For years, my young son would go in and just noodle around. Staff were always so kind and helpful…read more He spent countless hours there, and eventually a good deal of his hard earned money on quality, reasonably priced gear. They care about the customer, they know their stuff, and they create a great atmosphere for experts and beginners alike. Canadian owned; old school, 'customer first' kind of place.

I love Long & McQuade music stores in general, for the variety of musical instruments and books…read morethat they offer. They also have music lessons (i.e. Piano, Guitar, etc,.), which seems like a great idea. I did some research to purchase a keyboard, and the price of the keyboard I was interested in seemed quite fair, too. Lastly, my interactions with Long & McQuade staff in multiple locations have been pleasant. For this specific Waterloo location, one employee named Dave met short of my expectations. Let me clarify, he was helpful while we were browsing. As soon as I paid for the instrument, he just ignored us. We had parked about 200 metres away from the store, due to the road closures associated with the LRT construction in Waterloo. We had our laptop bags and the umbrella, it was raining on and off, and since I got the keyboard, the bench and the keyboard stand, we weren't able to carry all of those by ourselves. Since Dave offered no insight to how to move these boxes to our car, (when we asked him, he only said "Oh, this keyboard is super light") my husband went to his car to see if he could get closer to the store while I waited in the store. Thankfully, someone told me about a temporary loading area behind the store so I directed my husband to drive there. Another employee named Jeff helped me greatly while I was standing in the front of the store confused and waiting for my husband to show up. Jeff moved the boxes to the back of the store and showed me the temporary unloading area, so I could send better instructions to my husband. I really appreciated Jeff's help. He's the best! In the meanwhile, Dave, who sold us the keyboard, didn't even tell my husband where I was, (I was downstairs at the back door guarding my boxes) when my husband came back to the store, so this caused additional delay. Some other older gentleman helped us load the boxes to our car. If Dave responded to our inquiries of how to load these boxes to our car from the get go, we wouldn't have wasted that half an hour trying to find the place to get the car closer to the store, and loading the boxes. Dave's ignorance and unhelpfulness really disappointed me. Despite this long delay in loading the boxes to our car, I'd say you could go to this Long & McQuade location for the service provided by Jeff and other very helpful staff.

I took lessons here for a while! Really nice guys and gals, that I can promise! There's the ups and…read moredowns to a smaller music school but it's a nice location considering how many people are in the area! They've got decent stock on strings and such so even if you're just looking for strings or a tuner really quick, drop in and see if there's anything you like! :)

From the owner: The Sound Factory Music School was created for people of all ages and levels of ability and is…read morerecognized for it's outstanding teaching staff, community service and it's commitment to lifelong learning. The high quality, practical and academic instruction offered by The Sound Factory Music School represents a constantly evolving selection of artistic endeavors. Regular lessons available in piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, classical guitar, flamenco guitar, electric bass, music theory, voice, drums, percussion, marimba, violin, bodhran, bagpipes, tin whistle, ukulele, music therapy, history & harmony 1, composition, saxophone, clarinet, flute. Sheet music and books, name brand accessories, strings, and select instruments available through our retial store.

Took a Fender Jaguar bass in I pickup up in a trade. It was made up of a couple different Fender…read moreJaguar Basses and had some wicked fret buzz. I was unsure that it could be fixed but I took it in anyway. After a setup this bass plays like a brand new bass build specifically for me. Not only that but it was returned to me sparkling clean and in amazing shape. Clearly, this shop cares for the instruments as if they were their own. There are plenty of options for guitar repair in this area but this shop stands head and shoulders above them all.

From the owner: Our business specializes in a wide array of stringed instrument repair, from simple cases, to case…read morestudies.

My grandfather dropped off his special guitar for repair and then passed away…read more Thank you for your extra kindness to our family and for supplying exceptional service.

I had the pleasure of purchasing a Godin guitar, during the Covid lockdown. I contacted the store…read morevia email, and was contacted almost immediately by Colin. After a few quick exchanges, a deal was done, as the store was having a Covid discount during the lockdown. I picked up the guitar, curb side service, quick and efficient. It was a pleasure to support an independent music store, and also buying from a quality Canadian guitar producer. I travelled from Toronto, and will be looking forward to attending the store when the lockdown is over. Eric D.

The Tannery School of Music in Kitchener is one of my favourite places to be!…read moreThe music instructors are incredibly talented and many of them are able to teach a variety of instruments. Which means Dan Forsey (my instructor) can teach me piano as well as drums. This is such a benefit, as Dan is familiar with my learning style and can plan lessons accordingly. The instructors are encouraging, patient and most of all they have helped me get my confidence back in the music scene. Thank you for a wonderful 2 years!

I had paid for a series of classes, in advance, to the Tannery School of Music. After just my…read morefirst lesson, I had to suddenly move back home to help out a family member, who was terminally ill. A couple of years later, when I was back in town and ready to start classes again, Curtis refused to honour the classes I had paid for, stating that they were "expired". He also explained that my teacher was no longer there. I offered to take classes from one of his alternate teachers, but he refused. He was aware of why I had had to leave, but no attempts to reason with him made any difference.