Sarasota Springs: Overview of the top 10 music shops

Beautiful shop! Wide array of selection.
Owners seems very knowledgeable.
Very courteous and helpful! Highly recommended!

What a joyful experience it is to do business with Sarasota Violins! They offer a selection of violins incomparable to any other around, and they do an amazing job of carefully matching the right violin to the violinist. Mr. Mendoza, a world renown violinist himself, is incredibly inspiring. This shop is truly a jewel for the arts community here in Sarasota.

Sarasota Violins is an amazing resource for our region’s cultural center, offering a full spectrum of quality instruments and accessories for all ages and stages of musical artistry. The growing string student and the professional alike are offered the same outstanding customer service and unparalleled industry knowledge. Our entire community is immeasurably blessed to have such a world-class musical and artistic nurturing resource right here in the heart of Sarasota.

Great staff had a issue with my purchase and they gladly fixed the problem and remained polite the whole time

Has a great selection of instruments, and an overall genuine and friendly staff- Steven is always helpful. If they don’t have what you need you can always order it, they’re very accommodating.

EVERYTHING WAS AWESOME!!!! Everyone was amazing and super helpful and knew exactly what you wanted and if you didn’t know help you find what you loved!

I want to give a big thank you to the staff at Guitar Center Sarasota, especially the store manager Albert. I had purchased a guitar from them that had some issues so I returned it. I wanted to go with a different even more expensive model. However my concern going in was that I would not be able to get as good of a deal because I purchased the first guitar during a 15% off promotion sale. However Albert still honored the discount even though the sale had been over for two weeks and it was a different guitar.

The guitar that I wanted was not in stock and the Manufacturer didn’t have any in stock either. So Albert special ordered me one and they originally said was going to be a month. Well to make a very long story shorter, after some twists and turns and back and forth the whole process ended up taking over three months. Needless to say I was not happy but Albert was very cool and by using both outstanding customer service and all his Guitar Center managerial powers he gave me a great deal on some other Items that I needed to purchase and he made things right. Albert went above and beyond every step of the way to make me happy. I am very grateful and I would definitely do business with Albert and his outstanding crew again and with confidence because of their wealth of knowledge and their true understanding of the value of customer service. Thank you guys!

Great place to buy a guitar but the staff isn’t always attentive

Over all the great experience every time I Come here to get whatever it is I may need. A little short staffed so it could be sometimes difficult to get ahold of somebody or try out that piece of equipment you’re looking for but that just comes with the territory. Everyone is professional and polite and I join my visits when I come and I only share I end up coming back here before too long for something else I’m missing. Some prices are a little exaggerated but as a chain store you can safely expect that but this location is pretty convenient and is very professional all the time.

The customer service here is terrible and their promotions have been super sketchy to say the least!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I tried a promotion for their private lessons and bought 4 lessons for the price of 3 for my 10 year old daughter to explore music. I bought a keyboard from GC to go along with the promotion because my kid was super enthusiastic about the deal! We’ve bought several instruments from GC and never had an issue until now! Well the salesman in the Sarasota store was SUPER RUDE and did not acknowledge that I was waiting for him to finish with a customer. I waited for over 30 minutes then decided to simply climb on a ladder and grab the keyboard that I wanted from the top shelf myself. I should have seen the red flag then but I gave GC the benefit of the doubt. Well the rep in the private lessons area persuaded me to buy the keyboard lessons online bc I wanted lessons via zoom only, the instructors from the store could not accommodate my daughters schedule and I wanted to give this a trial run. The rep assured me it was no problem. The instructor we got was from another store. After she had 3/4 lessons she told me she was bored and did not want to have any more beyond the 4 we payed for. I called the store and let them know a week prior to the 4th and final lesson so that I wouldn’t be billed for the next month. Not only did they not cancel the plan but I was charged for the month anyways. I called the day my card was charged (6/21/23) and they swore they have issued a refund. Well it’s been 5 calls and 16 days later and still no refund. This has been a terrible experience and I expected more out of a store I have been such a faithful patron too. I have bought over 10 instruments from the store and never thought that the customer service would be so inefficient. I guess I need to find another store to patronize and give my money too! Don’t be fooled like I was!!!

Thank you to “Dave in Drums” for hanging up on a customer because you didnt want to help them, and to the manager on duty last night for not returning the phone call of the customer to discuss the situation. Not mention the 30 seconds of ring time before some one would answer the phone. You both earned yourself a call to corp. Literally the worst customer experience i’ve ever seen or had.

Very disappointing. Service was almost nonexistent. As a veteran musician, this store just didn’t make the grade.

This music store is amazing. If you have stuff you want to appraise and sell or just test your luck and find some excellent new and/or used gear, here the place! For the square footage the have, this store pacts a punch, I mean its got orchestral, recording equip., guitars, electric, acoustic.. & Amps.. Plus drums. It pretty much has it all. Awesome addition to this town.

I picked up a used flute off FB Marketplace for a steal, but it needed work. Music Go Round put in all in excellent working order, I’m so happy with it, and ready to refresh my flute skills, it’s been over 50 years!!
Great place, friendly, capable staff, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.❤️❤️

Ordered a Jared James Nichols signature guitar Old Glory I received it in great condition with all its accessories that were not even mentioned in the listing, I’m extremely happy with my purchase, thank you music go round.

I like the idea of new and used music gear chain store. They are able to access instruments and equipment from all over the country. The salesman could have been more knowledgeable but overall, it’s really good.

While I haven’t been @ this store, I’ve bought from a (closed) one in Lakeland and found good deals on parts for my drum stands. Bass pedal prices are good also I noticed. I’m still looking for the” holy grail” of drums. A SONOR HLD 590.

Cool place, wide variety of”stuff”. Decent prices, no haggeling. Staff wasn’t overly friendly and had to track down someone to test an amp.

I bought a second hand trumpet there but when it arrives at my place (Spain) the mechanic, the central core of the instrument witch is the pistons were faulty, the third pistons casing has very heavy mark of screwdriver inside, all he way from bottom to upper part. I really wonder what happened and why such a thing hasn’t been seen and clearly mentioned on the announcement. They assure me to have properly tested it and that it was working perfectly in their store. They also argue that travelling all the way to Spain may have damaged the instrument witch is a cheap excuse and impossible because it came personally with a friend of mine plus it was well stored in its case.
I REALLY DO NOT RECOMMEND ANYBODY TO BUY IN THEIR STORE, they are not competent at all at testing wind instrument. In my case i suppose they just move the pistons up and down, remove and reassemble all parts and assume it was fine, unfortunately this is not the way you try a pistons instrument.
They don’t wanna be responsable for that and told me they can’t do anything to resolve it.
Very unhappy with this franchise store. Very poor service

Everything is overpriced, if you add $10 to the value u can get a new one. Guys at the front desk are really disrespectful. That is so many other stores around with better pice and great environment .

Liars and worst customer service ever at least they refounded quickly but lie on the cell and then lie like they never meet you the worst business ever!

Very friendly and encouraging. My daughter is learning to play violin at school, the lady was informative and genuinely interested in my daughters learning. I will highly recommend visiting Keyboards& More. My daughter and I left inspired to do great things with our music and art. Thanks for taking the time to chat with us.

They did a great job cleaning and fixing the clarinet I found at Good Will. Thanks for your help!

Bertrand’s has everything you need for all of your music memes. They have been able to find me accessories Queen dealers in Tampa have not been able to. I highly recommend Bertrand to anyone that is looking to start playing or for those seasoned musicians

Very helpful staff! Great selection.

Knowledgeable on music and able to help

Nice people helpful

Sometimes. It’s good not to speak…

Janice was very kind, warm, and welcoming. This is a little gem of a music store. Small but surprisingly well stocked with a variety of instruments and supplies.
A very pleasant visit!

Janice is very friendly and helpful

Great local music shop!

Rode my bike about 4 miles to play guitar for a little bit, am on vacation. I was honest with my intentions with Janice, told her I wasn’t looking to purchase just to play for a little bit. She responded with “no soliciting get out”. I was very surprised. Janice may love music, but she does not love the passion of music. I would have maximum been in the store for 30 minutes and gone my ways. It’s sad to see someone so profit driven who claims on her website “music is not to hear, it’s to feel”. She also claims “Im here to help everyone enjoy the love of music”. This couldn’t be further from the truth. She is profit driven and does not care for you as a person. I suggest to not support someone so rude as an owner, and someone who lies about her true intentions with music. She just wants your money, she does not care for your love of music. Had she allowed me to play for just 10 minutes even, she would’ve made my day. Shame on you Janice, I hope you realize your rude ignorance is unneeded in a world full of it.

scammer

Not open during advertised hours. 2:30, Friday Mar 24th. Driving around here is bad enough, let alone doing it for no reason.

Great place, friendly staff who will take all the time you need to help you out.

Our experience was excellent and the manager is very funny and very nice. (Bill)

Great atmosphere, the owner and staff is very qualified helpful. Bob Muffet a awesome music teacher.

Sometimes you worry about going into a place because you don’t know anything about the issue your going in there for,
Guitars in my case.
The guy in the back was awesome. I didn’t expect him to be so friendly and so informative. Usually you go in a store and they want to hurry up and answer your question and go but this guy, his customer service was on point! Things like that keep me going back.

Nice music shop in Sarasota. Had a good selection of equipment, unfortunately, not what we were looking for. Staff was attentive and helpful with knowledgeable backgrounds. Reccomended if you are in the market for specific equipment or just spending the day shopping.

Very helpful

No one has personality in there

For a place that’s fighting off the swarm of big-box corporate music stores that stock way more relevant inventory to provide hands-on experience with, Fogt’s sure is doing its best to repel the locals with snotty condescension, smug arrogance, and stale apathy. It makes the extra 20 minute drive to Guitar Center or Sam Ash that much more enjoyable.

Supposed to order a book for my childs band class. Never ordered it, never called me back. Wasted my time only to have to go somewhere different for it.

Jerry’s one heck of a nice guy and he has the best left handed guitars in the World all in one place. If you’re after the best Electric or Acoustic guitars on the planet, check out his shop in person or order from him directly. He packs all his guitars perfectly for transport and I’d have no hesitation in recommending Jerry’s Lefty Guitars to friends. Amazing shop! 5/5

Jerry’s Lefty Guitars is simply fantastic. He has a huge selection of acoustic and electric guitars to chose from. His selection of boutique guitars is excellent as well; you’re going to find guitars here that you won’t find anywhere else – guaranteed. Jerry is a class-act too. He’s nice and beyond accommodating. I’ll be back!

Jerry is a great guy who sells amazing guitars! Can’t wait to go back! – Lenny

Pretty decent.

Largest collection of lefty guitars I’ve ever seen! Decent variety and prices.

Bought a MIJ 84/87 Stratocaster, fast delivery. Guitar looked fantastic, had aged perfectly without the dents and dings one my expect, could not of been happier with the looks. Plugged it into my amp and nothing, no sound until I got to 8 on the dial, anything below 8 and it would fall off volume wise. Tone controls were pretty much doing nothing, had my repairman give it a once over, he removed the pickguard and inspected it, all 3 pots has to be replaced with new, and switches and Jack input, wiring was a mess as well. I would of thought Jerry’s would of inspected this guitar before selling it, since it was a 35 year old guitar. So now I have to put 200.00 into it before I can even play it. Really make me cautious of buying another one from the company.