Westminster: Overview of the top 5 music shops

If a job is a self-portrait of the person who did it, Eric from Mi Vida Strings should be called “Eric Excellence Trujillo”. He not only replaced a soundpost but also made key adjustments that brought my Bass back to life. I couldn’t be happier with the way it sounds now!
If you are in the Denver/Boulder area, don’t walk. RUN to Mi Vida Strings and give your string instruments some love. Now I understand why people drive hours to take their instruments to certain luthiers…there are good people out there, but once in a while you meet a Bass wizard. Eric is one!

Local string shop. Great selection of high end upright basses. I get violin strings for the kids here. I have rented a double bass here as well. Mr. Trujillo is a very nice guy and a skilled luthier.

Awesome place for music lovers!
This family is amazing and so nice
I highly recommend anyone to visit

Low-ball offer on a expensive violin I was trying to sell

In the past 6 weeks I have called and left a msg twice with no return call. Says open till 2 on Sat so we made the drive, here at 1:30 and not open. I’m sure it’s a great place to get this donated violin fixed but well never know.

We arrived during business hours and no one was present so the hour and a half drive was wasted because they couldn’t bother to be there

Devan has done multiple setups for me including the installation of FU Tone parts on my 8 string Floyd Rose. He takes the time and care to get it perfectly dialed in. I also take lessons from Devan and he is incredibly knowledgeable about music and especially guitar. I thought I was a guitar nerd until I met Devan. Don’t think twice about trusting Devan with your dearest axe or with your guitar learning experience.

Dropped my Carvin off maybe 3 weeks ago and it was back in my hands in a timely manner. He reset my whole intonation and replaced the nut for a very reasonable price. It was above and beyond. I will definitely go back if i need repairs done because of the great work he did

La tienda tiene gran surtido de acordeones y tambien me sorprendió que tienen vihuelas y guitarrones para mariachi. El servicio es muy bueno y las reparaciones que le han hecho a mi guitarra han quedado excelente.

This store is great! Victor is a master technician and a very personable guy. He did a great job bringing my old Hohner accordion back to life—for a very reasonable price. I highly recommend their shop and their work! A great find!

Muy Informativos en las guitarras y acordeones que manejan! ¡Gran Surtido de Acordeones, Guitarras y todo lo relacionado con el Regional Mexicano! Takamines, Elixer, Hohner ¡Siempre en stock!

A huge assortment of instruments to learn your new favorite skill!

Though I am not generally a fan of this chain, this location and it’s employees are wonderful. Thank you for setting me up with a quality rental instrument and more importantly breaking me a deal on the books I purchased. Worth the 50 minute commute!

My first time in the store tonight. It was extremely busy, but the staff was friendly and very helpful. Maximilian took the time to explain the high level concept of guitar tuning to my son. We’ll be back for any future music needs.

I am a music teacher. This is my go to for lesson books for my students.

Was able to buy a great violin

Organized and clean nice staff they don’t buy instruments

Terrible company. They told me the flute I was renting to buy was worth $1,200 and after 43 months of payments, I realize that I overpaid for the instrument bc it’s actually worth $700. They did the same with the clarinet I rented for my other child. They said it was worth $1,200 when it was only worth $640. I wonder if this is customer policy to exaggerate the price of the instrument and get customers to overpay. Oh and by the way, even if customers pay tons of money, they can NEVER trade the instrument in for a new instrument. It can only be used instruments. I should have simply purchased a new instrument elsewhere and paid for insurance in case it got lost.

I don’t like leaving a negative review but I think its needed here for 3 reasons. (1) Rental Process was a rip off – I rented a violin and was told I could gain credit towards purchasing one. Sounds great right? Well they didn’t tell at the time of purchase it had to be one of equal value to the rental ($800). Since it was out of my budget I ended up not using that credit. (2) Reimbusement process is a pain – I returned the violin the start of my next month but was charged that same day. In store the employees aren’t empowered to reimburse you. So you’re given a customer service number to call which takes about 30mins to get through the red tape of reimburse. Not a great time. (3) Sold expensive bad product and can’t return – As a first time player I was sold a string cleaner but the thing doesn’t work well at all. Even a towel worked way better. Despite me being in thier system the employees can’t take it back without packaging/receipt. I was told the manager might be able to help but I’m still waiting on that call back.
Overall, a super disappointing experience. The other reviews were right. I shouldn’t have rented here.

Terrible company. Rude and very misleading. OVER CHARGED AND REFUSED TO GIVE A REFUND

Sean, the drum manager, was one of the most helpful people I’ve come across in the 18 years I’ve been going to music stores. 10/10 would recommend

Alex Was very helpful. He helped me and my wife pick out my son’s first piano. He got us a great deal and helped us out to the car. Because of his service we will definitely return to do future business. Thank you!

I love all the Guitar Centers

So 7/7/23 I bought a Martin guitar in Colorado from elsewhere. Not here.

01-01-2023
Couple of wise guys hiding behind the front counter seem to think we work for them.(original post)

The owner contacted me after a bad review here with assistance. I appreciate that and understand their concern with quality of service.

Bought a Squier Telecaster on the internet way better quality untouched new For 222. Sorry G center you lose.

Staff is friendly and helpful. Selection is great. Prices are reasonable…usually.

They are notorious for poor customer service but at the same time there’s more customers than service representatives. Most customers don’t know what they want or need so the sales team really has to go out on a stretch with every customer. Enjoy waiting 25 minutes to check out at the service counter every time…

Guitar Center used to cater to professionals. Now it’s full of every level equipment. The precision section was just saying.

So I needed an acoustic guitar for recording, and the lady that ended up helping me obviously had no idea what she was talking about. I would ask her a question and her answer would either be “that’s a preference” or she would literally just read off the item tag in a way that sounded like answering my question. It took a good half an hour for them to get a working amplifier set up too. Also this guitar center doesn’t seem very customer friendly with the whole check-out process. Paying, and then having your receipt checked at the door is no only a waste of time, but also gives the shopper the feeling that they are not trusted. Put the register at the exit and problem solved. Yes they have a good selection, but I’d rather buy from anything other than an instrument from amazon than deal with that store.

Unimpressed with Johnny and Ricky’s customer service skills.

Johnny scoffed in my face when I told him I just bought a guitar. Dude should do a better job of hiding facial expressions if he is going to judge people. Not my first guitar dude, just a new purchase, not that this should matter.

Ricky was obviously agitated, barking orders at coworkers on the phone and guests alike, including me when I asked a question. I did not like that. I got the impression that this is his standard operating mode rather than a bad day. I could be wrong. Johnny did seem resigned to his coworkers bad attitude.

Overall reminded me of the scene from Hi Fidelity when the clerks were being snobs and “under-appreciated elitists” towards a guest they didn’t deem cool enough. Sorry to waste your time Guitar Bros.

It did seem busy and they did seem understaffed, maybe I caught them on a bad day. They are close to my house. Based on those two factors I am sure I will return. If the guest service improves I will change my review. Also, to be fair I have been in before and have had positive experiences. But this visit left a bad impression. Otherwise I will drive the extra distance to Flesher Hinton. I was there yesterday and my name on this gmail account is the same as the name I gave them when I bought picks and asked about an electric ukulele. Easy to verify I was actually there.

GC did have a nice selection of guitars. Some really nice ones.