Great variety of records! I came on a Friday afternoon and was easily able to get street parking in front of the store. All the records are well organized so it's easy to find what you are looking for. read more

I love this place, the staff is awesome and they have a great selection. My only "complaints is the weird hours that make it hard to visit. They are only open 3 hours early afternoon and they close at 6pm other days. If you work till 5pm like myself that makes it very hard to ever get there before they close. Other than the operating hours this place is amazing. read more

Yes, I highly recommend this establishment! I was treated fairly & respectfully! The staff is wonderful & knowledgeable... I was able to give them my entire CD collection I acquired over 50 years I collected... They were still in mint condition!!!! And if like classic n vintage R & B - contemporary Jazz, and Latino music you will find the in this store they have it all from my dearly love collection!!! YOU WILL FIND MY PRAISED GEMs! Enjoy as I did I am 72 years old X musician retired but love all music !!!! GOD BLESS ALL MUSICIANS AND PURVEYORS OF THE BUSINESS!!!!! read more

How have I not updated my review after 10 years!? The selection continues to always be fresh, new and updated. They don't overprice their records. Big shoutout to Mike and Allen for still being there and for always being so knowledgable with the recommendations. This has been and continues to be my favorite record store in the Bay Area. If you're in town, make sure you stop by. read more

Came here on a rainy day a few months ago - its located on Santa Clara street so it can be difficult to find parking, however this is a record store that is definitely a "diamond in the rough" location. This shop has a great selection of music genres, that seems to be balanced, most shops have more of an emphasis on a certain genre, but this place was well varied. I walked in not knowing if I was going to purchase anything, but walked out with a Nirvana album. The person who rang me up was incredibly friendly and was willing to chat with me for a bit too. Record stores are definitely a 3rd space for music fans, so I appreciated the dialogue and discussions on music. Regarding value, most of the contemporary genres were what you would expect regarding prices ($30-$40) however they did have deals on other not as popular genres like classical. Overall, Needle to the Groove is a downtown SJ treasure and I'll be sure to be back! read more

Needle To The Groove - Vinyl Records Near Me - San Jose, California

A fun record store with a good amount of vinyl and CD selection. Everything was well organized and even some unexpected records in stock as well. I was pleasantly surprised to find a decent amount of classical music in the store as well, I was quite excited to see Symphonie Fantastique there and for a good price! I will say that the CD selection was greater than the vinyls, but still a good amount to choose from. Overall it was a fun trip to the record store even if I didn't find exactly what I was looking for, I will be coming back if I ever have the itch to purchase another record. read more

Chill employees, fairly priced records and a great selection of used (newer) records. Other record stores give off a pretentious vibe but NTTG is all love. read more

It was a cool experience the guy was pretty helpful and he knew his stuff had respect it

I'm not a vinyl collector but I dropped by to check out Needle to the Groove while I was in the area. It was actually really cool and there were quite a few other people shopping at the time! It was essentially a library of records, organized by years, genres, and alphabetized. I love how organized it was and everyone was just doing their own thing. They also carry old CDs and tapes as well. They also had some cheaper items, as well as rarer collectible vinyls. The storefront doesn't look like much, but it's a pretty cool place and worth a look! read more

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The five stars is for their front window, where I find out which local bands are playing where in the surrounding area. They also have local festivals and dance events posted there too, so it's good to visit every month to see what's going on. The staff are also knowledgable. When I asked them about a local DJ that I never heard of, they automatically knew who he was and told me what music he specialized in without having to look it up. read more

Great little record store in the heart of downtown San Jose. The dude working there was very nice and informative. Nice selection of new AND used LPs. All the genres nicely organized and easy to find. Some of the records were a bit overpriced, but I did find some great LPs that didn't break my wallet. If you are in the area, stop on by. The lease in downtown SJ ain't cheap. read more

Needle To The Groove - Vinyl LPs - Vinyl Records Near Me - San Jose, California

I have really enjoyed working with this vinyl specialty vendor. They have quickly, efficiently and in a kind and friendly manner looked through multiple boxes of records that I needed to move to the next owner and paid what I felt was a fair price for the albums they could use. Theirs is a neat and nicely organized store for those shopping for vinyl records. All in all, Mike and Alan were such a pleasure to deal with. I appreciate that! read more

My first time shopped at NTTG and I appreciate their sorting and curating of their jazz section. There are few duplicates and surprisingly fair deals on their records. No outright scores, but if you appreciate not wasting your time searching for that one miss priced gem - then you'll appreciate this place. More used records than new prints of classics. Most used jazz is the smaller labels. read more

If you are looking for classical music then you will be in heaven as this is the stores main focus. They have a massive selection of very well organized classical music that goes deep. Well, if classical music isn't your thing, they also have a nice selection of R&B, jazz, rock and many other genres. If you are looking for hip hop they rarely get them in. It isn't that they don't want to sell them, it is just they rarely have customers that bring them in. I was able to score a first pressing copy of Led Zeppelin 4 with a rare promo sticker still on the cover. The staff here is very knowledgable, and extremely helpful. Their prices are reasonable considering the area and location with many bargains throughout the store. I can spend hours here and I never leave disappointed. Thank you, if you love vinyl then I can't recommend this place enough. read more

Needle To The Groove - Vinyl Records Near Me - San Jose, California

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Owner was there and very helpful, knew exactly what I was looking for, everything is organized and easy to find, lots of great selection and the prices were very fair. read more

I spent an hr+ here too. NttG San Jose is classically categorized into genres compared to Fremont. Some highlights for me were the Collectibles section towards the back and the DJ Tools/Breakbeat/Scratch Records by the hip-hop wall. The latter in itself is something I haven't seen in a good decade; so expectedly most of this selection is used. They have a nice cache of new records too but I would say the SJ store primarily carries Lived-In music. It's easy to get lost in their stock just by sheer size of the real estate; but not if you're a man on a mission and prefer sealed copies off your wish list. More of a digger's paradise if you got the time and space to throw on some records on a Sunday evening. read more

Hadn't been here since 2016 so the expansion was really nice to walk into! So great to see them thriving in downtown San Jose. I think this place has the best selection of records to offer in this area. It's not a small cramped space. If you come here, come ready to settle in and sift through their crates. I can always count on finding something here even if I'm not ready to buy it. They've always had a listening station and the new expansion included a seating area. Parking is never too hard to find on the street but it is metered parking until 6pm. read more

This spot is awesome! Great finds, good prices. Easily one the most organized local record store I've been in. I found an album Ive been looking for that even Amoeba didn't have. Looking forward to coming back again read more

Needle To The Groove - Vinyl Records Near Me - San Jose, California

My brother is a viynlhead and has shown me many places to get records over the years, but this by far is the coolest. They play great music and have hilariously friendly and knowledgeable staff. The selection is varied and easy to navigate. While I'm not into a lot of cool stuff, I do appreciate that they offer rare and interesting records (great for gifts). They sell viynl, cd's, cassettes, and cool shirts that are in Bay Area sports teams colors (Dubs, A's, Giant's etc.). The location is great, right downtown by SJSU. It's busy, but never too crowded. No matter where you live in the Bay Area, I encourage you to make the trip to this place. read more

Long story short, this might be the best record shop in the South Bay. Short story long...the shop was clean and they keep the customers limited to less than 10 inside the store. I felt extremely comfortable shopping and sifting through thousands of records. I can't emphasize enough how great their selection was...especially their selection of 90s hip hop. The staff was extremely friendly, helpful and knowledgeable as well. Prices were not the lowest but they were fair. I have no problem spending a couple more bucks to support a local business because shopping online will never replicate the joy of wasting a couple hours looking for gems in stacks of records while listening to funky abstract beats. One of the records I bought has a history of pressing issues that I read about on discogs and the helpful staff said they would allow me to bring it back for full store credit if my copy had issues. My first impression of this store was amazing. Honestly blew me away. I can't wait for pay day so I can head back! read more

SIZEABLE amount of good understock at this store. maybe 1,500 - 2,000 units before the tubs of 12" singles (probably a thousand 12", or more) or that music chuck berry killed forever, classical. $1/$2/$3 understock, with discounts for quantity. any record ever made can be in there (according to strict condition grading). (like hypothetically, similar to Rasputin's 50c/$1 understock -- if the original owner gouged their initials into S2/Tk2 of an otherwise pretty- good-sounding/VG orig pressing of a Chuck Berry On Top lp, and then also wrote their name in blue ballpoint pen onto the back of the jacket, hey, now it's a $2 record. or if it has a million "scuff marks" that turn out not to affect the audio, ka-ching, ditto). never forget, THAT THE COOLEST Introducing the Beatles mono-VJ or Meet the Beatles original pressing docked-for-jacket-condition copies are always the ones where the orig owner (a) wrote their name* anywhere onto the front or the back, and then for the win (b) added their age or (c) the name of their school. (*note: PaperMate flair felt-tip pens were not sold/marketed until 1966, and none seem to have been in the hands of thousands of the owners of the 1st and 2nd Monkees lps, when they penned their names onto the albums' back jackets). this 50's/60's "teen market" blue-ink tradition definitely hung around through the White Album (i have an extra thrift-store jacket where the original owner blue-ink penned a PM or a JL or a GH or a RS, right above each inside-jacket track-list's song title that each particular beatle-singer had sung lead vocals on; all notations are correct except for "Blackbird"). and dating from an entire two MLBB baseball seasons later -- the Baltimore Orioles' world series dynasty that-should-have-been-but-wasn't (i.e., a three-peat, but no)-- my racks have an extra 2nd Neil Young lp where the inside gatefold-jacket, at top far right, has an all-caps and blue-penned "NOVEMBER 1970" (and beneath it) "D. CONLON." and for the win, with the same blue pen onto the left side of the S1's all-tan-steamboat-w/no-'W7' record label -- "DONA CONLON." read more

Stopped by Needle To The Groove at their new location, it's clean, spacious, and full of various genre of records. There are also stations that you can use to listen to the records that you may be interested in. It has a large selection of Rock, Electric, Jazz, and Soul. If you're looking for Country or Oldies like myself, though...you may be disappointed. They have a small collection but nothing to write home about, really. (They do have a huge collection of Elvis records as of this review, though, so Elvis fans, you're in luck!). After half an hour of searching, I manage to find a Willie Nelson record for $4, not bad at all. Disappointed that I didn't find more of what I was looking for but overall, it's a cool store and one I'd visit again. read more

Everything you want or need. Bring a lot of money , you want to buy everything. Collectors store... and they have some $4 records too. When I buy there , I don't even pull the vinyl out to inspect it, I can always trust the grade and price. read more

Awesome ppl work here, great selection and great vibes. Visit this place for a great vinyl selection read more

The best! It's the only place we go to for excellent quality vinyl. All the staff we have encountered are really helpful and friendly; you can tell the are passionate about their music and customers. 10/10 highly recommend read more

Not a fan of their customer service. Called, no answer. Messaged on IG in response to their story to clarify the amount before driving almost an hour, I got left on seen. Messaged them on messenger, got left on seen. I think I'll just find a new place cause that's pretty whack on their behalf. read more

First time there. Fantastic. Clean and organized. You can tell the owners care about their product. Left with a half dozen albums. I'll make a list of what I want before I go next time. Highly recommended. read more

Great selection, fair prices, friendly and helpful staff! I didn't have time to look through all of the sections, but everything is extremely well organized. Definitely gonna pay them a second visit! read more

The bulk of my issues with Needle To The Groove speaks more with vinyl stores today rather than specifically here, but I do think it's important enough to affect my rating. I still wish these great guys well and that they keep up excellent business, but it's not for me. If I'm new to the record playing world, ideally I'd start my collection with artists and songs that I love and would enjoy on that audio heaven. And with such an expansive selection of boxes, I was very hopefully to start my beginnings here. A lot of my artists that I enjoy from the era weren't even there - ABBA and Four Seasons, as examples. My man Ray Charles was there, but rather than his classics like "Hit The Road Jack" or "Mess Around", I just found collaborations with unknown blues artists singing songs I never knew existed. The people behind the counter were some of the most personable I've ever met, but when I asked what they had in stock, they told me where artists would be, not that they necessarily HAD them. With pinpoint searches like Amazon, it's hard to justify making fruitless trips to these stores. But if I ever reach the point of a more open mind to my collection, I have no doubt these guys would be a good place to start. read more

Solid shop for listeners and DJs. This review is of the new location a few doors down. I would say it is in the top 5 of Bay Area shops that aims in having quality used vinyl. Well selected, and organized music on hand. Heavy on the used LPs and 12"s, and I picked up some awesome jazz, soul, and funk records. Definitely some rare wax to be found here, which was priced accordingly and fairly. For rock record seekers, yes plenty here, also keeping the titles on hand to those that are relevant. Discount records here too, small collection of cassettes of all genres. Staff here are chill and helpful, there is a listening station and metered parking on the street. Stop in if you are in SJ. read more

Spent an hour in here yesterday mid day. Nice shop It takes a while to figure how a record store is configured. I have 4000 records and buy on average 12 a week. I try to be as efficient as possible, so I came in with my LP books with a strategy (plus the meters are running outside the store) . I am looking to quickly search by alphabet 21 selections in about 7 genres (blues, early blue/acoustic/post ww2 chicago) as well as New Wave, grunge, british, funk, Philly Soul etc.) My stuff is alphabetical within genre. Just a suggestion. Your middle aisle segregated by 1970's 80's or whatever was illogical. maybe your filing person is confused. 10% of the filings that were completely in the wrong era and genre. sometimes this works to the buyer's advantage when some record store employee doesn;t understand a band....mis-prices and mis files . if you had 70's and 80's broken out... you missed out on the 60's, that seemed to be over by the east wall. Nice effort and I will come back. read more

100% recommend going here, they have all of their records, cds, and cassettes perfectly organized so its easy to find what you want in any genre of music. I came here looking for a specific album and I was able to find it in minutes of looking. Very good service and products, 5 stars. read more

Haven't found a better place than this for vinyl in San Jose, nor have I in a lot of other places.

Great selection of records and friendly staff. Highly recommended and will visit again.

Cool little record story nice selection of rock and hip-hop! They actually have a big selection of 45's too!! But I think this shop pushes more towards the DJ's. I kept find albums and getting excited only to find out it's a single, Then another single and another. But I did leave with 4 albums and a 45 when I thought I wasn't going to find a thing. The cashier was cool and not one of them record snobs either! read more

Needle to the Groove is an awesome, new record store located a block away from San Jose State in downtown San Jose. When I first walked in I immediately loved the warm and welcoming look of the store. Record bins lined both walls along with 45's ,CD's, and cassettes in the middle. The employees are very knowledgable and the prices are reasonably marked. I found a few cool looking jazz records that I wanted to hear before buying and was able to do so with the listening station that is set up near the buy counter. I left a happy customer with a stack of records under my arm. I will definitely be stopping by weekly to see what gems I can find. read more

Needle To The Groove - Vinyl Records Near Me - San Jose, California

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This year, I've seen legends close in person, like century theater domes and San Jose Skate (Aloha!). I have even started reviews to wind up frustrated at the lack of action and support of local icons from fans and patrons. These are places where we had physical interactive memories in our formative years, things that cannot be replaced with an online "click on it" or download equivalent. I was very happy to find a record store opening downtown. I read about in in Metro, hells yeah I'll come for the opening! It was damn worth it! The store was packed, the guys that run the place were pleasantly busy. There were a lot of people and I admit it was a bit crowded. People were flipping thru records, I was in a mood to browse and linger. It was like driving the speed limit in the fast lane with impatient people stacking up behind me. Stock should turnover pretty quickly. If there was any negative, I think it would be small space for any band or events that definitely help music stores with social media viral opportunities. DJ sets made it a great environment, I hope that's a regular feature. I never got into buying an mp3 player and downloading music. Actually, I downloaded for awhile until all the file sharing site hacking stories scared me off. But there's nothing more satisfying in buying music than having that album art to go over, liner notes. Or even a cd case or cassette during Walkman days. I still have one from the many I bought over that span starting in school. I won't mention what grade I was in. Just mentioning cassettes probably labeled me as ancient. Mix tapes fight for a comeback! Online, you could pick an album and some computer algorithm can suggest things "like this" that are very much NOT! And an admitted weakness of the ol' brick and mortar is stock available, but I doubt anyone that goes here would be clamoring for the latest pop sensation. That's what the big box 1/2 aisle department store racks are for. Here, you'll get clerks and even customers that are very knowledgeable of their chosen genres and yet stay behind the edge of snobbery. Like so many things of different taste, people here (and record stores in general) seem to get there is no "better [than your]" or "best" but "my favorite because of that concert I was at when I was in high school" or "my (Grand) Dad loved them," etc. You never get a memorable story from a new acquaintance by clicking a "download" box. On a side note, I'm glad they have a (408) number. I was an impassioned minority against the (669) area code splitting San Jose. Let those adjacent chumps that are not San Jose stop riding on our coat tail & get their own area code! I'm talking to you, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, etc. And honestly, you think Apple would demand their own area code by now. Great review from me, you could even say it glows. Get on down there! read more

I've popped in a few times now and always enjoy the visit. I've always left with something, that's saying something. The upsides: They seem to get new stuff weekly, prices on mid condition vinyl is great! The downsides: Very little parking (street), small space that can 'jam up' with people, prices on anything remotely collectible are pretty outrageous if you know how to shop for vinyl (if you're shopping there you're a record digger anyway), and stuff is not alphabetized, just divided by genre. Still it's cool to see a place like this open in San Jose. I'll certainly return for more visits read more

Small space, BIG records! Well, in the sense that there is a great selection of records in a very hip space. The records are well priced and neatly stored. There is a record player available to check out records before you buy, too! Which is always a big bonus point in my book. And the staff, unlike those in most other record stores, is really friendly and helpful. Not at all snobby or pretentious. A great place to come browse around for something new or old. read more

Great selection. Cool staff who know and appreciate all genres. Please support this store! They answer their phone and happily help if you want to see if something is in stock. Prices for rare and vintage vinyl may seem on the high side, but upon research they are priced according to market value and not marked up higher. Am an old school music lover and musician who grew up with independent record stores around the Bay Area and we are lucky that this store is surviving and thriving in the era of soulless online purchasing. Music should be talked about and shared. Again, please support this store! read more