Lots of stuff crammed into such a tiny coach house, Mr. Skinner is very helpful and knowledgeable
True Antiques.
Knowledge of all items, including lamp repair.
History of building itself to any questions you have will be answered even proven if you wish.
We will definitely be back!
Cute old coach house turned into a antique shop filled with wonderful little treasures. Also if you need some unique light fixtures this place has them ! He refurbished all his lights himself. It’s a great place to check out !
If you’re not gonna be open, don’t have the open sign up on the window.
4. SoundCheck Music Center
Address: 1481 W King St, Decatur, IL 62522 , Piatt County , Illinois , United States
The staff is very knowledgeable, helpful and friendly!
Friendly staff. Very knowledgeable. Great deals. They sent a personally written thank you note in the mail. Ya dont get that kind of old school service and gratitude from anyone other than where you should be doing business. Thank you!
Friendly service. Salesman help my husband and answered every question he had and they act like professionals.
Good service!
They are the only music store left in town so I try to shop there and support localy..but I was playing a guitar and the owner came up and took it from me and hung it up…no trying to help or assist me ..my sister has said he was rude to her before too. I will be purchasing from online or going out of town from now on.
Everything, but ESPECIALLY strings and sticks are ridiculously overpriced. John behind the counter has essentially no musical background. Seemingly, those who are more musically inclined work less. The instructors are awesome, but hiring them outside of the store would behoove both the student and the teacher.
If you’re considering trading in a used instrument with them, don’t. Use craigslist.
If you need to buy something new, do it at Linda’s. Better prices and more helpful staff.
REPAIRS. DO THEM ELSEWHERE. These guys will be decent to you on small jobs like restringing or intonation but a simple part replacement can be extremely expensive.
5. Catalyst
Address: 818 S Market St, Monticello, IL 61856 , Piatt County , Illinois , United States
What a unique and fun addition to Monticello. Cindy offers many classes and open studio times for all age groups. It’s nice to see something different to do in town!
We always get expert advice and service here when we take our son’s violin for TLC. Great staff!
The Music Shoppe has the selection of a national chain with the service you’d find in a small, mom and pop store. As a pro musician and educator, I have many musical needs and they always go out of their way to make sure I find what I need.
I am a music teacher and have come to the Music Shoppe for a long time for a variety of needs. They are always friendly and very helpful. They are willing to order anything not in stock, find music I may not know how to find, and help students that I send in to the store.
Margaret Escobar
Last time I came in here I had an employee make fun of me/my instrument because it wasn’t high end (which I knew). Now that I work on my own instruments I know better than to put up with snobby musicians like the one I dealt with here. Three stars because I can’t condemn the entire establishment because of one or two rude employees.
Nice staff, wonderful selection, higher end of the usual price range though.
It’s a good place for renting and buying instruments. They repair and provide loaner instruments.
I went to get my clarinet fixed and they tried to up sell me on getting all my pads fixed and thought I was a child and were annoyed I came in the store when I came to pick it up. I will not be using these services again because of the horrible service I received from the workers.
Absolutely the most unprofessional shop around ! Straight garbage
I went in to have my saxophone serviced. The saxophone I play is pretty nice. I mentioned that I played it in marching band and the woman belittled me for playing a nice instrument in marching band. Sorry I don’t have an unlimited supply of saxophones.
8. Dollar General
Address: 400 W Center St B, Monticello, IL 61856 , Piatt County , Illinois , United States
Not well organized, but the staff is pleasant and the prices are great.
Wish isles weren’t cluttered with boxes
Aisles are a mess. Nothing is priced correctly and employees give you dirty looks if you ask about the prices. Pretty much ran by kids after 4pm and good luck finding an employee doing anything more than giggling or smoking out back. Idk how theu are always out of stuff but the aisles are full of merchandise that’s needed put away for months..
Disorganized mess of a store
It was closed on a Tuesday
9. Pro Sound Center
Address: 27 E Marketview Dr, Champaign, IL 61820 , Piatt County , Illinois , United States
Where the working guitar players go! Dyke is the best!
Decent selection, comparable prices to the big name stores
Got a bass bag and some strings. Still using the 4 channel mixer/amp I got from them a few years back.
Very knowledgeable
This place isme terrible. The owner wanted to buy some portable racks from me. So I rearranged my whole schedule because I am very busy and am selling this stuff for church. The racks were visible on photo, when I got there, he told me he wasn’t interested.
I called today to ask about get the action lowered on my guitar. Keep in mind that I am a beginner and don’t know a whole lot about this type of stuff. The person who answered the phone was far from helpful. He was condescending and rude and didn’t answer my questions. Instead he just cackled when I asked clarifying questions and responded with sarcastic answers. I will absolutely NOT be taking my business here and did not appreciate the customer service or lack thereof.
Nice products but bad service. The gentleman at the counter obviously didn’t want us in the store even though it was empty.
Tried to make small talk and the guy wasn’t having it.
11. Guitar Center
Address: 712 W Town Center Blvd, Champaign, IL 61822 , Piatt County , Illinois , United States
This place rules! Thanks for coming to a college town were students can’t afford the outrageous prices of mom and pop shops! I can get strings, sticks, 5 hour energy drink, and ramen for less than a ten bucks!!! Thanks GC! I’ll be back!!!
Cool store!
Great service
They had what I wanted at a compared price to other on line distributors, helpful staff, from the shelf to the counter to my vehicle, I will be back to this location,
I’m a drummer, so I can’t speak to the selection of guitars, but they had friendly, genuinely helpful and knowledgeable staff, super good prices on used drums and cymbals, and a decent selection of gear. All I wish is that there’d been slightly more in terms of replacement parts and bass pedals, but I definitely will shop here again.
Not a local business but a bunch of local and helpful musicians work there. I had a gig and in a rush- needed a new cable fast! They were very helpful and understood!
This store has just about anything you could need musically, I believe. I walked around quite awhile, there were a lot of employees in the store, some in different areas like percussion, sound etc… I went and looked at some acoustic guitars, some books, some electrics, listened to an employee play around on one. Got a compliment on my hoodie I was wearing, but never once was I asked if I needed any help until I had picked a book out I thought might help me and went to check out. Now I want to say this person was as helpful as he could be, and he was once I got to the checkout but it was also the same person that had walked past me and gave the compliment on my hoodie never once asking THEN if I needed any help. You were the 3rd Guitar store in a week that made me feel either invisible or like I didn’t matter. You know who you are, so the more I thought about it, I appreciate the info, however, no you do not get to play something so precious and sentimental to me just because I shared my story with you and you want to get your greedy little hands on it, after the way I was treated. Bad form.
Insulting offer on one instrument, didn’t even attempt to look up the other and gave a very low price for the amp that I brought in. I’ve spent alot of money at this store and sold quite a few items there with out a problem until now. Will not be returning. Other than that, recently, The selection of used and new instruments is comical.
Customer service was unprofessional to say the least. Not sure why guitar center would hire people to represent the company in this fashion.
The Upper Bout has been the perfect store for all of my guitar needs and wants, and I couldn’t be any happier with my many experiences there so far. Located so conveniently in Champaign, the store is better than any I know of around and I actively seek out coming here. The employees are knowledgable and kind, the environment is inviting and clean, and it is always a blast to be in the store, even if I’m just there to play!
Drove a long way to check this place out. Glad I did.
TOP NOTCH customer service. Recently, I stopped in to have my guitar looked over before heading into studio the next day. It was a Friday night and just an hour before the store closed. Ricky spent two hours setting up my guitar and making some adjustments while keeping a friendly conversation with me as he worked.
Ricky and his staff have always treated me with kindness and respect and their attention to detail is unmatched in the CU area. Highly recommended!
Good place to buy guitar stuff in a convenient location.
It’s kind of expensive, I paid $25 for two sets of strings when I go through them like crazy. This being the only place I buy strings nowadays I am now scared to break one!
They have loads of guitars and amps to try out, as well as mandolins, banjos and other stringed instruments, makes it a great place to learn about instruments.
I will purchase my next guitar here for sure.
Very nice store for guitar players. Not a lot of options for bass players. Store is very clean and the store has a very classy look and vibe. Very nice selection of effects pedals. I will go there again. I would like to have seen more high end 5 string basses. But, I think everyone should stop by.
Be forewarned! If you are anything but an accomplished or professional guitar player they may not have the time of day for you! They WILL talk down to you, and make broad assumptions of you. Without asking me any further questions, because I said I traveled a lot, had a sentimental instrument that I didn’t want to see damaged and didn’t presently have a place to store it: the assumptions changed to me being homeless and I couldn’t be pushed out of the store fast enough. Even when I asked about a simple $15 item. Oh and let’s not forget the whole the salesman is talking down to me, he grabbing expensive guitars off the wall just playing them instead of listening to my questions. Nice job Upper Bout
I put a guitar here on consignment that had a synth pickup and they straight up lost the synth. When I came in to pick up my stuff they just shrugged their shoulders like “so what?”
Brought in a broken guitar hoping to fix it. They were quoting me 4 times the value of a new guitar to fix it and kept pushing me to just buy a new one. I ended up leaving and getting the guitar replaced elsewhere
14. Old Delhi Music
Address: Contact, Urbana, IL 61802 , Piatt County , Illinois , United States
Amazing, helpful, friendly people. Excellent price on a Sitar case. Very fast shipping. High quality merchandise. I will definitely shop with them again.
I recently bought Paul & Co 9-Scale 3-Reed Harmonium from the OldDelhiMusic and very satisfied with my purchase.
I wanted to get this harmonium for my vocal support and was so much concerned about tuning and quality of the instrument. there are multiple shops across the country selling Indian Harmonium but finally I chose OldDelhiMusic!
The quality of work and support I received from these guys is phenomenal!!
Very highly knowledgable folks and delivers on their promise with exceptional quality.
I am glad that I chose OldDelhiMusic, I have been playing this instrument for a week now and literally falling in love more and more as I play.
Nic/Jacob were very supportive on answering all the questions I had before this purchase and also educated me a lot about this instrument.
If you are planning to buy Harmonium from USA then I will highly recommend OldDelhiMusic, you will not repent on your decision!
Thank you OldDelhiMusic for making my purchase so smooth and delivering fantastic piece of Paul & Co Harmonium.
Nic at Old Delhi Music is intimately familiar with harmonium construction and maintenance, is honest, reliable and very nice to work with. He fixed some issues and adjusted my 20-yr old Kolkatta-style harmonium and it now plays better than ever. I also purchased a new Paul & Co harmonium from him. The price was similar to various online sites, but more importantly, I found it reassuring to know that Nic had inspected and setup the instrument. Harmoniums can react adversely to shipping conditions, in addition to the fact that there is a lot of variability among Harmoniums even if from the same builder. Having an expert like Nic to sort through all these aspects is priceless!
I received a faulty instrument from these people and when I asked to return it they denied my request. Even though it was kept in a hard case which I also purchased from them. They were entirely at fault and chose to steal from me instead of being accountable.
NEVER BUY FROM THESE PEOPLE. They will steal if given the chance.
15. Willow Tree Missions on Monroe
Address: 351 W Monroe St, Monticello, IL 61856 , Piatt County , Illinois , United States
Fun place to shop,for second hand items. You never know what you might find!!!
This place is great. Very nice staff and great prices.
Never know what you will find. Good deals at times.
Great little resale shop of good prices and a really nice staff
Great so well organized , was a little disappointed in some of the.Prices. Thank you
They told me I could return electronics. I bought some new lamps & never used them. When I called to see if I could return them they told me no? They are brand new never used idk what the problem is, now I’m stuck w/ lamps that I don’t need. Kinda sucks that they lied to me.
They have àwesome items. Unfortunately the owner doesn’t know about medical exceptions for wearing masks. She clearly is not concerned with the American Disabilities Act and does not know acknowledge medical exemptions concerning the wearing of masks. If you are medically exempt don’t go here because they will ask you to leave the premises. Heather Denam is not a reasonable person in this matter and needs to be educated on this subject.
The place is rundown. The prices have gone through the roof on things that used to be inexpensive. Everything is looked up on eBay and priced at 75%+ of eBay cost. If I wanted to buy it on eBay, I would have bought it on eBay. It pays to look things up before you purchase them there. Sometimes you can get it cheaper on eBay or Amazon. Or even at Walmart of all places.
This place needs to realize that they do not compete with eBay. eBay is a global market and Monticello Illinois is NOT. Something that sells for thousands in a worldwide market may only sell for 50 bucks locally.
This is the second time in two months that I’ve been there and not purchased a thing. It’s just not worth going anymore.
This is not a local charity anymore it’s becoming a dumpster that is filled with higher priced items.
These people need to get a grip and stop looking everything up and actually focus on their mission instead of gouging prices. Stuff seems to be sitting there for months on end. They claim they are raising money for a new building which has never opened.
16. McDonald’s
Address: 306 S Market St, Monticello, IL 61856 , Piatt County , Illinois , United States
You could ACTUALLY go inside to order your food and eat it to! AND you did not have to use those KIOSKS….now that’s customer service . Kudos to them!
Always fresh, and friendly.
There at super time, fast service, clean location, up to what I would expect at a McDonald’s.
Sometimes good others okay.
Newly remodeled same good food.
It’s McDonald’s, what else can you say
*CONSISTENTLY RIPPED OFF* I reactivated an old account to review this disaster franchise, “RipDonald’s”. Our family has lived in the Monticello community for many years and this place almost always leaves out part of our order. We never get all the items paid for, but we pull away from the window so we don’t hold up the line. Upon pulling away, we routinely find one meal missing within the bag, even though we keep our order simple. (We don’t even make special requests like “no pickles” because we recognize a fast food place for what it is.) Over the years they have screwed us out of ~$50.00, easily. We never go back to fix the issue because it defeats the purpose of the drive-through, specifically the convenience it offers. It sounds like this happens to a lot of people, so one wonders how much profit this franchise makes from ripping people off? McDonald’s is the company that set the industry standard for “fast food” and the use of the drive-through window, but this particular franchise can’t get it right. Thank goodness we patronize McDonalds so infrequently, because it’s a lifetime boycott now. Any place else is more preferable. I’d give less than a star if I could.
Typical junky McDonalds. Always upsets my belly and I eat some pretty questionable food sometimes.
The egg McMuffin had a piece of gristle instead of Çanadian bacon.
17. Monticello Mercantile
Address: 116 E Main St, Monticello, IL 61856 , Piatt County , Illinois , United States
I am a Sangamon Valley CEO student and we visited Monticello Mercantile for a site visit and the owner and employees are great. All were very kind and willing to answer all of my questions. Minticello Mercantile is a great little shop right off the square. It is great to have a place where you can run in and get a gift for someone you love, whether it be something small or even a big gift.The Merc will provide.
Cute store with so many fun items!! Ann is so helpful and fun! I will definitely go back.
Very pleasant and cute shop!! Will def go back to visit on our next trip to IL!!
Always helpful and unique items to see. Great gift place.
18. BlueRock Record
Address: 141 N Henderson St, Mt Zion, IL 62549 , Piatt County , Illinois , United States
