We love everything about RiverCity Rock Star Academy!…read more My daughter is about to start her 4th program with them, the Saturday Rockers. These programs run each season, with summer being a bit shorter than the others. She takes electric guitar lessons in the program, which teaches students not only how to play their instruments but also how to play together as a band. Each session includes one-on-one private lessons (which can be done anytime), then 2-hour band lessons (on Saturday in our case). So some students are learning guitar, others doing drums, bass, keyboard, or taking vocal lessons. They select a playlist of songs they want to learn and rehearse together, with full support from the instructors every step of the way. At the end of each program, they perform live in front of an audience. Sometimes it's mostly parents, other times they do shows in town, like at The Barn or Grand Theater. It's been very motivating for my daughter, and I started taking private lessons there myself recently. Every staff member and instructor genuinely cares about the success, safety, and satisfaction of the students and it shows. I think the pricing is very reasonable for everything you get, and there's not many places that do anything like this. It's a great location, too, because they can really play loud without disturbing anyone, yet it's also very close to downtown and lots of little restaurants to check out nearby. From the front, it may look small but once you go inside you and see how many rooms the place has, you'll see it's actually very spacious inside. There's also a good selection of guitars and gear to buy, with no pressure and very helpful staff. Check out their website and social media, or stop by and give them a try!

Am I the first person to review RiverCity Rock Star Academy on Yelp? That would be my honor…read more Why is a guy from Chicago raving about RiverCity Rock Star Academy? I could list 3 things but I'll focus on the third point. I purchased a beautiful white/white Jet JS-400 Guitar from Oregon, long distance. That process went great. 1) Timely updates in email. 2) Wonderfully packed. 3) Great SETUP of the guitar. I took the guitar out of the box and it was flawless. I tuned it, that was simple. The guitar played great out of the box. Normally you need to spend $50 getting a guitar "set up". Putting on new strings and making sure the "action" isn't too high. The "action" on my new Jet Guitar JS-400 was perfect. Let's call it medium. Too high and it's hard for a beginner to press down guitar strings. Strings too low and you get "fret buzz". My Jet guitar from RiverCity Rock Star Academy played great out of the box. Her Slovenian name is "Bela" pronounced "bay luh". (Jet Guitars are owned by Slovenians.) RiverCity Rock Star Academy staff are wonderful. Buy a guitar from them locally or long distance. Best Wishes from Chicago, IL Richard

Charlie Longstreth is a fine craftsman. He has decades of experience and will always give you a…read morevery honest opinion about what is worth fixing or not. He charges a bit more than other luthiers but with that in mind, you get what you pay for and Charlie's skills are worth every penny. He re-fretted, fixed and adjusted my almost unplayable 1917 Gibson mandolin. Now it plays like a dream.

Traveling from San Antonio for a few days and found this little music store and had the best…read moreexperience here. We came to find a guitar strap, and left with a guitar strap and a beautiful Taylor guitar. Chris more than helped us find more than we expected- Extraordinarily knowledgeable, kind and patient. Highly recommend. All the love and thank yous, Chris (and Art!)

The young man behind the counter was polite, helpful, knowledgeable - everything you could hope for…read morein an employee. My daughter wants to learn the guitar. He answered all her questions and offered suggestions. Unfortunately, we didn't buy anything. I have no issues coming back when she's ready. Watching them work on the instruments in the back was interesting. The care that was shown is not an everyday occurrence. This store and its employees are a hidden gem!

+2 for polite customer service and knowledge of musical instruments. -3 for taking me to the…read morecleaners. On June 3, 2020 I took my daughter's play guitar that I purchase on Amazon for 17.99 to the Troubadour. The owner/ front guy is old school customer service where he enjoys getting to know the customers. After a 15 minute chit chat he tells me that all strings would need to replaced. I asked for total co$t and he said it would be $11.50 for the package of strings and $20 installation. When I picked it up the next day he gives me a quote of $56 !!!! "For what?" I asked. "Gas and oil, you know things have gotten expensive. Especially kids stuff." I stared at him and said "I really do not understand the gas & oil part. Sounds outrageous!" He said he would give me a discount from $56 to $49. I paid the $49 and went to get a 2nd & 3rd of opinion on cost. Both other places quoted me $20 and no "gas & oil" cost. I am all about supporting local business, but when you get reaped off by local vendors it makes it hard to support them. Corvallis is not a big place and variety is limited. But extorting locals is not the way to keep your business open.

Pedro was great to work with. Traded in a Guild D-55 I purchased in 1976 and had owned 48 years…read moreon a Martin D-18 Standard Satin. The net outlay (trade in value and new guitar purchase price together) was very fair and pretty much what I was expecting/hoping for. Pedro tracked down the last Martin D-18 Standard Satin Natural Finish in the entire Guitar Center chain (at the time). Located the last one in Georgia. Pedro ordered it, got it shipped to the Keizer Store, and alerted me to its arrival. I did an inspection and play of it, and we closed the deal. Pedro put in a lot of time and effort on this trade/purchase for me. Grateful for his help and assistance!

I had an issue recently with GC when trying to get some info on a particular guitar I was…read moreconsidering purchasing. Long story short I reached out to management regarding my issue. I was subsequently contacted by corporate management and they offered to assist me with my purchase. We corresponded over a couple of weeks and I was ultimately able to make my purchase to my complete satisfaction. I want to give a shout out to Leslie Rosenthal - Director, Internal Communications and Dave Matthes Guitar Center - District Manager. They both went the extra mile to make sure it all worked out to my satisfaction. I am very grateful to you both for your assistance. What's the best thing about buying a guitar from Guitar Center? You get to actually try out the instrument before taking it home and they have a 45 day return policy which is very generous. If you buy from the internet; the return shipping is not free! I know with an organization that's as large as GC you're bound to run into challenges from time to time but the real measurement is how your issues are resolved. To me that's the difference. Thanks Guitar Center!

I don't know enough about the technical aspects of guitars to give an overall rating, but they're…read morenice people, certainly seem to know hwat they're doing, and have, on the two occassions I've been in there, provided me with the basic services I needed...just minor neck adjustments and restringing. that said, the vending machine outside the store is PURE GENIUS!

This is our second time visiting this store. Gabe always makes us feel welcome, he goes way above…read moreour expectations. We had a request that was unusual and Gabe spent as much time as needed to help us. While we were in the store people came in and Gabe greeted each one as he greeted us. His store is very well organized, clean and welcoming. My wife and I are very happy to have found this store. We highly recommend this store to anyone who needs help with anything music.

Really piss poor service, felt rushed to leave the store, and here I thought Guitar Center sucked…read moreass.

fantastic work and customer service. super knowledgeable, helpful and arrived really quickly. I…read morewould recommend to anyone and everyone looking for a custom pick guard.

I have ordered one pickguard previously and now have on order that just shipped. My first…read moreexperience was great. Bought custom pickguard for a pj bass. It arrived on time, was made of quality materials and fit well after just a bit of trimming at neck interface. Current one has shipped very quickly. Purchase required a bit of communication and Terrapin (Mary) was very responsive. I have had only good experiences, 2018 and 2021.

We do piano lessons for my 8yrs old. Lana is great. They were always quick with a response and…read morepatient teaching children the intricacies of lessons and reading music.

That I had previously posted a review from this fall. I was contacted by the store regarding this…read morereview. Brian, the manager said some things out I really appreciate it.He was not defensive or combative and did not deflect my criticism. What he did do was offer me a chance to make it right. After some dialogue I agree I would give the store a chance Brian wanted to meet me so I arrange the time to visit the store when he'd be in. This experience was night and day from my first experience. From my interaction with Brian, I will venture to guess that can be music reflects a small town charm of the city of Camby which is one of the major reasons for us to move here. I would highly recommend giving Kandi music a shot for your music needs and support a small business