Exclusive selection: The top 20 music shops of Redstone Arsenal

Visiting my dad from out of town, he took me to the Saturday morning open lesson (he attends every week). I had SUCH a blast! They have guitars you can borrow to see how you like it and the instructions were so easy to follow I actually played five full songs by the end of the two hours!

It was a really fun way to spend time while visiting Huntsville, I’d recommend this to anyone in the area!

Was in town visiting from PA, we heard music playing and stopped in. I was in awe because my husband makes cigar box ukes, and this store had me absolutely mesmerized! The owner & his wife were so warm & welcoming, he certainly knows his craft!!! I’ve been following them on-line since, and plan to bring a bigger piece of luggage next visit in order to take something home with me! Wish I was in town for the events. Everything sounds fascinating. I highly recommend, if you’re in the area, stop and check out the cool instruments!

This store is simply amazing! Besides a place to go for all you cigar box guitar needs – it is a community gathering place where anyone can come, pick up and play an instrument, have free lessons in the most wonderful non judgmental environment. If I lived near by I would be there weekly to share the great vibe. This store is a blessing to the Huntsville community because they are the definition of community builders and sharing the love of making music. Not to mention the wonderful annual, longest running Cigar Box Festival in June they host!

They had a few Yamaha P115 and P225 on display, but no Yamaha DGX. If it’s your first time there, follow the signs to the back door.

I was very pleased to find out that some of the books sold on-line we’re available right here so I was able to avoid shipping fees that were extremely high for one book.

Dixie, John, and Jim were all very helpful and helped us find exactly what we needed. Dixie was the sweetest, kindest, and most patient person with us while we deliberated and decided what to do. We highly recommend them for anyone looking for a piano.

Local business. Long open, since 1970’s at least.

Saw a recital in the building next door

Very friendly staff with a great music selection!

Worst customer service with regard to a player piano purchase. No help from AB Stevens agent or Tech they recommended. Do not return calls for assistance

This review is for my experience *consigning* with A B Stephens. If you are a buyer, just know that as a customer myself, I have no complaints.

I consigned my piano with them in February of 2020. The pickup process was quick and easy and they were pleasant to work with. The piano sold in about 5 months.

Fast forward to now, and I’ve only just received my check for the sale, over a year later. I reached out to them multiple times prior to the sale for an update without any substantive response, and they failed to notify me of the sale to coordinate sending the check (I had recently moved) until I remembered to ask them again. To their credit, they were quick to solve the problem and Laurin was responsive and considerate given the circumstances. You’ll see her comment below reacting to my original review, which I’ve edited to reflect the conclusion of this situation.

If you consign with them and call regularly for updates, you will have no problems. If you expect them to have your information on hand and reach out proactively, you might have problems.

To A B Stephens – I support your business and I recognize that there was no ill intent. You expose yourself to a lot of risk when this happens, and I encourage you to improve your documentation tools to avoid it happening again. Customer relationship management (CRM) software is more accessible than ever; it’ll make your lives easier, your customers happier, and your business more resilient.

Quality, acoustic guitars that are constructed from various tone woods, have genuine sounds with true vibrations, that create rich tonalities; unmatched to any artificial laminated wood substitutes. Who would have imagined a Danny Davis guitar making me a better musician? I did flippantly and guess what … my dream came true.

Rick Bennet Wambsganss
Mountain Brook, Al

Danny has a great guitar shop in the Low Mill art district. If you enjoy music or guitars this is a must see destination. Danny puts great care and time into his craft and is happy to share his love of music with you. Be sure to stop by and say hello to him!

Wonderful Venue, thoughtful and well executed event.

Super cool venue!

Huntsville is so fortunate to have this hidden treasure. I have attended one show at the studio and loved it. I was awestruck after taking one step in the door not to mention, the owner is one of the most welcoming, friendly gentlemen that I have encountered. I look forward to attending future shows and becoming more aquainted with the place.

Been in a few times whoever attended to me didn’t take me seriously about wanting to purchase a guitar and moved on to the next person in before I could inquire

Absolutely love the place! Friendly atmosphere with super neat unique decor. The musical talent was awesome! I had a great time! With more ac I would give it five stars.

Great store and awesome folks working there. They always have the items we need at good prices. This is our go to store for band item’s.

The Gadsden Music Company (the bandwagon of Huntsville) is an appealing and clean little music store. The fellows who run the place are friendly, helpful, and not at all pushy. I enjoy doing business there, and I am proud to support their store. They are friendly to the military, and I like that!!

Friendly helpful staff will do business again

Good place of selection and curtios people. Plenty of room and parking

My wife and I went there on two separate occasions and both times the service was less than polite. It was like you were inconveniencing them for patronizing them, especially if you had to ask a question. It will not stop me from going there again, but they will not be the first store I go to to find what I need.

Great experience renting for school. Good deal purchasing. Problems getting a repair.

The employee when my husband dropped it off was very rude, like we were inconveniencing them to need their services. They told us 2 weeks. After 4 weeks, I dropped by to check on status. They needed to order a part, but could patch it in the meantime. The employee I spoke to was an angel and gave me a cell number so that I could drop it off for repair before they opened, once the part came in. It has been a couple months and we haven’t heard from them.

Customer service has been hit & miss here, but they’re pretty much the only band instrument option in south Huntsville.

Don’t keep their promises with estimated time frames. I wasted my time driving there when I was told my guitar would be ready and restrung the next day at said time. Well I was there the next day and another man told me he doesn’t know what happened and that’s all he could do for me.

My issue is I travel with work and was in Gadsden area and had my son’s Sax to drop off for repairs. It was supposed to be delivered to my son’s school. Well it wasn’t due to some misunderstanding so I went all the way back to Gadsden to pick it up and they can’t find it. Turns out it was in Huntsville location. Fixing music instruments is not cheap… You know what else is expensive gas and wear and tear on vehicles. No apology or anything was given at the Gadsden location. Your customer service needs desperate attention!

Had a clarinet re-padded and new cork. It cost $186
The finished product seems good.

Issue:
They said it would take two weeks. I called after three weeks and they hadn’t even started it. So you may need to call them every few days.

When they did finish it they didn’t call me to let me know. It wasn’t until I called again that I found out it was finished. Feels a bit unorganized.

After speaking with the man at the Huntsville store and verifying they would open until 6; I arrived at 5:30 to find the doors locked.

This GC is a rare gem of the franchise. The staff are always helpful and not pushy in the slightest, as well as extremely knowledgeable on just about everything.

Great staff. Awesome service

They have everything I love it

Good luck

Very big, with a wide variety of accessories and equipment for guitars, piano and drums, they have a small book section with an assortment of guides and manuals, the only downside for me is the customer service, I felt like I wasn’t very welcome there, the staff didn’t really care if I couldn’t find what I was looking for and they never offered to assist, even when I bought something they never made eye contact with me.

Other than that; this is a good place to buy instruments and equipment/electronics.

So far I have needed to go here four times. Everytime there has been someone available to assist me, knowledgable about what I needed, and done so with patience; understanding; and a smile. I usually get everything online, but when needed we reccomend Guitar Center.

RIP

There employees just don’t keep there word. I won’t bask then but will not subject myself to that kind of treatment and they did it in front of all the people in the store.

I just recently sold a guitar and in the market for a new one. Stopped in here. I was in the store for 30 minutes and not one person said hi, asked me how I was doing, asked if I needed anything. I looked at the guitars the amps and used products and the employees were way to busy talking and cutting up with each other to bother with someone with $2500 looking for a new guitar. Guess it’s back to Nashville and Sam Ashe where I had to go to buy my last amp. Manager need to be fired.

Clean ,,,organized just not as much variety .

Always a pleasure shopping at the Redstone Exchange. It’s clean and well organized and the people are always very helpful.

Love the Exchange for great bargains and helpful staff!

Decent selection, but not as good as other locations we’ve been stationed. There are no salespeople on the floor to help in cosmetics or other places

Always a pleasure to shop here. They have a good selection and decent prices. They also almost always have an amazing sale going on.

As a 30+ year veteran and former Army brat, I’m offended by this. ‘Not sure why AAFES has chosen to support such a small section of folks in the military that goes against Christian values…just because society does.

Supporting a society ‘popular’ decision doesn’t make it the right decision.

I can tell ‘you’ for a fact, that just because it’s allowed…a large majority of military members do not support this! And we shouldn’t have to tell you AAFES, who the majority of your customer base is.

Didn’t see the sign this year…and we were all Thankful!

Not very big so limits selection on most things.

Don’t have. Much any more

Depressingly hopeless

A great guitar shop. Tom has a lifetime of experience in repairing, modifying, and building guitars. He is truly an expert at what he does.

Best customer service of any music shop in hsv. One on one and the owners experienced unlike every other shop.

I love T Shepherd’s. I always get great service and really good advice. One of the few places a musician can actually get the kind of help he needs. It’s been my go to music store for at least 30 years.

Great place for all you musical needs

T Shepard’s is a great shop, and Tom is a terrific, skilled, and knowledgeable guy.

The straps and strings and accouterments are top-notch.
And the selection of guitars for sale is interesting, diverse, and attractive.

Don’t be in a hurry, though, if you drop your guitar off for repairs.
And don’t expect a phone call or email to let you know about delays well past the implied pick-up date.
This is Mayberry, Andy.
Not Mount Pilot.

Just not the place to buy music

Mr Shepard doesn’t seem to understand how to correctly repair tuning stability issues.

He may want to consider the fact that a new customer doesn’t always mean new player. He insulted me when I told him ‘guitar will not stay in tune’ I’d like it repaired’ His response was “you mean it won’t stay in tune or you can’t get it in tune?” Wow.

Sir, I’ve been playing for 38 years. Im a seasoned player. I love music. And I would have loved to find a small shop to do business with instead of that behemoth Guitar Center. Speaking of GC, I only turned to them because this same Mr Shepard was rude to me on the phone last December when I was in the market for a new rig…I mean I’ve bought a Marshall amp, a full complement of pedals, And an American Standard Strat, a Gibson Les Paul. So maybe you should reconsider to whom you are rude in the future. I gave you a chance to earn my business and you blew it. Since last December, I’ve spent over $3000 at GC,and guys like you whine about GC all the time yet you don’t seem to understand why your own business is stuck off in the boondocks, or you constantly have to move around.

Love this thrift store great prices

Thrift shop open Tues 10-2, wed 10-2 and Thurs 12-4.
All workers are volunteers,. Great place for some interesting finds!

Lots of variety and good prices!

Very Cool Items….

Prices are too high though for a thrift shop…

Only open on the 1st Saturday of the month… Please adjust your hours on Google Maps accordingly.

Good selection for a good cause. Well-run, though selection can be dicey.

Shouldn’t a thrift store be cheap? Used curtains for $15? Lol WHY? Went to walmart and got brand new curtains for $8.

Too expensive and not many items

They were very thorough on what they would do to our alto sax. I would highly recommend them for all your instrument needs!

Great service, great people! Highly trusted with all level of instruments.

Impeccable service, experienced personnel, no one does what they do better.

Only used musical instruments for sale.

Still waiting on repair dropped off the 17th of December really busy place

Sent my Holton tr181 bass trombone for budget cleaning and relaquiring looks great and everything else looked great

Took my son’s trumpet to get serviced and paid $110 for a ultrasonic cleaning that didn’t fix the issue!!!! The guy at the shop told me the trumpet had a manufacturer defect but they performed the $110 service anyway!!! No call to ask me if I wanted to proceed, just a bill and a smile followed by your problem is not fixed. Horrible customer care!!!!

Communication is poor and my trombone slide came out gritty in much worse condition than when it went in. Plus, when I asked about the grit, I was told to wash it out! I just paid you around $200 to have the thing cleaned, is washing it out too much more to ask? Really dissatisfied as it used to be better.

They were excellent!! So nice,kind and absoultly perfect service!! They are definitely much more than 5 stars, and I really recommend to come to their store!!!

I asked my son’s band director where to send my son for lessons, without hesitation he recommend Hallman’s Music. I asked other parents and had received the same answer. My son took lessons from Nancy Hallman and Phyllis Peterson over a period of seven years. Both instructors were excellent. He went from being a sub-par beginning musician to making district band in a few months and made superior ratings every year there after. It was an astonishing change.
I had a co-worked who had a junior in high school and she was at the bottom of the barrel musically, she was in the schools “C” band as the only upper class man. I called Nancy Hallman and handed my co-worker the phone and told her to set up lessons. She set up lessons and her daughter took lessons from Mr. Peterson, two months later she made district band. The next school year she made the school jazz band after 5 months of lessons. This young lady is now a music major at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Hallmans transformed this student that had no passion for music into a musician.
My son played the alto sax, I noticed year after year that 7 of the 8 sax players in district band members were Hallman’s students, both at the middle school level and high school levels. State honor bands were the same way, Hallman’s students. One of my son’s peers was awarded the top musician in the state his senior year in high school.
After reading some of the other reviews here I would make the following observations:
If you want to put a pacifier in your kid’s mouth buy a $50 instrument off Craig’s list and have your kids dissatisfied and frustrated from playing an unplayable instrument, then this is probably not the place for you.
If Hallmans replace additional pads, it was because they presumed that you wanted an instrument that could actually be played by a student. My experience is when you think a pad or two is leaking and you fix it, you will find the next pad leaking and it was not particularity identifiable until you fix the two pads with the more significant leak.
If you want to raise a kid with skilled music instruction and the self esteem from being a good musician, then you have found the right place. The instructors are phenomenal.
I was always treated fairly with the sales and service and I ended up with a highly skilled musician who I am very proud of.

Nancy Hallman is a patient, funny music teacher. She motivates my young teen to practice and play to her highest potential. She is an amazing teacher and my daughter thinks very highly of her.

I appreciate that the owner works with a college student’s budget when tuning instruments.

We dropped off a banjo about 10 days ago with a lady that seemed competent and assured us that restringing it and replacing a few screws would be no issue and cost less than $25; 5 phone calls and 10 business days later, we still do not have our instrument returned to us. We are not happy and feel we have been given the run around. They keep assuring us that it is ready to be picked up but when we arrive, it suddenly needs a few more minutes. We had intended to purchase not only a clarinet in the future but also an oboe from these people but I’m afraid after this incident with the banjo, we will reconsider. We do not feel valued as customers. This is ridiculous and from now on we will take our business elsewhere.

We brought my daughter’s clarinet to have a few pads replaced. We were told that the instrument was generic brand and we should look into getting a nicer one. We purposely did not buy our daughter an expensive clarinet because she was in 6th grade and she’d never played before. I told.them to replace the few pads and we’d look into a better clarinet if she made the advanced band. They quoted me a price for the few pads and we could pick her instrument up in a few days. When we went to pick it up we were told the cost was over $200. Apparently they changed most of her pads and not just the few we’d talked about. They never called to ask if we wanted this much work done or to let us know the cost before taking it upon themselves to do it and expect us to pay the outrageous amount. It didn’t make any sense to me if they said the clarinet was off brand, etc. You’d think they’d ask if we wanted to spend that much to fix it. We only paid $50 for her new clarinet on Craigslist and would have put the $200 into buying her a nicer one instead of paying to fix the one she has. When I confronted them about not asking before doing such an expensive repair, they were non apologetic and basically pay the $200 or they keep her clarinet. We paid it, but will never go back again.

I took my trumpet in to get a dent out of the valves, and without my consent the trumpet was chem cleaned. Any of the crud that was on the inside was gone (that could’ve been fixed by me washing it at home) and the debt was gone, but the cleaning stripped the lacquer off of the trumpet. Hallman’s refused to re-lacquer it unless we paid for it. I haven’t gone back since…

They had a huge selection and the owner was super helpful and enthusiastic.

Excellent place and people.

I could have been there all day! It’s an extensive collection of pre-owned records and tapes. I found a Neil Young album I only have on tape. It was a wonderful surprise to find it. Go and be prepared to stay all afternoon. I’ll be back.

It is small and tucked away, but the staff is friendly and has a passion for vinyl. Prices are fair, if not a tad higher than you can find online. My only real complaint is that I wish there was a wider selection of genres. Lot of great rock, especially the classic from the height of vinyl. Not as much of everything else. Though that is more an issue with a small space rather than anything else.

Big store and lots of records. The owner personally helped me despite a decent crowd. I would say more foreign music would be nice. I have a hard time finding Japanese and French music so it would be nice to have more. Also the jazz could be more organized to time eras. It’s a big genre and should be organized in a more detailed way. You can place a custom order though so it’s a good compromise.

Great place to spend a little time being nostalgic.

Came for record store day! The management was absolutely terrible and people who have been here since 3 am got thrown in the back of a line compared to people who got here an hour ago!

Sucked… No variety no selection

Handled RSD 2023 very poorly, got turned away at the gate and they were letting people in after me and I got there before them. One person in line got here at 12 AM and is in the very back, what? RSD should be a fun FAIR experience and the organization of the line made it very much not so.

Victoria is a truly gifted harpist. I would highly recommend her for any event. She played flawlessly for our wedding and reception.

My daughter recently was married and I had the privilege of having Victoria play at her wedding. Walking down the isle I heard the most beautiful music playing, softly as if you were in heaven.. Her list of music is among top choices, especially in her wedding repertoire. After the wedding was o we I had so many people come up and ask me about the harpist playing and I told them I found her online under the Huntsville Harpist . They couldn’t stop bragging on her playing and choices of music. She played so beautifully and worked with me so well. Very quick to respond, very professional and very detailed, so that you know exactly what to expect and what is included with your payment.. I highly recommend Victoria to play for any event you need special music and I will definitely be using her again in my sons wedding next year!! Thank you again Victoria for making my daughters wedding so special!!

Sincerely,
Angie Gauldin

Offering a wide variety of musical education programs from toddlers all the way through adults. The staff is friendly and genuinely cares about their students.
The approach to teaching younger students is a novel way to engage them without creating a boring learning environment. Our kids (2 – 6 yr old) like their classes and look forward to going each week.
The material has a Christian faith theme but that doesn’t impact the technical aspects of what is being taught.

miku

Great place to wash clothes very clean and very nice staff.

A bit pricey but you can still cds here.

Good store, friendly service.

Was out trying to find a place to get a new CD that came out and they’re aren’t many stores carrying them anymore unless you order or digital download. So I went to the parkway place mall to get it and was very happy to see they had it and was on sale cheaper than the online prices for it. The store is much smaller and not as easy to browse because all types of music is alphabetically together in a very tight shelf instead of how they used to be in categories but at least they still carry them. Everyone working there was very pleasant and really helpful I will definitely return to this store. I just wish they would at least make the displays easier to browse there is just way too much stuff crammed together in such a small store it’s almost claustrophobic. This store used to be twice this size I know it’s because most people use Amazon or just do download but I still prefer to have the actual CD in case my computer crashes so I don’t have to worry about losing my albums I know several people that lost everything and even with proof they bought it online had to buy them again from several different sites. They do have lots more stuff on their website too and they run great sales so I think it’s worth a visit to their store or website.

Friendly people

The people that work here are incredibly rude. They also lack basic math skills. An item was mark 50 percent off the young lady used her calculator to figure out half of 20 is 10. She then proceeded to give me 8.18 back……… when I explained that half of 20 is 10 she said ok but 8.18 is what I’m giving you. Side note it doesn’t really matter because her ” refund” never went back on my card.

I was not at FYE at Parkway Place mall. In fact that store is mo longer there.

Store is always a mess. Merchandise laying around every where. Open boxes. Workers seem to not know what they are doing. Manager gives me bad vibes