my violin journey and has been key to my enjoyment of playing.
17. Be Natural Music
Address: 740 Water St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 , Opal Cliffs , California , United States
Be Natural Music has been a fantastic experience so far. My son loves being part of a band and developing skills that relate to all areas of his life. The first public performance he just took part in showcased all the hard work each band has done. They sound amazing! All of the instructors and staff help each student grow and bring their A-game to the performances.
Matt, Sarah and the Be Natural crew have been a Godsend to my young musician and our family. Beyond teaching an impressive variety of music and instruments, with obvious passion, they teach life skills which translate into success for the kids With directed fundraising, Be Natural’s scholarship program strives to ensure finances won’t preclude those who normally wouldn’t consider a music program for their kids. Music, theory, concerts, fun – Be Natural offers all in a comprehensive music program.
Our daughter started to go around a year and a half ago to Be Natural Music and we saw a great improvement in her guitar skills together with the theory she was getting specially in jazz roots. She is part of two bands at the music school and her ability to play live has achieved spectacular levels in her performance.
The friendly environment of teaching by Matt, Sarah and all of the Be Natural members, makes this music school a perfect way of enjoying the learning experience of music.
The growing process of kids together with the music spirit, makes the perfect mixtures to evolve in beautiful human beings full of feelings and sensitivity.
Thank you to Matt and Sarah for your dedication as mentors and specially to encourage and give my daughter such a beautiful ride experience in the path of music.
Congratulations! Felicitaciones! 🙂
Mauricio Urzua
I’m not sure how this place gets so many 5 star reviews. I reached out for music lessons about a month ago. No one ever got back to me, so I followed up again and then finally when I got ahold of someone, it was impossible to get her to respond to me. I’ve had to follow up every single time and now no response. Glad I didn’t waste my money! Do yourself a favor and don’t waste your time.
18. Pacific Sound Studio
Address: 819 1/2, Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 , Opal Cliffs , California , United States
Great studio to work with! Noise Eater does sound recording as well as post production & is easy to work with. I highly recommend this studio!
Very professional and efficient. Olav edited as the session was going and had the finished product ready within a few minutes of the end of the session. It was my first time recording VoiceOver and I don’t think I could have found a better engineer! He was very patient and helpful, and was even willing to accommodate my mom being present and interjecting direction. A great experience I cannot recommend highly enough!
OMG I can’t believe I made it in I feel like a rockstar. I just wanted to know on purposes of Google Maps and doing a good review for them. I don’t even know what to say I felt like a rockstar. If you want to have fun I recommend taking your family in or just going with a couple buddies and just checking now ask if you questions see if you can roll them up a little bit make him second-guess you have some fun with it.
