This place has turned into my place for drum equipment. A heads-up to Eric, and the rest of the…read moreguys I deal with in the drum area. I'm not the most personalble guy and can come-off as a slight bit antisocial (Just sit me behind a set and I let the drums do the talking, for me!) and the guys handling the drum section know how to interact with people that are even as recluse as me, and that shows an excellence in customer service! Guitar Center, in Southington, should be ashamed, and should take some notes on work ethic from these men.

So I just heard that the 100 year-old Sam Ash chain of stores is closing - and that is what has…read moreprompted this review, I apologize in advance for its length: For over 26 years, my company did business with Sam Ash. Back in the 90's I would walk into the Woodbridge, CT store and be properly and professionally greeted, guided to the salesperson that would help with my purchase and get great advice, information and service from a knowledgeable staff member and most of the time, fellow musician. Who could ask for more? Fast forward to the 2020's and the retail giant is totally unrecognizable - so hearing the news this morning that the chain was closing didn't exactly come as a shock, as I predicted this years ago. The tell-tale signs were everywhere and honestly, I'm surprised it took this long. It doesn't however make this news any less heartbreaking. I say heartbreaking because anytime a brick and mortar establishment closes, every American should stop and tremble. This is the end of another era. Out of tradition or some sort of misplaced loyalty, I've always stopped into Sam Ash to give them yet "Another Chance" to redeem themselves and every time, I left the store empty-handed, disappointed and kicking myself for wasting my time there - again. No greeting at the door. No smiling faces. No staff to help. No knowledgeable staff on hand. So, I stood there and waited and waited. When someone finally decided to acknowledge me, they were useless. Then to add insult to injury, as time went on, they rarely stocked anything I needed. So I just stopped considering them as a supplier. Most of the time, I was there for high-end sound reinforcement for live performances - Large power amps, speakers, sonic maximizers, cabling, wireless mics, mixers, etc. My last visit there about ten years ago. I was shopping for a full-size keyboard to incorporate into my studio. I had specific questions as I'm a guitar player, not a keyboard player, and I got stuck with a salesperson who knew less about keys than I did. So how many time times do professional musicians, engineers, producers and sound people let this scenario play out before we let Jeff Bezos take care of us? And here we are. Towns across America are full of little corner music shops that sell low end everything for the grade school student and beginning musician and that's as it should be, but professionals go to stores like Sam Ash for the performance grade stuff. And when you're dumping two thousand to 12 thousand on a Les Paul or Strat or maybe 5K on a vintage Vibrolux, you want your sales staff to know their stuff. You EXPECT to be treated a certain way. You want to be able to touch, feel, see, hear and play that dream guitar you've been waiting a lifetime to buy. You want to smell that cedar top on that new Classical guitar. Kinda hard to do with an on-line purchase. Imagine buying a new car without the test drive! And THAT is what makes this a sad day in America. It's another sign of the times. Another example of how we've fallen as a Capitalist society. Some people celebrate that I guess. I don't. I'm sad to hear this news. I'm going to miss Sam Ash despite my feelings. I'm going to miss the experience of buying in person. No one wants to see a business fail. This is a part of history we're losing. Someone worked hard to build that business. It was someone's dream. And Sam Ash won't be the last. Guitar Centers is suffering from the exact same issues and collapse of the business model and I say they're next - but will they turn it around? Will their board of directors send out district and regional managers or "secret shoppers" and start fixing the issues before Jeff Bezos takes their dollars too? Will they read reviews like this one and get off their collective asses to turn the Titanic around? Probably not, when you can't find anyone today who really knows what hard work is - how do you fix it? Who's training their staff? There comes a point when the damage is done and it's not salvageable. Goodbye Sam Ash. I take no pleasure in writing this. I'm disgusted. I'm disappointed. I'm sad. I just hope that those in control at the top levels of management of these chain stores, read their reviews and pay attention - take them to heart and make the effort to improve your businesses. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, it's just that most people won't take the time to write something like this - but I feel better for having said it. Maybe by some miracle, someone will come in and scoop Sam Ash up and right the ship at the last hour. I can dream, can't I? Ron L, Southington , CT

I was having a hard time finding someone good to restring my guitar. John does an excellent job…read moreand he has been very helpful with other issues I have had with my guitar. I really appreciate having this small family owned shop to go to that is really available to help and takes his time to meet your needs. I like supporting a small business in our community as well, this shop offers the service that is lost in the bigger corporate stores. Thanks John. Mark S.

I'm an almost 60 yrs old beginner and went in to purchase a couple of medium picks, and John spent…read moreas much time as I needed. I took a walk around and was looking at some amps and john asked what if anything I was interested in. I really didn't have a clue but John spent as much time as I needed. He took out a Les Paul and gave me a demonstration of the lowest cost amp he had and said this will get you by until I am ready for somethimg better. I love the amp, (I'll keep it forever. First amp right?) John was an incredible help to a complete newbie and now I can't wait until I need something else. The days are dwindling when you can walk in to a store and speak to the owner and receive that kind of support and caring. Please go and receive it. Bring your children so it will not be lost. Ron F.

DJ Hector is seriously amazing! He knows his audiences and what they like, the appropriateness of…read morethe volume and track selection for the event, and is so friendly and easy to work with. Fantastic prices, really cool equipment, and overall just an awesome guy. A+++++

I highly recommend Hector J Morales and 24/7 Entertainment, who gave us amazing DJ service at our…read morewedding. From the moment we met with Hector, we knew he was our guy. At our first meeting he inspired confidence that he could handle any style of ceremony and reception. He communicated with us throughout the entirety of our planning period, constantly offering his assistance in any way he could. His website is completely interactive making it very easy to plan every aspect of your event (speeches, first dances, cake cutting, ceremonies etc.), and to add songs for all situations. On the day of our wedding, the event flowed seamlessly through the DJ booth. My wife and I did not use a wedding planner or a "day of" coordinator and made all of the decisions ourselves. That said, the day of the wedding we simply handed a printed walkthrough that we created to Hector, and he followed it to a T, taking away any stresses that we could have had. He also had the entire ceremony mic'd up, and worked with our videographer to capture good audio for our wedding video. Throughout all of the preparation and constant MCing, Hector still managed to run a photobooth for 2 hours during the reception. The photobooth itself was very high tech and classy, allowing guests to have the photo montage sent to their phone/email or printed. Hector was a godsend, and he is a MUST HAVE for any wedding or event that requires DJ service.

The best recording studio in Connecticut! The attention to detail is outstanding All the sound…read moreequipment is state of the art

I bought my current cello from Kevin; it's wonderful. He takes great care of his instruments and…read morehis customers. Because he builds instruments he understands them. He is an artist, and he's right here in New Haven! No need to travel to get the best instruments and service.

I had the pleasure of utilizing K h Chapin Fine violins shop service. Renting a decent cello, I had…read morevisited the shop and was very impressed. Although the name is Violin shop, he is currently making and repairing cellos as well! Aside from its coziness, Kevin's shop offers a unique experience. Personalized set up of rental instrument was almost a shock as rental price is very competitive. I was renting from a big company before but have decides to rent from this shop for acute set up and customer service. I do not regret. Should you are a beginner music student like me, please consider this shop! Kevin will walk you through what instrument to look for as well as personalized set up of your instrument.

Really awesome place. We shot a music video here. Very helpful staff, but left us to do our thing…read morewhen the time came. Very reasonable prices and really friendly. Clean bathrooms too!

Celebrated my birthday there, and was completely blown away with the resourcefulness of ever staff…read moremember. The accommodations alone, were perfectly tailored to my expectations. Prices were very affordable. Will definitely book again. Thanks for making it a blast!!

These guys are honest and have the best prices in the area. They have an interesting selection of…read moreguitars, banjos and other instruments. A jam session or 2 can happen as well. I am do glad Beacon has this place!!

We purchased a beautifully restored piano from James after he advised us not to try to restore an…read moreolder Sohmer with a cracked soundboard. My son is a professional pianist, and he had told me that we should let the piano go, but I was attached to it as my mother had given it to us. I was impressed that James didn't try to talk me into a repair job, which would have been costly. Instead, he invited my son to his studio, where he played a variety of instruments and bought a Yamaha to replace our old piano. James moved the new one in and took the old one away, and we paid much less than we expected. My son thinks the world of James and the quality of his work. He is our favorite tuner in 30 years of working with different individuals.

I have had the extreme pleasure of doing business with Jim. His prices are extremely fair. He is…read moreone of the best piano tuners in the state. He refurbishes pianos with unbelievable detail. I was able to buy a beautiful Yamaha that he worked on for many months. I love the sound of this piano. Jim removed my older piano and delivered the one I bought from him. He and his movers were so careful and professional with the removal and delivery of the Yamaha piano.