Last year I went to their location in East Hartford and had my Martin D18 acoustic set up for…read moremedium strings. The tech guy there did a really nice job. But I changed my mind. I like lights better after all. So I went here to get it set up for lights again. I didn't hear anything after a week, so I asked about it on Saturday. The store manager said he'd get to it. He emailed me back and said he didn't have the right size tool to adjust the truss rod. So he couldn't adjust the action. What did I want to do? I kept it as is. But my guitar is a standard 2019 model without an exotic truss rod. So I asked about him about the guy who had worked on my guitar last year as I'd seen him at the West Hartford store too. "He doesn't work here anymore, as of early July." "Okay. Are you planning on hiring a new guitar tech guy in the future?" "Guitar tech ability isn't a priority when I hire someone. He just happened to do it. And we don't buy new tools to work on guitars either." Ohhhhhkay. So he basically told me setups/repairs on guitars are not something he cares about or has any interest in investing in. I realize doing this isn't the only service a store like this offers, but I did think it was ONE of the basic services it would offer. He told me no. In so many words, go somewhere else. So I will. Only trouble is I don't drive so not quite as easy as it is for most, but I was clearly barking up the wrong tree here. It all seemed pretty strange to me. Never encountered this before in a music store.

I used the website to arrange rental of an instrument that was listed as available, with shipping…read moreexpected within 5-7 business days. The site took my payment and personal info to run a credit check. After more than 2 weeks without delivery or any updates from Music & Arts, I finally called. Unapologetically, they said that there are none of that instrument available "anywhere at all in [my] region." Ok... and? An estimate of when it might be available? An offer to cancel? A suggestion of another company to try? Any empathy? No. I asked why I hadn't been notified and was told quite plainly, "I don't know why our rental department doesn't let people know when instruments aren't available." To summarize: they offered to rent me a product that doesn't exist and have customer service policies that are totally dismissive of their customers.

This is the real deal. A neighborhood music store with good people, who know what they are talking…read moreabout. Some interesting vintage pieces that you don't find every day. Not a huge store but totally worth visiting to see what they have in stock. Really friendly and nice as well. We must support our neighborhood music stores. Big box stores with zero customer service are not the answer. These guys also give lessons. It is now called Musical Expressions.

This is a great place! Lou is a superb guitar teacher! Don, the owner, is friendly. There is a…read moregreat scene here. I am so grateful I found this place. PS: It's technically called "Musical Expressions" now, but lots of folks still call it Berlin Music Center.

Brought in an expensive 1975 Selmer Mark 6 alto saxophone. The pads that cover the tone holes were…read moreout of shape. Had previously brought this to a music shop in Avon called Music & - - - - where I was quoted $1,200 & 2 months to repair. So I brought it to The Music Shop on a hunch. They charged about $157.00 & 1 week to repair. When I got the sax back, they had fixed things I didn't even know was wrong with it such as straightening keys, re-setting posts. They had re-set all the pads and the sax was as good as new. When I played it, I knew that these people cared enough about quality repairs that I can trust them for any future work.

A while back the nut cracked on my 1986 Guild D212 12-string acoustic guitar. Unfortunately, I'd no…read moreidea where to find somewhere to repair it, and the one lead I had turned out to be someone who'd just retired. So I stopped by The Music Shop when my travels brought me to the neighborhood to see if they had any leads. "Sure," said the young man at the counter. "Our manager does that." A couple of phone calls later, to make sure the guitar and I would arrive during his working hours, he was looking confidently and affectionately at my beloved Guild. A replacement nut leapt into his hand, he asked me about strings, gave me a price, and made a guess at how long it would take (which was wrong, but that's par for the course). Today I picked it up. My baby is back, looks better than I've ever made it look, and sounds wonderful. This wasn't anything resembling a challenging repair to a luthier - I know that - but my beloved Guild got real Tender Loving Care, and that's as good as it gets.

My son took lessons for the piano for a few years and loved it. They have very nice teachers.read more

Gentlemen was a huge help and very thorough with tuning in and out in a flash. Especially…read moreappreciated the help on the rentals fir string instruments.

These guys are the real deal, this is the kind of thing you can't find online. I was blown away by…read morethe boutique setup...high end, incredible guitars. Everything was highly priced...the guitars ranging $800-$3000 approximately, I was scared to move as I walked through the store hoping I don't accidentally knock something down. Store in the front, repair shop at the back and 3 sound proof rooms where they conduct lessons by certified instructors during the week. $35 for a 1/2 hr session and goes up to $55 for an hour. The staff is helpful and very informative.

With the hollowing out of American bricks n' mortar retail because of online shopping, especially…read more'one click shopping' on Amazon, it is refreshing to walk into a beautiful, well-run shop that completely understands the needs of the customer, and can accommodate virtually any kind of budget. The owner of this shop, Nate, obviously loves and understands the business, and he also takes his time to show and explain the different types of guitars that he offers, and why they might make sense. There is also an awesome Golden Retriever in the store to keep you company if you just want to hang out with a dog instead of buy a guitar. The most impressive thing about Whole Tone is the completeness of the shop -- not only can you buy the guitar, but you can service it there as well, get your lessons, and also come in for demos of talented guitarists to see what is actually possible. I suppose you could just click and buy your guitar for the lowest price plus shipping on Amazon -- but you'll miss out on the rest of an important part of the experience, not to mention, the chance to actually try the equipment and hear what it sounds like before you do make a purchase. Its not merely about the lowest price. It also has to sound right. And if it makes you feel any better -- Nate did match the price of my guitar to whatever the lowest price was online -- without me even having to ask. That's pretty cool. Hopefully the dog will help out the lessons. No luck so far....

STAY AWAY from this company! I rented a cello early 2019. We returned the cello in Aug 2019 and are…read morestill getting billed for it! I've called and left messages since no one picks up the phone in the Milford office where I rented and returned the instrument. No call back and monthly payments for the cello are still getting charged off my bank card. Had to file a complaint with my bank to stop payments. Terrible terrible business practice!

From the owner: Rayburn Musical Instruments is a music store featuring sales, rental and repair of band and…read moreorchestra instruments. Full service repair shop on site. Weekly road service available for school accounts.

Never had a problem shopping here, pretty much everything you're looking for, limited on some…read morethings, but an abundance of wind instruments. Good store especially for the young, aspiring musician.

Hey guys! Thanks for being there! I love this little store. Nice folks, good selection and great…read moreprices. I recommend highly! Thanks!

Very poor customer service. Will not recommend. I was told during the summer camp that a difference…read morecurriculum would be offered however I called 4-5 times over 2 -3 days and I did not get a timely response to continue lessons. I asked why no one was reaching from the school and they said they were busy. Unfortunately camp is only 5 days and not getting back timely to the student prevents them from completing sessions. I feel the owners don't care after you sign up. Poor management. Will not recommend!

Very disappointed extremely disorganized and very inconsistent. Different people teaching…read moredefinitely not qualified teachers. Very difficult to do make up classes. They only honor on their schedule not yours.

These guys sell crap at really high prices. Their store in East Hartford is filthy dirty and the…read moreitems are just stacked on top of each. Looks like they just throw the stuff down. They really abuse the local Craigslist with hundreds of ads for their junk. And they have the world market cornered on accordions! What a joke. I wouldn't shop there if I was you.

These guys are the worst of the worst. Their business ethics are reprehensible and their entire…read moreobjective is to take advantage and be abusive while doing so. They think it's A-OK to run more than 400 simultaneous ads on Craigslist and thereby ruin the experience for everyone. Aside from behaving like goons, all they achieve with this tactic is a powerful reinforcing of the fact that their prices are outlandishly high. Seriously, avoid these guys at all costs - you'll be happy that you did!