Exclusive selection: The top 4 music shops of Pasan

I have been to many music stores and simply must say that the best thing that happened with the Avon Ct location was to have Jay Hornbecker as their manager!
He goes above and beyond what it takes to make sure that a visitor becomes a customer and makes them feel like a friend. His and co-worker Justin’s expertise is obvious. They make it so comfortable to do business there. If they tell you that they’re going to do something…they follow through! Mike

Knowledgeable, helpful, and enthusiastic staff, can’t wait to shop here

Fantastic group of workers who go above and beyond to help every customer.

An error in judgment when I decided to place an order for them to send out my two guitars I STILL to this day can’t string myself worth beans. Decent store for the most part but what really got me sore was the fact that the clerk said that they send their instruments out to a repair tech in E. Hartford but then found out that for whatever reason they have to send the guitars to a tech in BOSTON and the woodwind and brass instruments are the only instruments they ferry back and forth for repairs to EH. Misleading and wonder if it were intentional or whether or not someone else over there neglected to tell him that the different instruments get repaired at different locations. Not my fault I didn’t get the right info but certainly my fault I opted to not take my precious guitars back before the start of business last week so I could either try once again to string them myself or have someone else nearer to me I’d forgotten momentarily about do it for me instead. Ideally I’ll see if I can learn the proper way to string them from now on to save on the cost and also to not feel helpless and at the mercy of someone else whose repair shop happens to be out of state yet.

Dont try guitar lessons in this location.piano teacher may come for quitar lessons and teacher may change soon, we may work 3 months for refund.

The rude little slug working there was too bothered with his piano concerto to help us. Apparently, going through a whole rigamarole online is now “easier” than just showing up and renting what you need. Yeah, we won’t be coming back. Thanks!

Was told my contract goes through June. Beware! They end your contract in May and charge $45 more for June. So you will not make it through the school year with the agreed contract, however, you will not be made aware of that information.

I always find what I need here! Friendly and helpful staff. I’ve tested out multiple guitars and have never been kicked out or told I was playing for too long. The staff will do all they can to give good information and help you find what’s right for you.

Always great service and conversation at New Haven Sam Ash. Fair Prices For Buying AND selling gear.
I’ve been coming here for 23 years and hope to continue hangin/shopping there for another 50 !

Big Jim was no BS! Great deal on my new guitar! Love it!

Good selection of musical instruments

I also like this store. The only thing is, i can’t try out an acustic drum.

Tom was the best help! He helped us when someone sent my friend and I in the direction of the bathroom and failed to tell us the women’s room needed a key so we stood there waiting for 10 minutes !! Tom saved us … and then when nobody was helping us on the floor and we were being ignored by a kid in a plaid shirt we had to go across the store to find help and tom saved the day! He answered all our questions plus more. Ended up exceeding my expectations! I will definitely be coming back and recommending this location mainly because of him! Thank u!

Use the excuse they own the company to screw you on a guitar you bought from them 9 months earlier . Brought in as a test and they failed a guitar should not lose half its value in 9 months if you sell it as your brand!

Merchandise walks out the door with disgruntled employees and no one seems to care. I had recently checked the website to see if they had what i was looking for and it said limited stock. Fair enough so i call the store and yes they confirm there is one left. After sitting in traffic for almost an hour and a half because the closest sam ash is quite the drive for me, i finally get there and it is nowhere to be found. They made a feeble attempt at offering to order it and take something like 9 dollars off which basically amounted to not paying the sales tax but i would now have to wait several more days and make the long trip out there again plus i would have to pay for it now for them to order it. Needless to say I declined and left disappointed. But the next week out of curiosity i checked the website and sure enough it says they have it so i call and and the guy says no we had one but our old manager took it but i can order it for you. Again i would have to pay in advance and it would take a week to ten days. So several weeks later yes it’s still listed on the website but is not in stock and no one seems interested in restocking or updating the website. Needless to say i go to guitar center which is about 5 minutes away from me. They’ve been friendly and helpful when i order things it takes maybe 3 to 5 days depending on the items and they actually restock their inventory. I gave sam ash 3 tries and they blew it every time. Go to guitar center in Orange CT not sam ash in new haven.

Rude and didn’t give me the time of day to hear what I had to say or help me

These guys helped me get the perfect Christmas gift. The staff was helpful, knowledgeable, and pleasant to work with.

So during this pandemic we are dealing with I felt myself wanting to start jamming again. So with almost every retail store being closed and having to rely on online and waiting, (I’m not patient,lol) I took a shot to see if any guitar stores were possibly doing curbside in Ct. Found the music shop in southington,ct was doing curbside. Upon calling I spoke with Scott, great customer service!! After talking to Scott about my music style and and what I was looking for, within 20 mins I had received pictures and fell in love with what scott suggested. Normally when I buy a guitar, its multiple guitars i play and usually takes a couple hours to choose. Let me tell you scott nailed it!!!! The guitar, an ibanez art120 and a 75watt peavey amp with effects and cab sounds built in…and let me tell you both products are hands down amazing!!! On top of that within 20 mins he threw a new set of strings on and did a full setup!!!! Totally worth the hour and a half ride!!!! These guys rock, thanks again scott!!!!!!!

Great Place.Awesome Teachers

The cellos were in not in good shape and we had to pay a luthiere to redo repairs that were poorly done when we received the instrument.

Great place but website could be better such as pics of some used equipment. I’m a drummer and would like to see what they have for new and used cymbals,stands,drum kits etc. And prices. I have done business with them and always had a great experience the reason for three stars is the website doesn’t do the music shop justice. All and all great store great people.

I was able to talk to the makers of my bass whenever I needed to. They helped me every step of the way. I could talk about what I want the end product to do and they gave me options of how to get there and what the strengths and weaknesses of each option are.

The folks at Upton Bass are really knowledgeable and take the time to make certain you are satisfied. They also answer your questions promptly.

They are also a giving organization and will work with your organization.

As a newbie aspiring upright player transitioning from bass guitar I drove 7 hours and went to the shop. Gary himself gave my friend and I a 2+ hour tour while explaining the nuances of upright basses. They take great pride in their workmanship and their customer service. I was interested in a used Upton Bass listed on talk bass and Gary graciously looked up the bass and gave me the details of that exact bass! Turns out I bought WAY to much bass for my experience and ended up selling it (and actually made some $ because the value of these basses keep increasing). I ordered one their Standard basses . I went back to Upton and picked it up in person. Still have that bass today and it is a wonderful instrument that has performed for hundreds of hours of play time without a hiccup. I called them about a year later with some questions about set up and strings and they spent ample time on the phone with me and walked me through the process. Love these guys!

I purchased a ply bass that had issues out the door. The geometries where all wrong (e.g., the neck was too thin and was not pitched to the back of the bass) and it had a buzz coming from the fingerboard and bridge setup. They were unable to resolve the buzzing sound and I took it it to a local luthier to have the problem resolved. I ended up donating the bass our school district and purchasing a Shen.
Also do not purchase bows from Upton. I purchased a $2000+ bow made by J.R. Silva, Brazil, which developed a splinter just above the frog within 6 months and Upton would not warrant the bow. I now have a $2000+ paperweight.

Update, 10/28/2023:
… as to your reply, yes, I initially thought this was a great bass until I started using it for rehearsals and the buzzing appeared. I thought it was something I was doing or even due to the new bow. I drove 4 hours one way to your location to have your staff address the buzzing issue and they shaved a high spot on the fingerboard near first position and the buzzing did not appear while I was there. When I returned home and started using the bass again for rehearsals the buzzing reappeared. I wasn’t about to drive an other 8 hours to give your staff a second chance at addressing this. Instead, I took it to a local luthier who fixed the buzzing through a combination of reshaping both the fingerboard and bridge (the bridge was set up for jazz, even though I had told your staff that I play mostly orchestral music). While working on my bass, the luthier pointed out the other issues that I mentioned in my review. I am not a luthier, so I would not have necessarily recognized these issues except that through pro-longed use I might have developed muscular issues.

It also wasn’t until your staff responded last week that they could not help me with the issues with my bow that I decided to post this. I don’t like to post negative comments, but I wanted to warn other potential customers of my experience. Your staff could not even help with how I might get in touch with Mr. Silva. If you sell someone’s product, I would think you would have some form of contact information. I spent a lot of money on this bow ($2000+) and NO I DID NOT CAUSE THIS SPLINTER TO APPEAR. I do not appreciate you implying so by your comment. Had your staff handled things differently, I would not have posted this review.

You, as an owner, could have handled this differently as well. You *could* have contacted me by phone about this, instead of responding to my review in the manner that you did, and I might have considered removing this review. You could have even contacted me directly before I posted this review, as several days had lapsed between my speaking with your staff and my posting this review. At this point, based on the content of your reply, I will not remove this review.