Came here on a whim while visiting San Diego and ended up spending over an hour playing guitars and…read morechatting with the staff. All three of the men there were very friendly and knowledgeable. I ended up walking out of there with a very nice limited edition Gretsch. I highly recommend coming here. I know I'll be back next time I'm in SD, hopefully with a little more cash in hand.

I wanted to surprise my sister with her first guitar, and Jack at Mark's Guitar Exchange made the…read morewhole experience unforgettable. Walking into a guitar shop can feel a little intimidating when you don't know much about guitars, but Jack was so patient, kind, and knowledgeable. He made everything easy to understand and helped us find the perfect guitar. I highly recommend Jack and Mark's Guitar Exchange!

Today is 01/02/25, Thursday, the day after New Year's Day. It's 11:15am that I'm writing this…read morereview. I've been waiting for 15 mins for the store to open even though the hours say they open at 11:00 am. Their voicemail is full but the recording also says 11:00 am opening. Their website says open at 11:00 am. I'm not quite sure if everything says the store should be open but they aren't open. I purposefully came here to get my guitar strung with fresh strings. I wanted to support local stores specifically. The worker came in around 11:18 am. We all have hard days. I only dinged one star because truthfully it was only one worker for the whole store he was very very apologetic... He cleaned, oiled, and strung my guitar. He took his time and carefully did everything while also having to man the whole store by himself! He apologized profusely when he had to step away to help customers. I could be upset set, but it's the beginning of the year and we're all human. $12 for full restring (all 6 strings) you pay for the cost of the strings you want put on. I chose Elixir for my acoustic electric and those run around $20-ish bucks

went to ask for help with a problem with a instrument device was told no problem easy fix , called…read moreall week with no reply from Rio from the store, finally got fed up and went and got it back, other employee was rude when I said tell Rio thanks for nothing, Will never go back again BEWARE this store

This place does zero things wrong. We've been renting here for years. Never had any issue. Bow…read moreneeds to be rehaired? Switch. String broken? 15 min fix. Time to size up? Ok let's see what you need and get it tuned and out the door. Super affordable as well.

We had a great experience at San Diego Violins purchasing a violin with our daughter. Highly…read morerecommend!

As a professional luthier of over 30 years myself, and a human for 77 years, I know something about…read morespotting top notch luthiers, and top notch people. Buck is both. He has helped me out now several times with design and 3D printing jobs for Lame Horse custom guitars. The work is always top notch and very prompt. I could not give a higher recommendation!

Absolutely top-notch work from Buck. Great communication and service. He fixed up two of my…read moreguitars: a new Strat that had alignment issues and an older SG that needed some TLC. Buck fixed the alignment on the Strat, and it's playing perfectly now. The SG feels and plays like it did the first day I got it. He has great attention to detail and even pointed out a few things I hadn't noticed. I'd definitely recommend Buck for any guitar issues.

I sold a couple of Gibsons to Imperial after I did a lot of research & review of other shops in San…read moreDiego and LA. Imperial always showed up at the top of the customer satisfaction reviews. They gave me a fair market offer to buy them outright and I took it. I'll go back...

Went there and it was closed even though maps said it's open. The store should have told the maps…read moreso people don't just waist their time, gas and get frustrated. Was gonna buy strings for my Gretsch and check this store but was really bummed.

The best music store for guitars in North County. The store is well-stocked, and staff is…read moreknowledgeable. I always try to stop by when I am in town. On my last trip there, I was delighted to find that I could rent a guitar for a month for $60 (I took home a Yamaha Revstar Element - nice playing instrument).

Great guys Lots of guitars…read moreWould rather give them my business and support local. I'll be back

I've been a client of Ms Nguyen for several years studying violin and piano. An extraordinary…read moreteachers like Quyen are hard to find these days, which is why I feel privileged to have the opportunity to work with her. Quyen possesses exemplary knowledge on both the physiological and cognitive approaches to studying music. She is quick to assess technical problems with music and offer unique solutions. I -strongly- recommend Quyen Nguyen for anyone who is ready to achieve their unlimited potentials - whether they are young beginners, advanced performers or adult hobbyists!

My daughter has been taking cello lessons from Quyen for several years…read more Quyen has been incredibly helpful to her about all aspects of music from her excellent pedagogy and taste in choosing repertoire for students to career advice about being a musician, the real-life business aspects of a musical career and knowledge about instruments, bows, and locations where you can find trusted sellers. It is no surprise that my daughter is principal cello in her high school orchestra, and an outstanding student in her music theory classes. Cultivating musicality in young students new to the technical part of performing music is a huge challenge, but Quyen does this very, very well. The quality of her student recitals throughout the past several years is a testament to her talent as a superb music teacher. Not only extremely professional, she is also very well-connected in the network of Southern California string performers, staying current with new trends in classical music and using this knowledge to teach her students not only the technical aspects of performance, but helping them also develop taste and find their musical style so they can perform with the musicality which distinguishes true performers from merely technical players. I would not hesitate to suggest her to friends looking for a teacher for their children (I have done so many times) at any level from beginners to advanced performers. I cannot recommend her highly enough to parents looking for the best string instrument education for their children within San Diego County.

Bertrand's Music is a music store focused on "school band & orchestra sales, rentals, lessons, and…read morerepair," as stated on their website. Our middle school band teachers works with Bertrand's Music exclusively and I understand that they trust them. The store itself looks nice. They had some instruments for sale displayed, along with music books. They have rooms for lessons in the back. The parking lot is usually congested though and parking is not easy. Our experience is only with getting an instrument repair quote from them. I'm sure the lessons and rentals are just fine here, but we would not exactly recommend Bertrand's for repairs, especially if you weren't even referred to come here by your school band for an instrument that belongs to the school. They have to ship out the instrument somewhere off site to even give us a quote, and we had to wait ten business days just to hear back that the instrument was unsalvageable and not worth repairing. They were unable to provide us with any written detail of what exactly needed to be repaired and what the cost would be. I'm not sure why they do it like this, because it appears a bit unprofessional. If you're looking for someone to repair a specific instrument that you own, we don't think this is the perfect place to bring it. It would probably be best to find someone who specializes in repairing that instrument to do it on site. Repairs were just one aspect of their business and it's technically a relationship between the school band and Bertrand's, so it didn't bother us. The staff were very nice and accommodating, and we appreciated that. They provided us with a receipt that the school needed, and it was as simple as that. Thank you!

We brought a saxophone in for a repair estimate and they quoted over $1,000 for an "overhaul" that…read moreit "needed". That's more than the instrument is worth. Then I found B&H music in Escondido- they cleaned, adjusted, and replaced the cork for the saxophone for under $70 AND gave us a free loaner saxophone in the meantime. Their turnaround time was only a few days and Bertrand's quoted me 5-7 weeks for repair and would charge for a rental instrument for that time. It's worth a 20 minute drive to save over $1,000! What a rip off. I'd give zero stars to Bertrand's if I could.