Great facility! Great people! Loads of talent. Jeff and crew…read moremake your best plan the best reality. Love it here!

Having had a terrible experience with Gaz from "that british place", I was impressed with Deanna's…read moreprofessional manner. While using the aforementioned studio I couldn't help but feel Gaz's eyes were constantly undressing me. At least with Deanna I didn't feel like I was being eye-raped the whole time.

The Valley is the soul of LA youth culture and rock and rolls roots that ID this city. No place…read morebetter defines the core of LA's music authenticity than Gerard and his talented wife's awesome shop full of vintage guitars and me. Operated from a passion for Beatles and classic standards, old school quality customer service & lessons that inspire talent you didn't know you had - this place deserves your business I'm posting about a year since my original post to Yelp with an update on this incredible gem of a guitar store to simply say: Yes!! Everything I said above is absolutely true and more! If you're reading this post to consider music lessons or to purchase an instrument, look no further. Instead find a friend for life in these two and discover something wonderful within the joys of sharing music along the journey. Happy strumming!

I started taking guitar lessons with Teri in January of this year. I played piano and french horn…read moregrowing up so I already knew how to read music, but I always wanted to play guitar and didn't have the discipline to learn it when I was younger. In the ~6 months I've been with Teri & Gerard, I've begun to learn how and why music works the way it does, and not just how to read what's written on the page. My lessons are completely customized based on what I want to learn. I have learned everything from scales and arpeggios to classical Spanish songs to improvising blues riffs. I can bring in a song, let Teri listen to it a bit, and then she'll teach me how to play it. It's amazing! They are honest and generous people and I really enjoy my weekly lesson. I've only bought one guitar from them when I started, but I wouldn't bother going anywhere else if I wanted another. I think their prices are more than reasonable and they've always been straightforward about how the lesson scheduling and prices work. Teri and Gerard have always been kind enough to give me free extra time on my lesson whenever it works out that way with scheduling, and they've given me great prices on any merchandise I've picked up. I highly recommend Teri and Gerard!

Alpaca is a great music studio! Jonah is generous, patient, and amazing in all that he does ! My…read moreexperience was great! The setting of the studio is amazing, I was extremely impressed with the sound quality, and the overall service is amazing! I highly recommend alpaca music studio for anyone looking for piano lessons and or a professional recording experience!

From the owner: Alpaca Music Studios helps artists turn ideas into polished, professional records through…read morerecording, mixing, and mastering. We focus on clear communication, modern sound, and protecting your creative vision from first take to final master. Whether it’s your first single or next project, we’re here to bring your music to life. Book your session today.

My first time here and it won't be my last! Loved the intimate space while watching one of my all…read moretime favorite female singers, Jonatha Brooke. The room is normally set up for sales but when a show is on the calendar the staff quickly clears it to set up the chairs for the audience. Since their first impromptu show back in 1968, McCabe's has been hosting the finest in folk, bluegrass, Americana, world music and more. It can accommodate 150-seats and is one of the best listening rooms in the world. The sound engineer was spot at this performance. Most of performers will play one of the guitars for sale here which helps keep this amazing shop going. *Located just off the 405 freeway @Centinela on Pico Blvd *Plenty of street parking (meters) *A few restaurants within walking distance if you want to grab a bite to eat before or after a show. *Guitar lessons available *FYI purchase show tickets online. You will get receive a confirmation email telling you that your name will be on a list at the door (you will not get physical tickets)

This review is specifically about an acoustic guitar setup in the service department…read more I paid $95 for the setup service. I am dissappointed in the results and would not recommend their repair or setup services. The final results show a lack of quality control. I love the vibe of McCabe's and the 'grab and play anything you want' attitude which is rare at guitar stores these days. The staff have always been welcoming and don't hover or bother you unless you have a question. I even saw what appeared to a homeless person come in and ask to use the bathroom and the staff was kind and treated the person with respect and care. I've been a long time visitor, and needed a setup done on an acoustic guitar so I thought I'd bring it in and give them some business. Because the store is about a 30-45 minute drive for me, I asked if they could do it while I waited around the neighborhood and they said they were backed up and likely wouldn't get to it that day. I said ok and left it there and they called me about 2 hours later to say it was done and ready to get picked up, so I completely could have just waited for it. I wasn't able to make it back to the store for a few days (because it's a long drive), and when I picked up the guitar I was in a hurry and didn't spend a lot of time checking it out in the store. I pulled it out for a quick few strums to make sure the high action near the body was fixed, and it was, so I packed up the guitar and brought it home. Lesson learned - spend time at the store/shop when you are picking up your guitar. Spend more time than you think you should, better to find any issues at the shop before you get home. When I got home and saw the guitar in better lighting, I noticed there were a bunch of areas where there was some wax or polish that was obviously not buffed out. So the first thing I did was to spend about 5 minutes going over the whole guitar with a soft cloth to try and buff out all of the polish. Not a big deal, but obviously nobody at the store did any final check of the guitar, or if they did they would have seen this and just didn't care to do anything about it - just felt like poor quality control and lack of care. (Also - this is a matte finish guitar, so I'm not sure you're supposed to put polish on it at all..?) Then once I finished buffing out all of the leftover wax/polish, I tuned it and up and immediately discovered that both the A and the G string were buzzing while being played open. So I ended up spending another 10-15 minutes doing a truss rod adjustment to get the guitar into playable condition. Another indication that nobody bothered to check or play the guitar after the tech put it back together, or they would have clearly heard the buzzing strings. Or they just didn't care enough to fix it. For $95 I would expect the guitar to be able to come out of the case and look and play well without me having to do any additional work. I'm sad to have had this experience with a store a I have really grown to appreciate and enjoy.

Brian agreed to work on a 30-year old guitar that no one else would even look at and did a bang up…read morejob of fixing the active electronics. He also leveled the frets and did a setup and now playing that guitar feels smooth as silk with low action, perfect intonation, and no fret buzz even when playing hard.

I took my custom built, $10,000 acoustic Koa cutaway for minor surface repair and this guy did a…read morebotch job, I was horrified, it was worse when I went to pick it up. He handed me my guitar, I was speechless! I looked at him, , trurned around and left. He knew better that to even ask me to pay him. He might be good repairing amps, but I don't think he's really a "luthier", he's not even set up to do finish work.

Mike did a fantastic job tuning my parents' old Schumann grand piano that hadn't been tuned in 30…read moreyears. I never knew this piano could sound so good! He was very thorough in tuning every key, and then I had him come back to replace three broken strings that he had come across. On the second visit, he retuned everything because the piano had fallen slightly out of pitch. That's the level of attention we all need! Mike was an all-around great guy to work with. Responsive communication, reliability, and fair pricing are what you'll get when you hire him. Two other tuners I had reached out to were unable to help me, but Mike really came through!

Mike is tops. He fixed and tuned our upright piano. It's been nearly 8 years since it was tuned…read more His knowledge, expertise, and overall passion for music and pianos is evident. 5 stars! Thanks Mike!