Premium music shops of San Bruno: Our Top-18 selection

Thomas is very easy to work with. He listens to my preferences and sends a personalized batch of bows that fit my playing criteria. He is attentive through the process.

I live thousands of miles away, in Virginia. I had shopped for bows in all of the places within a 3 hour drive of my house. I found Thomas Yee’s shop online because I was interested in a particular bow maker. He has nice pictures and good descriptions of all of the available bows on his website. I didn’t end up liking that bow, but he had a very large selection of other bows. He talked with me about my playing and selected bows he thought I would like. It took two shipments of bows, but I got one that I really like. Thank you, Thomas!

I had a great experience shopping for a violin for my daughter at Bay Fine Strings. Thomas Yee was really helpful in providing us with a great range of options within our price range. We met him at his workshop and he allowed my daughter to play each violin to get a sense of what we liked. After going through all of the violins, he even brought out a few more, and we ended up borrowing a few for a week to try out at home. He kept in constant communication with us to see how we liked the violins and even brought a couple more for us to try out at home. I highly recommend Bay Fine Strings if you’re looking to buy a quality instrument.

What I love most about ViBO Music School is their ability to customize the music lessons to match with the student’s need/preference/personality. They offer excellent music groups (rocks, Jazz, classical) where the students can play in a group and perform in the public. My daughter can play the piano well but she lacks the confidence. Having her play in the music bands (rocks and Jazz) really help her boost her confidence.
Victor Lin is just a wonderful musician and owner of ViBO. He listens to us about our concern and he works hard to help our daughter with her confidence issue. ViBO does not get into competitions because they want the students to learn to love music and play with their hearts. Our daughter has been with ViBO for over 4 years now and we are so happy with the progress that she has made.

I love Vibo Music School because both my kids have great times there. Vibo provides all kinds of instruments lessons in group & private, like drums, woodwinds, piano, guitar, violin… you name it. Then Vibo puts kids together to form bands and gives them opportunities to perform in the community. That’s what makes Vibo so special. My son plays guitar in the rock band and my daughter is a violinist with the chamber orchestra. Not only they can learn instruments from professional teachers but also can perform in front of different audience many times in a year. I recommend Vibo to all who love to learn or play music. Come join the Vibo family!

Friendly staff and excellent teachers. The rooms are quite spacious compared to some of the music schools I’ve been to, and they carry a good selection of musical instruments and sheet music.

Great place for lessons

Vibo offers music lessons for kids on a wide range of musical instruments. The staff and instructors are friendly and the shop also sells a limited range of instruments and recording equipment. Off street parking in nearby public lots is available, but waiting space is limited for parents who hang out during their kid’s half hour lesson. They also coordinate recitals and concerts for their students.

Great shop and repair staff. They’ll give you honest and practical advice. Great teachers for the school too! You don’t realize what a gem this place is until you move away.

Wonderful experienced instrument repair shop and retail store. Great experience and advice from the employees. Excellent place to go if you want quality work at a fair price. We had brought in an old violin to get repaired but ended up renting a brand new one instead. It was clear that the guys working there know their instruments and are quite experienced.

Just dropped my Alto flute off for repairs after they had repaired and polished up my Gemeinhart two years ago or so and did a splendid job!

Fair pricing and quick turnaround time on repairs.

Rentals and all else was spot on.
Customer service could get much better, it’s good to be polite and considerate to all customers.

[Repair flute

I went to replace a bow that they said was fine, I thought they wouldn’t replace the bow but they did. They told me they would give me a bow with the same weight and pretty much the same bow. But they gave me a fiberglass bow instead of a carbo fiber bow, that is heavier then the old one. I’m second chair in an orchestra and a concert is coming soon. I’m not sure want to do, I don’t have anyone to bring me back to the store.

Poor selection of strings for cello, took 30 minutes to buy 2 strings, they came loose in a paper bag with no product information. Had to ask to ecwn learn that they were steel core nickel wound. Strings were very low quality for the price.

I’ve known Gary and his music store for years. He’s a blessed man with huge musical experience with playing and sales. I love him and he’s always been beyond fair and treats people like people. I miss the experience of being involved with his store and him
.

We rented a violin for 2nd-4th grade lessons and they were exceptional. Best rates and warm customer service. Very professional, thorough and caring. They have moved but still the same great team, we will use them again.

Awesome staff and good selection!

tiny tiny shop. sad to see they downsized and the people renting musical instruments etc. has declined over the years.

Friendly and they know their stuff.

Tanforan Barnes & Noble is an extra large store with an even greater selection!!!

Great place and excellent attention friendly people that help you on everything
Really happy with my books..

Coffee books great customer service

Nice cool place to look for a book or just to browse the store. They have PLENTY of everything. And something for everyone’s liking! There is a cafe ‘Starbucks’ indoors with plenty of table seating. Not too much seating out in the book area though. Bottom floor has a whole world with the toddler kept in mind, from story telling to a play area, books and fun things to do to keep them busy!! Very very nice and reasonably priced.

Love Barnes and noble

Clean large store. Great variety and Starbucks. What’s not to like?

Ordered a book, and when it arrived, they could not find it.

There is not a Barnes and Noble in San Francisco proper, kind of disappointed.

Good

It has everything I need for the budding guitarist in me. The staff is friendly and helpful.

Great for all your music needs very helpful stuff.

I try to give the local businesses as much business as I can and since Manner Music is the only music store for miles, This is where I shop for things like need.
Plus, I have known Sarah since the mid 1960s!

I got great personal attention. David answered a lot of my questions both on the phone and in the store for a rental saxaphone for my 9 year old nephew.
Store has new and used equipment for sale or rent. Rental equipment is much more reasonable than Serramonte music center.

They have a wide range of instruments, just not very good quality ones. Most of the inventory is probably best suited for beginning musicians. As far as guitars go, the best one I saw was a mid-range Seagull. Most are just plywood guitars. I constantly wonder how they stay in business. Staff members seem to be friendly.

Nice little place. When we visited, the person working didn’t seem very knowledgeable about the instruments. But the store itself was very cute

Terrible attitude. Not helpful. Never go back again!

Friendly staff and ecclectic assortment of instruments! I am a collector of world instruments and love shops like this which offer a wider variety than your standard wall of boring guitars and one ukulele. Glad they’re here!

Friendly neighborhood shop offering instrument sales and rental. Good service.

Staff was very helpful and knowledgeable!

Cozy place, new and used instruments, variety of sheet music, they also suggested cello lessons.

Nice instrument. Closed when sing reads open.

Fraudulent. I rented an instrument for my daughter’s school year then returned it. They continued to charge my card so I called them and they said they would stop charging and refund me. They didn’t and continued to charge me. Then 3 months later ($350 extra in EXTRA rental fees) and I call them and they say they don’t have the instrument! They want me to pay for it! Absolutely insane. Don’t EVER use them.

I came in to sell my 2013 gibson. Right when i walked into the store i was greeted by a lady who worked there who immediately said “sorry, not interested”. She didn’t even take a look at the guitar. I’m a little annoyed that the front of their store says “buy-sell-rentals” but it doesnt seem like they buy anything. Drove all the way here for nothing…

Musical instruments shop with a few sound proofed rooms in the back for lessons. They carry unknown brands and charge a premium for rental, even for elementary students.

Instructors are very nice and easy to work with

Every kind of books and information that you need about musical instruments,you will be able to find.

It’s a long standing family owned business. The guys who work here are very dedicated.

Friendly well-equipped music store. Needed a cheap harmonica for my class. The nice assistant found me just what I needed rather than try to sell me something expensive.

The older man isnt very welcoming. However there was a nicer younger man.

The worst place to buy a instrument they sold me a junk instrument for 1,000 when I went back with receipt they gave me run around and would not take it back

Still a good place to shop.

Cool place.

Love it

Though this location isn’t that accessible.Plus they have good deals.Go shop there.

This has got to be one of the most organized and well maintained Marshall’s I’ve ever been in! Products didn’t spew into the aisles, like all their other locations.

The only issue I had was with customer service. I asked an employee about where I could find the bath and body products, and her response was “what we have out, is what we have in stock”. Uh, what? That wasn’t the question. Pretty unfortunate that that was the customer experience I received.

They have some good items and chocolates lol, sometimes you can find what you’re looking for and sometimes not, in general it worth the try.

It’s not what used to be, Marshall and Ross both have the same business mentality and definitely cheap products

A female employee followed me into the restroom and basically accused me of theft because she didn’t believe that the coat i had walked in with over my arm belonged to me. She made me open the stall door (after i told her that I wasn’t decent), hand her my coat and watch while she pawed it up and down (it’s white linen!!!) and searched the pockets (for what idk) but it was a terribly intrusive and embarrassing incident. I was so mad I left without buying anything (which adds to my frustration as I had a half a cart full of stuff). I hope she has to put it all away! If ur gonna accuse someone u should either be sure, or, at the very least, have the patience to wait until they pull their pants up to question them. I won’t be going back.

El personal no sabe lo q venden, no ayudan al cliente

There are still some nice products available.

My daughter love this place ,they have arcade in the mall.plus easier to buy stuff here ,Hard to find employee only sometime.

Groovy.

Good location. Good parking. Good customer service and good feedback from customers. Seems like some people around here are too grouchy.

Beware this store jacks up the prices more than the Target online prices. Use the Target app to scan barcodes for price matching. Disable location services so the app doesnt know youre at the store or else the app will show you the store’s shelf sticker price.

Big lines at the register to pay .

Half the bathroom stalls were liked. Clothing so haphazardly placed I had no idea how to find what I needed. Fitting room unattended and a mess. If there is theft, maybe that’s a good reason why. Personal items, such as deodorant or Tend Skin, were under locked glass, a couple of aisles, but no employee in sight to get products needed, shampoo that I did have access to (just one brand at aisle end) was covered with dust and creepy. Only one check out aisle open, the rest self check. Problems with this store seems down to understaffing. People would shop more (maybe steal less) if there were helpful employees, decent bathrooms, clean products, easier to navigate and be even able to choose personal items without chasing down an employee and exposing them to the products I use that I consider and are called personal. It truly was a terrible experience.

Wish someone would answer the phone have been on hold over 30 minutes

I am here almost every other day my son always wants to go and buy item and food there. I buy my weekly and monthly grocery’s and toiletries and of course lego’s I collect lego’s anyhow we ALWAYS end up eating at the food court because my son loves the pizza and Starbucks drinks well on this occasion he wanted a root beer or Dr pepper which they were out of Dr pepper and dnt have root beer in the food court so I asked for a refund from the person in the counter she was rude and said what do u want me to do so I said nevermind and went to the customer Service to ask for a refund well I guess there not trained to refund a cup of soda because I had to wait for some other person to tell me to just get a soda from the coolers . My point here is I spend alot of money at Target and would appreciate Target Upper Management to train there staff members to be professional and give the customer a pleasant experience there’s no need for RUDENESS!!!.

Great equipments

I have gotten two guitars in my life: a Cordoba classic guitar two years ago, and a Fender Strat last December. Both I got at this Guitar Center. They were patient and thorough, giving me all the space to try many different guitars before I could feel comfortable with my selection. They also were amenable to negotiating the price for the protection plan, since I bought the electric guitar, an amp, and a few more items to go with them (cable, strap, picks, etc.)

I will continue to go to this store, although it no longer is the nearest none to me.

Very helpful guys. The fellow who helped us went above and beyond expectations.

Quite small, hardly any keyboards.

A great musical instruments store. No fancy guitars though

Chill. No pressure to buy. Cool staff.

Chad is a total bell end. Came in to talk about a used buy in. He first of all saw me from the other side of the counter and instead of walking over those few steps, just wags his heads quickly and expects me to talk. I want to sell, he doesn’t have time to test it out and flatly tells me to “go take a walk at myself”. I could not believe me eyes. How does this guy have a job?!?!

Couldn’t find whatvi want, and they did help me that much with another questions i made

The premise is poorly kept. Cigarette butts are all over.

I made an appt for my 2022 Toyota GR Supra for catted downpipe install. Matt booked me in a few days before and Eddie welcomed me inside the shop. They quoted me a good rate for 2hr job and got it done just under that time professionally and smoothly. Amazing work and highly recommend The Shop. I was also the first A90 Supra to have a downpipe installed by them. For sure I’ll coming back here for future work on my car!

Very decently priced!
Always great and fast service!

They do really great work at a great price! They have swapped the tires on my Tesla Model 3, and it’s not easy to find a shop to do that, especially with same-day service.

If you have a Tesla, you do need to bring them the lifting jack stands that Teslas require to be jacked off the ground.

Was early jst in case they take me in..But waited for my appointment at 1130….First impression, place not too friendly ..That’s why 3 stars only…

Brought two cars in for tire change and I was a little disappointed overall. The first time they did great. The second time, I found my tires over inflated by 10psi, the wheels were on different corners than before so the TPMS wouldn’t read properly, and they forgot to install one of my centercaps, so I had to drive back to pick it up. I was also a little annoyed that they charged me for rubber valve stems when they initially said they would waive the fee since I had reusable metal stems.

The shop was easy to contact and they responded to my email/messages quickly. They have a large shop that is well organized and clean. I was able to book an appointment the next day to get an after market part installed with a fair quote. I also did a 4 wheel alignment and the car is driving better. Minus one star for inputting the wrong car mileage into the service history. Suppose to be 62,855 miles and they wrote 102,855 which was saved into the cars service history report.

Bad experience… Doubt if they tried to trick me

Went with a perfectly fine car, got back a car with Engine lights ON, Alternator Issue and $721. estimate for the fixes. I really doubt they tried to trick me by triggering the engine lights and TPM indicators.
Long story: Since I was going on a road trip and since I was due for the major service for changing transmission fluids, brake fluids etc I thought of doing a cheap inspection service at “The shop”. Their website lists a $25 inspection fee and I thought well it is okay to spend that money to confirm if my car is good for a road trip. I called them up and talked to Simon who gave me an appointment and I drove in and checked in with Simon. He said it will be quick and will take 30 mins. I waited for 1 hour 15 mins and didn’t hear back. So went back to the desk and Simon said it is done and he is making a report. And then he handed me the report and the fun begins
He said the engine lights are ON so they need to inspect further and also my car’s alternator is week and has to be replaced and they do not recommend to drive the car at all for the road trip unless these problems are fixed. (Just to make a note here: My cars warning lights will turn ON when the battery is disconnected and has to be reset manually with OBD port). I was shocked and also found that funny. I asked him when did he see the engine lights ON, coz when I parked my car there it was never ON and he said well it was ON when they pulled the car to the garage… I understood their point. They might be trying to scare me with that and make some money out of it!!! And my first thought was to take my car and escape. But I asked them, how much would it take to fix all these? He did an estimate with a new alternator, engine lights inspection and also tpm fixes to be around 750$. I told him that I’m not doing anything in here and and wanted to take my car and he gave me a receipt for $45 and I asked him about why is it $20 more? And he said he had to do more inspection than for older cars. Total bullsh*t. I should have confirmed the amount before I turned in the car. So finally after getting the car I turned ON the engine and figured out that I’m seeing lot more warnings in the head unit than I have seen before. I cursed myself for being extra cautious. My car had only undergone the routine maintenance at the dealership 2 months back and I never should have turned my car at a local unauthorized “The Shop” at all, that too just before the road trip.
I went back in and spoke with the Manager and complained about the whole thing which is “I have a car with more problems than what I drove in” He took the car in and cleared all the warning lights and said it might come back again and alternator needs some attention and it is not bad. So now I have a car with no warning lights. I escaped from “The shop” and went to my friend who did some diagnostics and said everything is fine.
The next day I went for the road trip and everything was fine during the entire trip.So lesson learnt: Dealerships might be expensive but they can be trusted – I hope so :)Not going into any local workshops any more especially “The shop”
This was my second visit to the Shop, and the first experience was good. Also this was something that was recommended by my friend. I will alert him and his friends too. Also posting this on yelp, so people are aware.

Went in to have tires put on. Came out with car fishtailing and tires screeching from stop light. Feels like traction control is off now. Won’t even go back to get it looked at. Going elsewhere. Disappointed. Too young of staff in my opinion.

this is the worst customer service that i’ve encountered. i went on this shop and check the tires that i see on craigslist and decided to pay thier used tires. and the guy told me he’s gonna ask somebody about the tires that im looking for. and i sit on the chair and when he came back he was so angry and rude saying that why im sitting and it’s not my place. i didn’t get the name of the person that i spoke with but sorry to say to the owner of this shop that you have a worst customer service.

Awesome place with awesome staff. Helped me with my first build every step of the way, giving solid advice on each component to consider. Came out with a beautiful gigging guitar. Great for beginners to pro level musicians.

Very friendly and knowledgeable staff. Will happily answer questions and are not trying to rush you out of the door.

Warm and helpful staff! Has almost everything we are needing and looking for . . .

Yes, Gelb Music is now also Haight Ashbury Music Center. A long standing fixture of the community, like Manor Music in Pacifica this is one of the few remaining original music shops.

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.

Horrible service, over priced equipment and when i went in for electrical help with my guitar they were so disrespectful to me that i had to leave.

Terrible prices and worse service.

I live 6 blocks away from this music store. Rude and arrogant.
I go back every five years or so to see if they have changed for the better, they haven’t. I still regret giving them money 25 years ago.

I live very close to tanforan and literally every time I try to stop by this place its always closed morning, noon, and night. Maybe I have horrible timing or maybe there should be somewhere that they post store hours and days that they are open. As a suggestion, possibly post the hours and days on the store itself or online.

Never open and hours are not posted anywhere when they are open the lady in there has very poor people skills you should be able to play the instrument before you buy it but she doesn’t let you even hold them and is very rude

Its not a music shop…its a closet store. BLUE MOON CLOSETS is on the window.