My buddy and I made the drive out from Toronto after hearing about The Acoustic Room. A great…read moreguitar shop with a very good selection of guitars and accessories. Very friendly, knowledgeable proprietor makes for an inviting vibe. No high pressure sales tactics here. Very competitive pricing too. Street parking around the corner. Oh yes, my buddy bought a nice OM sized Larrivée.

Great service. I ordered a guitar amp from these guys. They said it would be here in a week, showed…read moreup in 3 days. Very knowledgeable and friendly. Love my Mesa Dual Rec

I was surprised to read the the review posted as both my experiences with this store were…read morefantastic. I took in my beautiful Turkish Meinl Copper Darabuka hand drum in for tuning and within a couple of weeks I got a call to collect it. Well I can tell you, it had never sounded better. I can't remember what the fee was but I do remember thinking what a fair price it was considering the entire head had to be removed and straightened. My second visit was when I wanted to buy a Ukulele. The saleswoman took several down from the display and played them - for me to choose the sound I liked best. I decided on a Kohala Soprano which I have never managed to sound as good as she did but that's neither here nor there. Picks and Sticks is a wonderful store, they do a lot for the local community, I find the staff extremely patient, kind and knowledgeable. Lily Marlene Romano Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

This is a great music store for a small space they have a lot of great equipment. People are really…read morekind and really care about music overall a 10 out of

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.

if I could give 6 stars I would. Roger was fantastic. Very patient with me as a new guitarist…read more He helped me find something that I truly love and can use for a lifetime. I also appreciated how he didnt just push me to the most expensive stuff.... he showed me everything in the range and let me decide what I liked best. Zero pressure, just support. Thank you very music.

Bad experience. I'd recommend anywhere else. I made a mistake ever going here and wish I hadn't. I…read moreended up losing $450 trying to return a purchase I regretted from day one. Essentially got charged a 25% restocking fee.

We bought a piano from this company and we had an amazing experience. The owner is very…read moreknowledgeable, kind and very professional. My son loves his piano and the phenomenal sound. Case is a phenomenal human being to deal with and with a long history of devotion to family, friends and pianos. Thank you VanGeest!!!

I am extremely impressed with this incredible company! I sold my home and needed to find a next…read morestep for my grand piano. I contacted Van Geest Pianos and received a call within minutes. The team arrived on schedule and carefully removed it. The consignment program was seamless. So happy our beautiful piano was brought back to its former glory, and has moved on to its forever home. EXCELLENT. Don't call anyone else!

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.

This has been a few years of dealing with this place and I must say I'm happy every time. I now…read morehave a small collection of turtle jewelry and diamonds that my wife absolutely loves. Had a ring sized and picked up another one at the same time , and it's a hit . Great service,great jewelry and nice people, I'll always go here , never disappointed.

I brought in my jewellery that a Cash-For-Gold place had offered me $1500 for... but I didn't want…read moreto sell it; I only want to pawn it, so I could get it back. The man that dealt with me treated me like I was homeless, despite the fact that I was wearing a suit after getting off of work, and was very rude... He initially toldme he would give me $400, before I told him I had already received a quote from the Cash-For-Gold place... when I told him that, he went up to $600, but wouldn't go any higher, and was really cocky about the fact that if I needed more, I could just go sell it, instead of pawn it... I desperately wanted to keep my jewellery, so I pawned it, but I was treated with such disrespect that once I receive my items back, I shall NEVER return there again.