We are fortunate to have a true craftsman in town. Mike can set-up, build or repair most any guitar or stringed instrument. He’ll honestly tell you if it’s worth the expense to fix and is very fair and reasonable in what he charges. Saved me several times and turns stuff around really quickly. Excellent musician. Good guy.
I trust this man with my guitars. A gem in this town.
Hobo guitars is a great shop. Always an appealing selection of guitars. Mike’s vast knowledge of all things regarding gear and music have been of invaluable benefit to me. He is a very patient and versatile guitar teacher whose lessons have yielded an amazing amount of progress within a short span of time. I have also brought in many different instruments for repair/modification and his work has always been of an exceptional quality that I have found to be unparalleled in the Mendocino County area.
Honest prices, expert work!
Keep the money in the community support local businesses…
Chill local guitar shop. Helpful and knowledgeable, I’ll be back.
The owner is rude, and the merchandise is overpriced. $70 for a set of bass strings, got the exact same set for half that online. I wouldn’t recommend visiting, you’re better off finding a different store
The prices of his items are overpriced when I can get everything he sells for cheaper on Amazon. He also low balls customers if you want to sell him your guitar. If I were you, I would just go to another shop.
2. Main Street Music & Video
Address: 65 S Main St, Willits, CA 95490 , Redwood Valley , California , United States
Selection, Selection, Selection, & Great Prices!!!
This place had a great vibe. The staff is friendly, helpful and super on top of great service. We found some rare dvds while we waited for our pizza to cook. Highly recommend this place to anyone passing through and looking for a nice place to get some quick food and stretch their legs!
Only place to get a video and music in town
Fire pizza
Alway friendly good food and unique browsing experience
Staff was awesome. Pizza was OK. CD selection was amazing.
Ever know that place that could be awesome if it wasnt out of date and expensive?
Horrible the worst
3. Dart Instruments
Address: 520 CA-128, Philo, CA 95466 , Redwood Valley , California , United States
David is incredible. His instruments are one of a kind. Cannot recommend enough.
David Dart is a master luthier and a real treasure to have in Anderson Valley. He recently added a display room to his shop for visitors. If instruments are your thing, the chance to see him and his shop is a real gift.
David Dart is a true artist. All of his instruments are top notch. Stop by his show room, which is in his shop, to play an instrument.
4. Coyote Valley Casino
Address: 77 BIA Rd 228, Redwood Valley, CA 95470 , Redwood Valley , California , United States
We loved this place, and free overnight parking for rvs. Not 420 friendly as reservations have federal police, wasn’t a worry for me, but the officer was warning everyone.
Awesome
Wish the restaurant would open back up. It’s great that there is no smoking inside!
This review is only for the Coyote Valley Convenient store and gas station. It’s a very popular gas station so it’s hard to get in and out of. They need to make it bigger or something. It’s down right dangerous trying to find a pump or park to go into the store!
Great burritos, drinks, and now I’m addicted to gambling
Not the best
Stopped in while driving to Eureka to check the place out. Never been there before. My wife and I walk in to 27 machines down. 18 of them have a message stating out of printer paper ( I walked around and counted for accuracy before I wrote this review). As a point of mention it is a relatively small casino. My wife and I ordered food. My order had the wrong side and had a condiment on it that I specifically requested not to have due to a food allergy. A note was made by the very lovely girl that took my order. Her customer service was exemplary. Upon requesting simply a new bun top. I took a bite and it tasted like soap. Upon inspection ,bun top was wet. I used no condiments what so ever. Being a former kitchen manager I recognize the smell of cleaner. I informed management of my concern that there may have been food tampering and there seemed to be a hint of disbelief of what I was telling him. no offer of a refund was made and He did not ask for any contact information from me, not even my name. I will never stop there again. And I would highly recommend not to order food. Very disappointed. But I must reiterate that the two ladies working the food counter were very pleasant and apologetic. Excellent customer service on their part. But the rest of my experience was just utterly deplorable. If I could give 0 stars and leave a review I would have. I actually regret in hindsight giving the manager the bun that I had questions about and should have taken it directly to the police for analysis. Hopefully I won’t get sick.
As an addition to this review. To date a have not received so much as an apology from them. We are officially in September now, absolutely horrible experience and service. Never again for me.
You really can’t beat the gas prices here. I was here a few years back and noticed the hotel portion just being built must’ve halted due to covid. I won back then, but the slots are really tight. Also, a bit odd that the hotel has not finished? No funds? Because of this I would not come back….
5. Strings & Things
Address: 901 N Main St, Lakeport, CA 95453 , Redwood Valley , California , United States
If you can catch him while he’s open it’s a good little shop with used guitars and other instruments. They also have an assortment of picks and strings ect. Good atmosphere.
Love this place! Large selection Ukulele’s and Guitars. Very knowledgeable and helpful.
I go back again and again.
This is a very good all-around music store. However, the best part of it has to do with the unusual. Jim Williams has a collection second hand and inexpensive new instruments, changes all the time, some outstanding values
For example, he has a brand of guitar strings I never heard of before, which are real good and inexpensive. They also have lessons. Good place.
Really small store, instruments are (mostly) fairly priced (lots of used & refurbished) but parts & accessories are kind of expensive.
Very helpful!
The only decent music store around the area.
Jim, the owner is a great guy. I visit often.
I found Jim to be cold and disinterested, borderline hostile unfortunately. I order the strings he has never heard of online. Jim appears to be a bit of a fence. I would question the provenance of an instrument from this shop. The music shoppe from a Stephen King film.
6. Music Merchant
Address: 337 N Franklin St, Fort Bragg, CA 95437 , Redwood Valley , California , United States
If anyone needs 1.A guitar (electric or acoustic)Brian’s your man..
2.Need music lessons ?
Ask Brian, he’ll hook you up..
3.If you have lived on Mendocino’s
North Coast for 50yrs or so, and remember “Fiddles & Cameras”,Brian is their son !
Music is in his blood !
FIVE STARS !
Great place, the owner is wonderful and will get you what you need. I’ve been going here for years and I’ve got no complains.
Awesome place!
Not only a variety of old-school CDs, but a fair range of instruments here for the aspiring musician. A surprisingly versatile array of gaming equipment and collectibles. The dude who runs the business is knowledgeable and friendly. Worth a visit!
Good place in Fort Bragg for Musicians to buy parts and musical instruments, Brian is a good clerk, Nice place!
This sneaky little hole in the wall is home to more awesome stuff than you can shake a stick at.
He’s got animes, dvd rentals, tabletop figurines and paints, collectable card games, and more!
You wouldn’t ever guess the treasures in this shop by the windows – no window displays for this business, just a few posters facing the street…
The thriving community of gamers that always seems to be present, and the knowledgeable and friendly owner made me feel immediately at home – prices are reasonable too! 🙂
For a shop advertised as a music store, they only had about 10 guitars and they didnt want you to touch them or play them. They had tooooooons of war hammer and dnd stuff though so if you’re a nerd then you’re set. Very unwelcoming environment honestly, it was awkward and quiet and kinda cluttered and nothing seemed organized.
7. Epperson Music
Address: 301 N Main St Suite D, Fort Bragg, CA 95437 , Redwood Valley , California , United States
Really cool little shop! It had so many neat instruments and the people working there were so nice and helpful. 10/10 must see shop!
Epperson Music is Rad! I found my favorite ukulele yet! It is a beautiful acoustic/electric. Cory is also such a kind and chill person. Very helpful. Reasonable prices. Check it out!
8. Barra of Mendocino Winery & Event Center
Address: 7051 N State St, Redwood Valley, CA 95470 , Redwood Valley , California , United States
We’re so glad we stopped in! Beautiful building, excellent service, and a wonderful tasting. Great escape from the heat, and we went home with some great gifts!
Lovely spot for banquet and wine testing. Wine selection is fantastic from Rosé, white and red they are all excellent. The venue is really clean spacious and well designed. The counter staff are so kind and helpful.
Having a hard time right now like every small business but the customer service is outstanding! They bend over backwards to accommodate you and stay within the state and county covid guidelines.
Terrible service, wine was great. The woman serving me wine couldn’t stop talking to the other employee and she was taking personal calls while she forgot to pour me a taste of what I asked for.
The wine is great but the service I received was horrible. I didn’t catch the name, but a older, robust, bald man with glasses served me when I arrived. I went in for a wine tasting but he was pretty rude. I was by myself and he said “that’s so sad” and proceeded to ask the couple next to me “if they ever would do something like that” and laughed ?!
Ive been wine tasting by myself before because it gives me the chance to talk more about the wine with the steward. But he made me feel so embarrassed and upset so I just bought a bottle and left….
Very disappointing because I don’t get the chance to come out to this winery often and was really looking forward to it. The experience really turned me off and I will look for other wineries when I visit the area.
9. Gelb Music
Address: 722 El Camino Real, Redwood City, CA 94063 , Redwood Valley , California , United States
This shop has a really cool selection of guitars and amps along with the usual accessories. I made a special trip up here to buy a new set of tubes when I retubed my MK V. They were patient and went through the boxes of 12ax7s with me to check them for damage before I left the shop. The only thing that bothered me about the shop was the over use of ask for assistance signs. Overall my visit to Gelb was very positive and I would go there for every purchase if they were just a little closer to my home.
Skip Guitar Center- Gelb is what a real, spulful guitar shop looks and feels like!!
Amazing service
Selection is really good. Nice instruments, And I like the atmosphere. A classic old store, kinda historic. A little pricey (for this I blame the insanity of real estate in the area, not them). Some music store staff are great. Some are typical.
I have found that music store workers are mostly of two varieties: the typical kind, who tend to have this undercurrent of rather sexist, judgmental pressure, and those who just love to connect people of all kinds to what they need.
Sigh – this place has both.
Unfortunately, there are a LOT of the typical kind in this world, and female (or otherwise not “Rock Star” types) really feel it. It is like they somehow need to prove that they are more knowledgeable than me, or something. Very tiring. I want to tell them, “look, I know you wanted to be a professional performer and it feels degrading to be working in a music store, and that you feel like selling stuff to female musicians makes you feel even further from your standards of your own self-image. But you really need to heal that, not surround yourself with a bubble of asserted wannabe dominance. It is not helping you at all. this is actually a really cool .”
To be fair, I only really got this attitude a little here, and it was pretty subtle (but there). Everyone else has been fine. But even a little makes it hard to want to come back. I think music store owners need to screen this, and train people out of it. Or better yet, hire some good female staff.
But I do come back, because the location is good and they have good stuff and they are historic and small. I like them overall. And it is very rare to find places that do not have that phenomenon. So they are not losing my business any time soon. I just hope that one issue gets fixed. Everywhere.
I tried going in a few weeks ago, absolutely insane they still require a mask to go in, they had the entrance blocked off with a table and a sign.
Great customer service. Big instrument selection.
As someone who has been going to Gelb since I was a teenager all I have to say is “Please make it go away”.
What was once a well known piece of the music community of the bay area has become totally useless.
What was once a family of musicians active in the local music scene is now the Kmart of music stores, disorganized…impersonal…just another guitar store.
A couple of weeks ago I went there to get a couple of packs of strings and they couldn’t find them???
Today I went in to see if they had a couple of guitar boxes to ship a guitar I was selling, in the past the response was sure how many do you need, today the response was “We sell them for $15”, if they had said 5$ sure but $15? what exactly am I paying for? your stellar customer service?
Since the change this place has steadily gone downhill, please just let it go, make it go away, or at least change the name so you aren’t tarnishing the name of what was once an institution of the bay area music scene.
Drum Section SUCKS. Don Frank is a Crapy Drummer and a Total QUACK. He guilt trips you if you don’t buy anything. He’s exactly like the former owner of Drum World, Don Sfarzo who was rude and treated customers like Garbage. They rush you out of the shop if you don’t buy anything. Worse place with no Parking.
Act as though your doing them a favor by comming to their store .drum shop clutterd and sales person un interested in helping rather be looking on lap top then doing much of anything else certaianly not cleaning or organizing i used to go to the old drum shop in the 80s cool vibe then .theres a reason sweet water is killin brick n mortar stores
10. Haight Ashbury Music Center
Address: 728 El Camino Real, Redwood City, CA 94063 , Redwood Valley , California , United States
Love that mural, a timeless piece of local history
These guys do a great job. Best place to buy strings in San Francisco. Check out the cool pictures of Jerry while you’re there.
Great local store, awesome vibe to the place and ask for Dave! Always friendly and good customer service.
Fun music store. Bought an electric kazoo. Nice native Americans flute selection. Slow service.
I think this is one of the best music stores in town. Good service, they are really friendly every time I go in, and always seem to have all the really cool stuff you can’t find at chain stores.
Last time I was here they were going out of business. I tried to make them a deal on a box of records they had. Needless to say they would not budge and they kind if overcharged me on the value of these records.
Disappointing – got yelled at by someone for carrying a bag, then walked out as they don’t sell anything besides guitars.
Vastly overpriced and rude. Tried to call and get prices and they said they don’t have time to help me. Good riddance.
Walked in there interested in trying out a few electric guitars. I picked up one and started playing and the employee was rude to me. He said “we don’t do that here”. I left and will never come back.
11. Redwood Music Mart
Address: 511 F St, Eureka, CA 95501 , Redwood Valley , California , United States
Jay was helpful and made me feel valued as a customer great service great products great prices I’ll go back and bring my friends Russell White Lotus Healing Arts
Friendly, knowledgeable staff. Best music store in Eureka.
Great little store. Was able to get a sweet bass guitar for an even sweeter deal. And the black Friday experience was even sweeter then that.
Small, nice music store! Very friendly help!
It’s not Two Street Music but it’s music
It is a private kind of shop, a bit more sedate and serious than 2 St, who. I also do business
12. Redwood Valley
Address: California 95470 , Redwood Valley , California , United States
13. Consumer Music
Address: 1017 Tennessee St, Vallejo, CA 94590 , Redwood Valley , California , United States
Nice home town music shop great customer service help me out very knowledgeable gave me tool and explained how to maintain my guitar.
He had great selection lots for the kids brought back memories I don’t know how he compete with the big box stores.
My kid loves music lessons here.
My grandkids love the drums there
It was pretty cool in there… Kind of pricey… But they offer classes nn
My music instruments store
Never returns a call
Total rip off…never again, known Brad since forever and he totally ripped me off…several time’s…$$$ mean’s more to him than friendship…never again!
Took my very first guitar in to get worked on. Agreed to have a few things done, setup, saddle change, tuner change and BRAD offered to bevel a small hole under my truss rod. THIS MAN did 1/3rd of the work he charged me for, NICKED AND SCRATCHED my guitar, then DIDNT BOTHER TO CALL FOR A MONTH do-not-bring-anything you care about to this guy, he is a salesman, not a musician.
14. West Valley Music
Address: 300 W El Camino Real, Mountain View, CA 94040 , Redwood Valley , California , United States
Great if you need to rent or buy an instrument. Staff was really helpful. I rented a piano and I am very happy with the service. Fully recommend it!
Great selection of instruments and private rooms for music lessons.
A true gem in the South Bay! Excellent customer service! I was able to schedule a drop off outside business hours to have my daughter’s clarinet serviced and the result was amazing! This Clarinet is 40 years old and came back looking brand new and ready for 40 more years!
I stopped in to buy new strings for my electric guitar and was surprised to find a good selection of accessories in addition to the brass and woodwind instruments they have on hand. They have a few guitars covering a decent price range, but they are definitely not what I would consider a guitar shop. The staff was knowledgeable and helpful, and I know that I’ll be going back for any other music related purchases in the future.
It’s a bit cramped, but the shop houses many musical instruments for purchase or rent as well as an array of soundproof booths for practicing! Some classes exist for some of the instruments at different levels.
Very helpful staff. Went above and beyond to help my son for his first year in school band.
Took my flute collection in for a possible tune up. Was told that all but one of the flutes were unplayable. Guess my looks or money weren’t what they accepted there. Took my ‘non playable’ flutes, and commenced to use them to busk, there in downtown Mtn View. Odd that they were declared unplayable, yet I was playing at least one of them not 30 minutes later. Care to explain West Valley Music staff ?
15. Caputo’s Pawn
Address: 9001 N State St B, Redwood Valley, CA 95470 , Redwood Valley , California , United States
Great family business, best in the mendocino county
You have got to check this place out !! Really nice people reasonable, and will work with you for anything. Lots of neat stuff !!!
Very nice guy the owner Kenneth is.Gave me an awesome deal on 2 rings.Nice and friendly customer service.Would definitely recommend shopping here!
I went here to try to sell a ring of mine. These guys offered me 47.00. I knew it was worth more but not sure how much more. I told them i was gonna check around in ukiah and maybe i would be back. I then went to Craftsman and the lady there told me she could give me 240.00 and i was so happy then a couple minutes later she came back and said she was wrong she was willing to give me 284.00. Be careful when going to this place know what your things are worth.
16. Mendocino Music Recyclers
Address: 160 W Henry St, Ukiah, CA 95482 , Redwood Valley , California , United States
This place has great service, and awesome gear. It more of a modification shop which is perfect for me since I’m trying to achieve my own sound, but they have awesome amps and guitars from time to time it just a matter of stopping by and checking it out.
17. Frank Shorts Music & Recording
Address: 537 S Main St, Ukiah, CA 95482 , Redwood Valley , California , United States
No longer at this location. I believe that they closed their doors. There is another shop in its place. Not a music shop either. Sadly, this town does not have the kind of shops we used to. There are still Hobo Guitars and Mendocino Music Recyclers.
I have not been in either one before, however, I am going to check them out today. I have two electric guitars I need some advice on. I look forward to doing reviews on them when I complete visiting them!
(Three stars are because I had to rate the store or it would not publish this. It was a good store while it was there.)
18. Margie Salcedo Rice Violin
Address: Ukiah, CA 95482 , Redwood Valley , California , United States
