Your Top-11 list of music shops in Stanislaus County

The Gottschalk Music Center’s repair staff was EXCELLENT in comparison to other stores in about a 15 mile radius. It was understandable, because it was the start of public school season, so i get that everybody was very busy with school instruments at this time. Gottschalk repair were the only people who obviously shared the same sentiment, and yet thoroughly gave me options and made me feel like i could trust their work, before i even knew the quality. Everyone told me I should drop 800 dollars on a complete over haul (for me, this is doable next year, but not right now. also, my horn was barely playable in its current state). Gottschalk told me it could be fixed up pretty good, but I should perhaps plan on a more extensive repair further down the line. I guess this is all it takes to win somebody’s trust. Thank you gottschalk for helping a customer feel like they have options with a piece of equipment they love. I will be coming back here, for 100% of my horn’s work, whenever I am back in town.

Awesome staff. Extremely helpful.

Gave good advice and a speedy repair!

The best thing about Gottschalk Music is that they are very personable and will help you with your specific instrument and music needs. They will help with your specific questions and what you may need for your instruments. The repair specializes in brass (trumpet, trombone, French horn, baritone, tuba) and woodwind (flute, clarinet, saxophone, etc) instruments.

A little hard to find but the staff was great and informative

I’ve been using this shop for probably 30 years. They’re awesome they’re knowledgeable and they do really good work.

Satisfied with repairs.

Always nice and helpful. Only shop I trust to work on my saxophones.

Staff is really helpful

I’ve personally heard one of there ragtime machines at a toy store in Nevada City, Ca . The coolest music piece I’ve ever seen or heard. Would love to have one at my house if I save enough benjamins! Great piece of Art and music player!!

Cool stuff!

Well i was in communication with the owner trying to sell them an antique piano and he was pretty rude and eventually he just doesn’t respond he wanted to pay very little and wouldnot refer me to another buyer i dont think anyone should do business there just giving you a heads up

Awesome experience here — we went to 4 other music shops without success. Not only did they have the perfect new violin at a reasonable price, but the help, advice and explanations we received were on point. We purchased the violin and were treated to excellent steps on care and play in a very clear and helpful terms to our 12-yr old granddaughter.

This store is wonderful. They always have what you need and are very helpful.
I highly recommend this store

Piano lessons for my 5 yr old granddaughter.

Solid selection for a wide variety of instruments. Sweet, helpful staff.

Ever since Bodhizafa showed me the art of music this has been my go to music store. Just can’t wait till the 50 year storm.

Me gusto.su atención me explicaron todo muy bien. Contestaron todas mis preguntas.

Trash

I recently bought a new Gibson Les Paul that was already a really nice playing guitar as it came from the factory, but I felt like it needed a couple tweaks here and there to make it “feel right” in my hands. Mainly deepening the string grooves in the nut. Gary was great. He did all of the work right there in front of me, and once he was done with the job, he asked if I would mind if he made an adjustment to the truss rod. “Nope. You’re the luthier. Go ahead and do your thing.” was what I told him, and I’m glad he took that extra step. My guitar feels much better now. I will definitely be going back to Vessel’s for any work that requires a true luthier’s touch.

Owner make you feel like a family, I love this place.

I brought our 100 plus year old family made violin here a few months ago. The person put the bridge back on, replaced a string and cleaned up the wood while I waited. I just wanted it to display and not to playing condition. He didn’t charge me anything while treating this family heirloom with great care. I was very pleased with the service.

I came in here with my daughter and Gary Vessel was very rude and creepy to her. I was asking about violins and trying to keep it normal but you can tell Gary does not have good customer service. Dont bring your kids here. I wish my daughter would have never met that man. Once we got in the car, my daughter said ” Daddy, I think that man Gary was so strange and he was so rude”. Dont waste your time here and definitely don’t bring your kids here to Gary.

The second star is simply because this establishment has a reputation for making good violins. The three missing stars are more about character, integrity, and the love of music itself. If I throw honesty into the mix, I really ought rate this shop as one star.

But such a harsh rating deserves clarity, so I will tell my tale. I entered this establishment with a violin in one hand and a ten year old girl hanging on the other hand. The girl, having never played violin, is in love with the instrument for all the beauty and happiness the instrument has inspired in her and she has determined to invest the thousands of hours required to master it. She is however, young and impulsive, so the violin in my other hand is a loaner, the best her school can provide, and it may not be a perfect instrument, but in the hands of a budding new violinist, it is the perfect tool to test the waters and determine how deep her dedication to the instrument goes. It does however need the care and attention of someone skilled enough to replace the bridge and put on a new string.

So here I stand as one of the patrons of this little shop filled with stringed instruments. My daughter is even more deeply enthralled and excited as she’s waited weeks to see this instrument come alive again. Four people stand in front of the shop, playing together. It sounds great. She squeezes my hand even tighter. She’s almost in tears of excitement as one of the players breaks away to help us.

That’s where this sweet scenario goes wrong. What I assume is an artist, takes the violin to a cluttered work table, “hmmm and hah’s” over it for a moment, then brings the violin back and states that the violin is unfixable and unplayable.

The little hand I’m holding gets a little limp. I begin to ask questions while he goes on showing me how the strings lay against the fingerboard and digging through a small box of different sized bridges. He makes measurements and attempts to demonstrate why this violin is of no value because he can’t lift the strings far enough off of the fingerboard to make it play perfectly.

I look down at my daughter and she is failing to hold back the tears. She buries her head in my shirt as she believes her school is out of violins and without a successful repair, she will not be able to take lessons.

The shopkeeper notices, and puts on a display of making one more attempt at repair before shaking his head and saying there’s no way to fix it…however, he does happen to rent violins. My instincts had already been firing off warnings, but the distinct stench of car salesmen hit my nostrils as his attempt at an upsell continued. Needless to say, I left. I took my daughter to the car and did my best to console her as she could no longer hold back her tears. Not being a violinist, I could not be sure if i had just been manipulated, or the violin truly was trash, so I took it out of the case. If it is “unfixable,” I thought, then something must be broken because even a cheap violin is designed to play, even if it is badly. Nothing was broken.

I thought through the experience in the store. He was making measurements but not holding the ruler all the way against the surfaces he was measuring. He was being dishonest, manipulating me, and trying to play my daughters heartbreak against me.

So, still not wishing to think badly of a person without knowing, I asked around. Come to find out, this guy isn’t the only violin expert in Modesto. How could he know that I know violinists? The violin is fixable. The bridges and fake measurements he was showing me were just that, fake.

His reputation for these kind of antics is well known in the community for exactly the type of experience I have just described.

In the end, the school had found funding for a couple of new violins, and one was offered to my daughter, along with a sweet promise to help her get caught up with the rest of the class when the new one arrives.

I’d drive a long way to go somewhere else. Dishonesty is dishonesty. Play straight if you want my business.

Best place for music lessons and equipment!!

Nice place, owner is very knowledgeable. He took his time to show us different pianos.

Very nice people and great customer service. I have purchased several instruments from them over the years, most recently an electric guitar & amp. Very competitive prices, I wouldn’t purchase and musical equipment from anywhere else.

Alright place, kinda small inside since all the pianos are in the way.

It’s a good place really. I take piano lessons there. Nice for if you don’t wanna wear a mask tho the building could look less boring and it’s in a poor area, tho I’ve been goin there for 6 in a half years

Didn’t have the strings I was looking for but were still able to provide me with a nice set at a decent price. Lots of singles to choose from, store owner was patient and friendly. Couldn’t ask much more.

Called in to ask if they had an xlr cable in stock and the lady who answered laughed and asked if I was kidding. It’s a pretty standard microphone cable..strange that I would be laughed at. I encourage that others stray away from this place and allow another shop with some decent customer service and knowledge take its place.

Employees had no idea what they were selling, how it worked, what it was for , what they had or literally anything about the gear they were selling. Not even how much it cost

Hola no tienes el instrumeto guitarron

Very helpful and friendly staff

This guys know there stuff

Always good service and helpful staff

Sunday afternoon and quiet. Bought a cajon full price that had scratches from being on the showroom floor. I see customers abuse equipment, particularly kids and always think, if I had stock in the company I wouldn’t like seeing product trashed and sold for new in this condition. All in all a good experience.

I liked there hospitality.

We love trying out the guitars, but it’s a little crowded…

Worst place to go!!! Customer service sucks!!! They lie and then don’t want to help you!!!!

Trade-in value not so much!

came in for simple 3.5mm adapter plus cable, waited around 20mins for a cashier… likely not coming back.

Went here for opening day as well as most recently today. It’s nice having a record shop downtown, and they have a wide selection. On top of this, they carry CD’s, cadettes, VHS, and old pop culture memorabilia all at an affordable price. Their is 3 little arcade machines, and 2 little pinball machines in the back which appear to be on free play. The employee(perhaps owner?) seems very friendly and will take your photo and give you a sticker when you make a purchase. On top of all of this, they’ll even buy old records off of you, if you have no need for them anymore. Highly recommend to anyone looking for that new album they just need in their lives.

Bought a few vinyls from here and I can honestly say the atmosphere there is super relaxed and the staff is friendly and not wanting me to hurry up and buy. Will go back again and they support local artist!!!

Roger Coss is a fantastic piano teacher! He has taught our children both in-person and online piano lessons. His online piano lessons are convenient for busy families. He provides videos for the students to re-watch during the week to help them review what they need to practice. He is a fun and positive teacher. I would highly recommend him for piano students of all ages.

I have always wanted to learn how to play the piano and Roger Coss Music has helped me make my dream a reality.

Excellent piano teacher! I have been taking online piano classes with Roger during the pandemic and am an adult learning piano for the first time. Roger is a wonderful teacher to work with — he listens to my goals and allows for a lot of flexibility in setting my path and choosing pieces, while providing the guidance I need to achieve those goals.

I am learning classical piano and Roger always provides fantastic advice on whatever piece I’m working on. He drives me to learn pieces thoroughly without being pushy. As an adult, fitting piano into a busy lifestyle can be challenging, but Roger knows how to provide motivation and strategize with me to make sure I practice every day. He’s also extremely knowledgeable about many styles of music and music theory and recommends a number of resources — books, podcasts, videos, etc, during and outside-of lessons, to support my learning. Roger and I get along really well, so I always look forward to our lessons!

Taking virtual lessons with Roger has been fantastic. His studio has multiple camera angles, with one that provides a birds-eye view of his keyboard. I live in NYC, so the virtual lesson arrangement is essential for me, and it’s great to work with someone who has tailored their program for virtual learners.

My playing has come a long way since we started lessons together and they are 100% worth the price — if you’re an adult learner on the fence about taking lessons, DO IT!

Love this store love old movies

This place was awesome! You can find some awesome deals on music, books, DVDs, and clothing! Definitely check this place out!

It was a Very Nice Place & Very Helpful To Me!!!

It’s a cool place but my experience wasn’t the best. First off the movie i got didn’t even have thw right movie in the case, it was some movie I’ve never heard of. Then one of the other movies i got doesn’t even work. So i suppose if you check the case before you buy it you won’t have to deal with what i had to. But you can’t tell whether the movie you wanted will work or not. Honestly i wouldn’t go again.

This place blows the other used music, movie and clothing competition away. What a lot of fun to browse thru the huge location filled with massive amounts of new, or like new, hip, cool, inexpensive items, priced so much lower than the other second hand entertainment stores in town, you definantly must go and see for yourself.

Cool shop. If you are selling records I think they pay low but if they r open they will go thru them and purchase with cash on the spot. Great thrift type shop

It’s 2 go and buy stuff, but they r just as bad or worse then game stop when trying 2 sell your old DVD’S, games or anything eals used….Good luck

Never open.

Just left my items there due to the absolutely rudest customer service ever! This person was rude to my wife and 2 year old son because he was being loud!