If you're looking for bright lights, shiny new guitars and pushy sales staff, skip Player's Guitars. If you're looking to find a hidden gem or a solid used piece of gear, come visit Jim at Player's Guitars. He's helped me and my son find instruments to learn on (guitar, mandolin, bass), as well as instruments to grow into (12 string acoustic) and with numerous small repairs. read more

Rob D. reviews this place accurately. It's a cluttered rummage sale for guitar players. I've stopped in 4 times. Unfortunately nothing in the shop is particularly high quality or collectible. I've been playing guitar for 47 years., been in the pro leagues. There's never anything in this shop that I want to purchase. read more

By far the best guitar shop around. I go there almost every day because that's how much stuff they have! The owners a great guy and the guitars are one of a kind!!! So many treasures to be found from basses to tube amps!!! Truly a local treasure!!!! read more

This bad review is for the repair work, not the shop. I actually like the old weird stuff they have there...it's a fun browse. But I brought a bass in to get set up. Not only did they delay but when I finally went to pick it up, it played as bad as ever. They gave me some line about needing fret work and the truss rod not working, and said they'd mill the frets and take another shot at it. Sure enough, when I picked it up it still played like crap. But they said the truss rod had problems. I brought it to another place where they set it up perfectly, and told me the frets had not been worked on and nobody had really set it up. They guessed that the shop didn't understand a double action truss rod. I'm choosing to believe that rather than they deliberately charged me a bunch of money for nothing. read more

Disregard the bad review on here where a disgruntled fellow was refused a handshake from the owner due to carpal tunnel syndrome. That has nothing to do with the shop or the service therein. My wife and I walked in about 45 minutes before closing, and Josh was chatting with another customer. After which, we were given the full attention. I picked up a Taylor Guitar that happened to be there, and noticed it sounded and played really well. Josh gave us a fair price for it along with a case, and he proceeded to restring it for us with new strings. They are primarily a repair shop, but have a number of acoustics and some electrics that are not mainstream. It's a fun shop to visit if you like little guitar shops with hidden gems. The Taylor was one! I recommend the place if you happen to be passing through San Rafael Andres browsing for acoustics. The other guitar shops are more mainstream (which are a must for guitar enthusiasts) but stop in to Player's for the older rare and used ones! You'll never know what you'll find there! read more

Took my rare 88 year old Tenor Dobro in for new tunings keys & set up. The guys re-glued the kerfuling, lowered the action, did some custom work on the bridge and it plays like a dream. Great work, great price, in a county with great Luthiers. Thanks Guys read more

Worst guitar shop in the bay area. This place is like a cheap broken guitar landfill. When I arrived at the store the owner was ripping off some poor lady by charging her 1000$ for a bashed up guitar. She asked him "what about these scratches?" He told her, "Well now you don't have to worry about scratching it."!?!?!?!? Super unprofessional. The owner refused to shake my hand explaining that he has carpel tunnel.. Don't buy a guitar from a limp wrist weakling. Go somewhere else... go anywhere else. Be aware this place is riddled unknowledgeable, super unprofessional, scam artists. read more

Jim has a super great selection of truly unique instruments. His prices are so fair that I'm going to make it a plan to buy another vintage guitar from his shop every year to keep the inspiration flowing. In many cases, a pristine new guitar is not the best idea. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned player, a guitar that has long since been broken in, loved, and recently restored by Jim and Co. will have so much more character, personality, and vibe. Love this place!!! read more

Tom's ignorance is entertaining. The owner is no where near being a trust fund baby, whatsoever. Not only does Players have a lot of cool shit in its shop, the owner repairs and restores guitars taught by some of the best in the business. read more

Jim did some really nice repair work on my Guild D25: he does really solid repair work and does it on a budget. He's a super-nice guy and a great guitar player: sometimes I drop in just to jam and chat vintage gear. He used to be the hookup for cheap bulk strings but he says his supplier went out of business and he doesn't have that deal anymore. Anyway, I recommend the players guitars experience to everyone: SUPPORT INDEPENDENT SHOPS, not the big corporate guys. read more

I've been to Players several times now and always have a good time, meet other pickers and get to check out all sorts of gear. Jim the owner is also a local player, good slide guitarist. Players is just the kind of shop I like to visit since I love funky old oddball amplifiers and less-collectible guitars that I can afford. If I need strings I don't mind paying a buck per pack more if I'm supporting a small business. I try to shop at local music stores whenever I can, instead of the big national chain stores. I'm not a guitar collector, but I've got a few pretty-good pieces. Since the collectible guitar racket has priced regular guys like me out of the market, I've started buying stuff like Harmony, Kay and Silvertone guitars, often vintage and always U.S.-made. Back in the days, every town had an indie guitar shop, it was just a hangout as it was a store, sorta like a barber shop except no one wanted a haircut. If I need a new mixer or a power amp, of course I shop at the chain store or just order it online as cheap as possible, but there's no replacement for the corner guitar shop when you're having a guitar afternoon away from the squares. No such thing as too pro to enjoy a place like Players. read more

Pretty cool hole in the wall. Lots of funky low power tube amps from converted radios and old recorders, and some funky acoustic/electric stella guitars. Very little space, literally a closet, but usually something interesting here. read more

They brought my old banjo back to life. It had been in storage for many years. They adjested the neck, repaired the bridge, put on new strings and tuned it. Excellent work, friendly service, fair prices. The shop is filled with lots of interesting vintage string instruments. You can hang out and play or talk about music. read more

These guys are awesome. They have tons of awesome vintage guitars as well as new ones that they sell and trade. They're super accommodating, informational, and fast. I've looked all over Marin and these guys are the best guitar place around. read more

Liked the owner, liked the shop. Weird, funky, and just my taste. It's good to see a few small businesses left in Marin with some personality! For out-of-the-way style, service and guitars, this is a great pick. Without places like this, Amazing Grace and the like, Marin is destined to slip ever further into uber-bougie hell. read more

I recently took my two "troubled children" (an Epiphone Les Paul and Thunderhorse Explorer) to Player's Guitars for some discipline and they nailed it. Josh gave me the personal service that I was hoping to find in a shop doing guitar setups. He diagnosed the problems after a sit down with me to understand what I needed. After setting the intonation for both axes, they now sing and sound sweet! A short follow-up visit with owner Jim for a slight action tweak and they are now PERFECT! Quick turn-around, accurate attention to detail and very reasonably priced, I WILL return again whenever I need a setup performed on an electric guitar! Thanks!!! read more

If by "high quality" you mean expensive, then no there arent any old Fender tweed amps, but it's got a LOT of other very cool old tube amps. The brands it does carry (Silvertone, Gibson, Kay, Magnatone) are popular among players like David Lindley, Robert Cray, The White Stripes, Black Keys, I'd call them "pro Leaguers"...and the owner, Jim, is a great guy to deal with. It's a GREAT alternative to expensive vintage gear shops...highly recommended! read more

If you are into cheap, cool, unusual, unique guitars and amps...this is the place.

jim sold me a guitar but made me promise to buy a case later, i never did but he did give me a smoothie. later he told me not to touch something and called me a punk. players is t-i-t-e and everyone should buy shit there unless there a kook read more