Came here to buy a black folder for choral music after being referred by the Pasadena Conservatory…read more I called in advance to ask if they had any in stock and staff were prompt and professional in picking up to answer my request. Good variety of inventory from what I could see. Found out later my mom buys all her violin + piano sheet music here. It's tucked inside a strip mall off an out-of -the-way portion of Foothill. Would have loved to have seen this store in Old Town, but the current location is very convenient for quick in-and-out errands - and a short distance from the Conservatory. If I need to use something for music practice, I hate to buy online without knowing if it will work for me or not. Brick and mortar music stores like this are essential, and I'm glad Bertrands is so close by!

Very friendly and quick service. As soon as I stepped in to fix my daughter rented instrument, I…read moregot warm welcoming atmosphere and got the job done quickly Thank you all especially Gerard and Iris

Krys, Subject:…read more"While You Wait" Clarinet Repair Thank you, thank you. You save me a lot of travel time, by offering an afternoon repair. 1.What is amazing is the clearer, brighter tones I get, particularly in the throat tones and the Bb (thumb and forefinger) and highest register. 2.Wobble is gone. I have greased the cork and am being carefull as I put it together. 3.Low register C# key/high G# works smoothly, the "catch" is gone. 4.Most important - the low E to F# (left little finger to right little finger) now works perfectly, the delay and muddled tones as I changed notes are gone. New pads and the small spacer pad seem to have soved my problem. My original pads looked terrible and changing them made the difference. The dirt between the keys was absolutely surprising. Jay

Top-tier instrument repair. I've been working with Kris for years. Great work, great prices and…read moreunmatched care for my precious saxophone. I recently visited a saxophone repair outfit in Hollywood that proved that Pasadena Woodwind Repair really is the BEST in LA. I will be a customer as long as this business is operating!

What an absolute gem of an instrument shop that I feel so fortunate to have come across. I went in…read morebecause I'm potentially on the market for an upright bass, and I cannot express how glad I am I stopped by here. Not only do they have an incredible selection of beautiful instruments, but owners there are such phenomenal, down-to-earth, compassionate people. Nicky was in the store helping me out, and they spent so much time allowing me to try all the different instruments and talking me through them and answering my questions. The shop also has a rental option as well where 50% of the rent goes towards an instrument of your choice (doesn't have to be the rental). If you're looking for a high quality instrument with amazing service, this is the place to go. Could not recommend them more highly!

Tom and his daughter put a new tuning knob and plate on my 1948 Kay. They did an excellent job and…read morepainted it to match the others. Lowered the action as well. This is the go to place for Upright Bass repairs in the area. Thanks.

Marzz is a straight up guitar god. He took my troubled guitar and turned it into something so…read moresmooth and playable that I can't put it down. When I'm not playing it, I'm looking at it and admiring it. Super honest, super fair. Lucky to have such a gem in my own backyard. If you're thinking about getting your guitar looked at or fixed, just do it. You'll be so happy you did.

Found I had an older guitar in my basement. It needed some work, so I looked here for a highly…read morerated Guitar guy, and found Marcelo, here at Marzz Guitarzz. What a great find! When I showed him my guitar, we got into immediate communication and arrived quickly at my options. He also pointed out several features of the guitar I hadn't noticed. Got it back in a few days, beautifully restored and begging to be played. Very please with his craft and happy I found him.

Top notch (top shelf) choice of guitars, not another "Made in China" showroom with 100's of crappy…read moreguitars... This is where you need to go to shop for the high end stuff.. As a business they are VERY honest.. I made them an offer on a $15999MSRP PRS Private Stock guitar... of course the offer was above their threshold and they accepted. Later the next day, the same guitar (which I was also tracking on Reverb) was sent to me on Reveb (an automated feature they do when you're watching a guitar sometimes)... for $12799... I was of course a bit upset that I didn't offer them that amount instead.. a $1200 difference. Well, instead of being dicks about it, they said "no problem, since Reverb send the offer, we'll match it" and they refunded $1200 on the purchase. They then packaged it perfectly and set it Priority overnight Fedex to me. That is FIRST CLASS service.

If what you're looking for is to make friends who are also going through mid-life crisis and to…read moregather around in a circle marveling at exotic looking guitars on a wall, this is the place. If you're a musician, forget it. I brought my guitar in for a setup and the service and quality of the work was so bad that it inspired me to go learn guitar setup and repair myself, and I couldn't be happier. So I guess I owe thanks to these guys. Best of luck!

Amazing and quick service! Ordered my case online & in less than 24 hours it was ready and came in…read morestore to pick it up. They gave me a tour around the facility and were very hospitable and respectful.

A legacy shop which has been there for brass players all around the world for over 23 years!…read moreProviding only the finest boutique instruments, cases, accessories and sheet music from other countries. These instruments are hard to get and not carried anywhere else in California! This is an online shop where you can make your order online or if you happen to be in town by appointment only limited days of the week!

Fixed my Les Paul headstock and you would need a magnifying glass to tell it was ever broken to…read morebegin with. Also set up my guitar and it plays great. Will be using for any more guitar work going forward!

My guitar had seen better days and the guys at Nomadic made it sound better than it ever has!read more

As soon as I walked into the store, a staff member greeted me and offered help--even though he…read morelooked busy handling some paperwork. He asked what I needed, and I explained that my acoustic guitar had a broken peg tuner. I already had the replacement part with me, so I handed it over. Instead of jumping straight into recommendations or upselling, he immediately tried to fix it on the spot. Once he confirmed it was repairable, he quickly cut the string, replaced the tuner, and got everything back in place. The whole process took less than 10 minutes! I live in Carson, so driving out to Lakewood and getting it fixed the same day was such a relief. This guitar isn't for professional use--it's for my daughter who's just starting to learn--so having it ready right away saved me a lot of time and hassle. He even tuned it by ear in seconds, which was really impressive. Overall, a smooth and pleasant experience. I really appreciated the quick, no-nonsense service and would definitely come back again for future repairs!

I have been here a few times . Each and every time we are greeted with such polite staff. They…read morehave always been helpful to our needs.

Walked into Guitar Center Pasadena with my brother, our unleashed service animal, and a budget that…read moreclearly needed adult supervision. Things got off to a rocky start when there was some confusion about the dog, but Evan checked with his manager, got it sorted, and we all survived the great leash controversy of 2026. From there, Evan was awesome. Super cool, patient, and actually knew DJ gear because he DJs himself -- which is always better than someone confidently explaining equipment they've only met that morning. By the end, we were joking with him: "You really did everything you could to not sell to us... and somehow we still bought anyway." Funny start, great ending, and Evan helped us leave with a new DJ setup and speakers. Guitar Center almost fumbled the bag, but Evan recovered the sale like a pro. Shoutout Evan.

I get that they're understaffed and busy, but you have to try hard to be as unhelpful as they are…read more One gentleman kept rolling his eyes when I approached to ask a question. I made a purchase of a couple strings and an accessory that required me to take out my inhole sound pickup, so I asked if I could borrow a screwdriver (to literally turn the screws to the left a grand total of two times). He tells me "sorry, we don't usually loan tools out for use," which is totally understandable! So I ask if he can then just help me out and turn the screws himself if I'm not allowed to touch the screwdriver -- he audibly groans and looks at me, then finally turns, practically dragging his feet as he grabs the screwdriver to help me out. I was starting to be pretty stunned by this point. Then, when I was about to leave and putting my purchases in my gig bag outside pocket, the other guitar technician, Mike, starts staring daggers at me across the floor, then tells me to show my receipt to the guy at the door-- he thought I was stealing. After I'd been walking around the store for 2 hours and making multiple purchases. My jaw literally dropped. I don't know what's going on at this store, or if they treat every customer this way, or just me. I would speculate that because I dress quite basically (like a skateboarder, roughed up clothes, maybe?) they assumed I had no money/was poor to justify how they decided to interact with me. No matter who I am or what I might look like, staff should treat EVERY customer the same. I was considering buying a guitar from this store, the Yamaha AC1R specifically that they have in the acoustic guitar room, but now I don't ever want to come back.

My old Conn alto had thrown a pad recently, so I asked a friend of mine, an incredible woodwind…read moreplayer, Phil O'Connor, (clarinets, tenor saxophone et al) and he recommended Krys Mach of Pasadena Woodwind Repair. Krys was terrific in getting back to me right away, however he told me he'd still be out of town for a couple more weeks, yet he wasted no time in recommending Simon Makinadjian, saying that he would definitely be able to take care of my needs. And was that ever the truth! I called Simon on a Saturday around 3pm and he said he could fix it right then! Well my problem was I'm in the middle of a project, so had to have an assistant drive my horn from Venice Beach over to San Gabriel, and he wouldn't be able to arrive until around 6:30pm. So Simon then asked about the next morning, Sunday morning(!) and my guy said he could be out there by 11am. Well it turned out he was about 45 minutes late, but Simon was just totally cool with everything, and indeed fixed the pad in no time at all and I had my beloved instrument back just a couple of hours later, and that simply due to the drive time. So in my estimation, one could dare ask, let alone ever expect this kind of service! and I'm talking about; Excellent Craftsmanship, Incredibly Fast, and So Easy to work with in accommodating the customer. And one more rather important thing, the price for this fix struck me as more than reasonable, particularly taking into account the speed and time of the appointment. So please forgive my rather long winded account, but I really wanted to get these details across, as it is, in fact, in the details that this kind of quality is found! Thank you SO MUCH SIMON!! Rick Cox

Simon cleaned and tuned a secondhand trumpet, fixing badly stuck valve caps, and turned it around…read morein 24 hours. Quick, professional, and pleasant. I'd definitely return in the future.