I brought an acoustic guitar here for work. When she couldn't fix it, she whined about what a crappy instrument it was, then procedded to give me a long, patronizing lecture. (Note: I brought the guitar to Lay's in Akron, and it plays just fine now.) read more

Amazing service! Ricki is incredibly knowledgeable about everything she Carries. An immaculate selection of guitars, bass, amps and pedals with a price range for every player. They also offer set up services and took my old Ibanez and made her sing again after months in the closet. I am incredibly pleased with the genuine care that goes into this establishment! I'd give 10 stars if I could. If you haven't ever been to Key Note Guitar, what's stopping you? You'll never want to leave after you walk in! read more

Key Note Guitar - Guitar before service - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Erie, Pennsylvania

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This place reminds me of those hidden little guitar shops in my Northern California stomping grounds. I am in Erie because of the most beautiful woman on earth, and have visited the other local music stores, including the big box one, and have to say that Key Note is a warm blanket on a cool NOR*CAL night. Key Notes stock has always been the best in town, From Gretsch, Jackson, Godin, etc, never has crap gear, only the best, and the best prices. Have to mention their used selection is amazing, and their used prices on even top gear is ludicrous(cheap)...they keep the river flowing. I could go on all day, but Ricki and her big man are as good as it gets in the entire Tri-state area, Erie to Cleveland to Buffalo. Just visit, and tell me if I'm wrong. One of the best guitar stores/shops I've ever been too, in every way. read more

I have been playing guitar for 40+ years. I recently changed the strings on my new Fender American Strat Elite from the stock Fender 250L strings, to D'Addario EXL120-10P strings that I had around the house. Both sets of strings are are the same gauges (9-42), but the EXL120-10p strings are much more flexible to handle heavy tremolo use; they work great on my ESP with Floyd Rose. When I put the D'Addario strings on the Strat, they required major adjustments for intonation, especially the wound strings. I finally got intonation set on the Strat with the slinky D'Addario's, but I wanted to go back to the stock strings and intonation, so I set out in search of some Fender 250L's... I stopped by Key Note Guitar to look for my Fender strings, but they have a very limited selection of everything, including strings, and no Fender strings. I told the store owner what I was looking for and how the string change had affected the intonation on the Strat, and she tried to convince me that string material had no affect on intonation. In other words "every .09 string will have the same intonation as every other .09 string regardless of material, brand, manufacturing method, etc." "They are all the same," as far as intonation, I was told. Um, no. Guitar strings of different materials vary in flexibility, often dramatically, and strings of the same gauge with different flexibility require different adjustments for intonation. This is just a basic guitar fact, easily found on the internet if you are curious. So I was talking to a "guitar tech" who doesn't know that intonation for the same gauge string can vary by material, manufacturing method, brand, etc. Moving to other subjects of discussion, we eventually got to buying instruments online... The owner told me how online music stores want their customers to return instruments so they can sell them again as new as many times as possible. That is just silly. If a store ships me an item (usually with free shipping), and I return the item for a refund, what good does that do them? They lose the cost of shipping at the very least, but they also have to pay people ship and restock the items, and they haven't sold anything to keep the distributor/wholesaler happy. So, what the heck sense does that make?? I had to mentally file this under "alternative facts" and move on. I bought a couple sets of strings to be nice, and, miracle of miracles, the GHS Nickel Rockers she sold me (9-42 as before) put my Strat back to normal intonation...just like they weren't supposed to, according to the owner. In the end, I can't trust this store to provide reliable information, let alone reliable service or repair. I wanted to like it; I wanted to work with a small, local store; but I will go the extra distance to "the other store" from now on. Sad! read more

Thus place is a hidden jewel. I need work done on several of my acoustic and electric guitars. Normally I take them to Rochester NY. I decided to give her a try. She did such s great job with my acoustic guitars I took two of my electric working basses for work to her. I am very impressed. I also had some great conversations on music with her. Skip any place else in Erie. Go here!! read more

I am new to Erie and was looking for some guitar equipment. I bought a NADY ENC-I wireless guitar system that sounded great in the shop. Unfortunately, I must have a 50 MW RF transmitter next door or something because I just couldn't get the thing to work without tons of RF noise coming through my amp. The store stood behind their product and refunded me for the equipment. I like to buy local and will definitely continue to send business their way. read more

I was extremely unimpressed by the guitars they had. The woman working there told me that major brands like Martain and Gibson are made in sweatshops in third world cointries. I am aware it is a lie, because Martain is made in Nazareth, PA and in Mexico. Key Note also ripped me off with $6 wooden picks. I do not recommend this place to anyone. You are better off going to World of Music. read more