Nothing comes close in terms of a store that provides legitimate value. Doing whatever i can to…read moremake sure any money going toward new equipment is spent at Big City Music.

After reading some forums online and watching various YouTube videos to see what modulars were all…read moreabout, Big City Music was considered one of the best in the nation. I stopped by on the way home to explore modular synths for the first time, hoping I'd get that "feeling" like this is a perfect fit for me. Thanks to seeing Big City Music here on Yelp, I drove to their address but had trouble finding the building because there were no signs anywhere. From Ventura, it looked like there was an abandoned building at the address listed. So, I called and talked to Roger. He was great to talk to and said they usually ask customers to make an appointment to stop by. Lucky for me they were available at that time and I could stop in. He gave me better directions, since the entrance was actually off Ventura Blvd. Big City Music is unlike any other music store I've been to. It feels like I'm entering a "secret club" where you go enter through back door and walk into a room-sized warehouse full of boxes and supplies everywhere. Roger was glad to see me and introduced himself right away. He then pointed me to the demo room, where there are several large modular synths, some (very nice) keyboards, guitar pedals, vintage gear and a couple people (Stephi and Morgan) ready to help out. I mentioned I was new to modular synths and wanted to mess around a bit to get a feel for what they can do. Stephi cleared off a module and handed me some patch cables to mess around as much as I wanted. I never felt rushed the entire time I was there. At first, I was clueless. Just clueless. I started having doubts immediately. What the F was I doing here? Rather than allowing them to hear my embarrassingly-awful sounds I'd be making, I popped on some headphones and patched on the fly. After a half-hour, I felt comfortable enough to ask Morgan a few questions about the basics. He jumped right in on their massive modular and started patching like a mad scientist, showing me what all the modules can do. I was very impressed with his knowledge and passion. I instantly felt at ease, even though I had very little knowledge of what was going on. The way he explained things were super helpful. Since my first visit, I decided to take the dive into modular and have returned. I bought a Monorocket case, some patch cables and a few modules to get me started. I'll definitely be coming back here to fill up my case over the coming months and ask for a couple more tutorials. I'm very lucky to live so close to this great store and to learn from awesome people. Cheers--

I was looking for a used Nord keyboard on CL for six weeks. They were all 1000 miles from me and…read moreall felt sketchy in terms of the folks I was dealing with. I reached out to Elevated Audio and what a difference. Got a good deal on the keyboard and Nord threw in their exquisite travel case -- a $600 value. The keyboard is stellar. But huge kudos to Fran and crew at Elevated Audio. Smooth, fast transaction overall while also being extremely personable. I cannot recommend them more highly. I will always check with them for future music gear purchases. A great experience. A+++

The best online service and support ever experienced Highly recommend them for any and all audio…read moreneeds. Fran, my Account Manager, is a superstar!

The reviews don't lie. Reuben is the man! His technique is great. I knew nothing about guitars and…read morehe already has me playing my first song. I don't go in as much as I would like to, but the time I spend studying with Reuben is no time wasted. Any questions or help you need, Reuben has an answer and a solution, not to mention he has a great way of boosting up confidence. If you are looking for someone who knows his guitars, Reuben is it! If you are looking for someone who can teach anyone at any level or playing, even if that level is none, Reuben is it! If you are looking fora cool dude that is easy to talk to, Reuben is it! Reuben knows guitars and if you put in the time and practice like he says, you can play a guitar as well. Reuben wastes no time. I was surprised that he gave me a song to practice on the first lesson. I was preparing myself for boring regular studies, but boy was I wrong. Trust in Reuben and he will make sure you play well. Reuben looks at the way you hold the guitar, the way you switch chords, finger placement, strumming, etc... He will guide you until you get it right! Best part, he is flexible and always available to help. He always tells me to text him with questions, his response time is great. If his reply is late, be patient as he might be with a customer or just busy (he is human). I have never had a text or email ignored or delayed by Reuben.

You ever wanted to learn something so you googled it and tried to find someone who could teach you?…read more And then paid a lot of money but instead of learning what you wanted to learn, you realize you have paid to learn a life lesson: that most of the time, things aren't what they seem and you can't believe everything people claim? Well, I live in LA so I'm pretty jaded and I saw Reuben's classes and decided I'd risk $50. I really wanted to learn to play guitar and had even tried before but never found the right teacher. Until now. I come from a family of educators and musicians. I know how rare it is to find a really good teacher. So rare that we all remember the very few good ones we've ever had in our lives. We mark time by them...we speak of them and give them credit for decades. I took a friend with me from Salvador who is just beginning to learn English and also wanted to learn guitar. Reuben told me he didn't speak Spanish but that he would wait for me to translate and not to worry...that he would teach us both how to play guitar. So we took our new guitars and went to Thud Studios in North Hollywood and there was Reuben, waiting for us at the door with a big smile. Inside the perfectly dimly-lit studio he had our music stands already set up with red folders and our lessons that he had prepared. All the nervousness we had felt faded as he talked and showed us new things and we relaxed into his world of knowledge and patience and encouragement and we knew we had found that thing we're all looking for but almost never find: someone who not only has the skills, but the ability to speak our language - whatever that language is - and share their gift with us! "The gift was ours to borrow!" We were terrible. We were so out of our depth. But somehow as Reuben guided us through chords and scales and techniques, we began to believe that we each had unique talents of our own. At times we even felt like one day we might be great, so genuine and enthusiastic was Reuben's response to our trying. He watched and listened to us - not just our playing, but our mentality about the process. He addressed the psychology of our learning in ways that no one except my parents have ever been sharp enough to realize. He called us out on our fears and then took them away. He pushed without nagging, encouraged without blowing smoke and taught with the fluidity of the moment...always observing and adjusting based on what we were doing. He told us early on that he didn't want to get us too dependent on him, so he would not teach us how to play guitar... he would teach us how to learn. And how to be musicians. One day I asked him how good he really was in the world of guitar players. He answered matter-of-factly and humbly that he was "competent." I couldn't help but remember once when Billy Joel was asked how he felt he stacked up against other piano players in the world, he responded that he was "merely competent" and that in this day and age, that really stood out. Reuben is not just competent. He's brilliant and we are already imitating him as we discover who we are as musicians. He's that teacher we'll be talking about when we're old. And we are so happy we found him...in an alley off of Vineland in North Hollywood.

If anyone can get a cocktail drum set to sound great.. it's Ross Garfield!…read moreI had the totally wrong idea of muffling the floor/kick drum. he put on a beautiful Remo Renaissance Diplomat batter head... drum sounded better than it ever has..also with his history of working with many famous drummers from Tony Williams to Metallica and Nirvana i highly recommend Ross to build, tune and fix any drum problems you may have... I'm sure he plays a mean mambo too!

Great experience. Very detailed oriented with fixing my drum. Even tuned it up for me. Very…read morefriendly and professional. Would definitely come back again.

Dave and his wife Veronica teach Accordian lessons and also fix Accordians…read more They work out of their personal home My son who is 11 is enjoying taking lessons there The only suggestion is I wish they were more tech savvy with being able to accept payment via venmo or zelle and I wish they would text and e mail. The only way they communicate is regular phone calls and payment is accepted in cash only.

Nice guy and all but I came for a problem that was what I would say mildly fixed. Shortly after…read moreplaying for a couple of minutes 5 of my buttons were out of tune. Came with one issue and unfortunately left with more.

I recommend Techno empire to all my studio friends for buying selling used gear. They save me so…read moremuch time and handle everything, including picking up large items and dealing with shipping, returns, and the whole Prossess of selling items on Reverb or eBay. Sleven is very knolagable on prices and how to get the most out of your gear. Their adds and photographs look very Professional so the gear gets a closer look. I have been buying and selling through them for several years now And will continue to. Danny j. Burbank Ca.

When I closed Sunburst Recording in Culver City two years ago, I had tons of great recording gear…read morethat needed to be sold rather than pay high storage fees. Sleven of Techno Empire came highly recommended from a number of sources. I have since sold well over $10,000 worth of gear with Techno Empire and have been extremely happy with every aspect of the company. They pick up, test / clean, repair if necessary, evaluate market pricing, advertise on their ebay store and ship out...all for very fair commissions. I have gotten more for my items with them than had I tried to sell the gear myself with a lot less trouble. THIS IS A GREAT COMPANY TO DEAL WITH!

Bruce is the man. Have an MPC, Linn Drum, Emulator (and then some) that need a repair/upgrade/tune…read moreup? Call Bruce. He's a legend for a reason.

Bruce has the best service on the planet for drum machines. It's great that he's still around.read more

If you have a synth or amp that needs some TLC, Busted Gear should be your first call…read more Rich has been fixing and modding musical electronics since amps were hand-cranked, and it shows. He knows how the stuff works, he knows what's likely to fail, and he somehow manages to come up with parts for gear made 40 years ago. If it's not broke, don't fix it. If it is, take it to Busted Gear.

Had an appointment today at 1:30 with Rich that we set over the phone last Friday. Rich just rang,…read morewhile smacking food into the phone, 2 hours before I was suppose to be there, to tell me he had to cancel and would not look at my amp. Rich said," he felt he could not fix it. It was an issue I had for a long time. It was a loosing proposition." When asked what types of repairs he does so I would know next time, he replied, "Repairs I can make money on". Smack! Smack! My amp is a brand new blues jr that is crackling and seems over powered. If you can't fix that, then take the "Amp" out of your name and stick to cleaning keys. NEXT!! Thanks Rich!!