A coworker recommended going, I was reluctant since I live on the VA (other side) of the city. But…read moreOMG. The inventory was amazing. I was actually overwhelmed by the number of guitars and amps in stock. Literally thousands. What I thought would be a 10 min max, look around, buy a pack of strings (I always try and buy something at non chain music stores) turned into a 2 hour adventure. Rows and rows of guitars. I was at first intimidated and it took a bit to get my bearings as how the instruments were organized. LPs over here, Fenders over there. Did I mention there were "like 2 thousand guitars. Then I was shocked at how reasonable the prices were. After 45 minutes I had decided I was definitely getting a new guitar that day, then what to choose? Narrowed down between 2 that I wanted and matched what I could afford that day. The guy who rang me up, saw it was my first purchase there and knocked a few bucks off and threw in a new set of slinky strings. Look if you are looking for a posh music boutique store with fancy displays, this is not the place for you. But if you are a musician looking for quality gear that is priced right and huge inventory, this is the place. I am already planning my next visit with a bigger budget.

Fantastic store!!! Came looking for a orange micro dark, they had like 6 of them and let me try…read moreeach one till I found one I liked and on top of that they gave me a 20$ discount because it was my birthday!!! Highly recommend!!!

I took my Sony CD player in for repair. I was unable to remove the 275 CDs because the unit was…read moreinoperative. When I got the unit back, 7 CDs were missing. I spoke with 3 reps about the matter & Bob was the most obstinate, aggressive person in the trio. I'm a 74 year old military veteran with much better things to do than accuse folks over 7 CDs, in hopes of being reimbursed. Of the over 275 CDs in the unit, most are artists of color. All 7 of the missing CDs were by white artists, just a coincidence I suppose. The tech I dealt with when I picked the unit up was inhospitable. Never told me he had put the box he had placed my CDs in over by the exit. Never returning there & never suggesting them to anyone else.

Avoid this shop. they kept my Marshall amp for 3 weeks (even though a rush fee was paid) charged…read moreme $400 and didn't fix my issue or even diagnosed it correctly. They came out with a bogus diagnosis about the Output Transformer, which I knew was nonsense just to get me to go away. I took it to another shop (Audio Cage, highly recommend it for classic guitar amps as the owner is actually knowledgeable about them ) and they found the issue and fixed in 2 days for $200, including fixing wrong wiring done by ProTech. An absolute waste of time and money. Anyone reading this is free to contact me here on Facebook and I'll happily provide documentation to back up everything I said here.

Chuck levins is the one of best music store in the country. Definitely the best in the dmv …read more actually a dc institution for decades family run business. I have bought guitars. PA systems amps back in the day and also recently Got a kick ass deal on a custom shop Gibson Flying V .thanks Pete . Great service always any problem they take care of it . wide selection of top brands and good deals. i always go to the store . So far as online I can't really can't say except call them they have more stuff then they list and get a deal . I had a keyboard shipped to Texas for my daughter went fine. . I highly recommend the place . Great place for beginners or professional musicians. They have it all !

Would not shop here again. We picked up an online order and we were not given a bag or a receipt,…read moreeven though we asked for one and the worker said we didn't need it because we had the one on our phone. We walked to the next building that had all of the guitar supplies and greeted a security guard at the front, he saw the online order in our hand when we walked in. I made direct eye contact with him. My mother and I walked around and looked for pedals and other guitar accessories. We had started to carry around things we were intending to buy. We headed towards the back of the store with the midi keyboards. The security guard from the front followed us to the back of the store and ordered us to come to the front and make an itemized list of the things in our hands. I told him that we hadn't paid for the items in my hands yet and that we were shopping. It was very confusing to me because he was inhibiting us from shopping. I asked him directly why we were being singled out when the store was full of people. He was very rude and I believe it had something to do with our race as we were the only black people in the store. I was adamant on wanting to know why he was singling us out and he continued to talk in circles. I demanded to know why I needed to come to the front again and he would not give me a reason so I refused to come with him. Another employee saw that this was becoming a situation and diffused the situation. This interaction was very demoralizing and they humiliated my mother and I by accusing us of theft when we had done nothing wrong or suspicious. He yelled at us in front of everyone. I would not come here again and will continue to take my money to the Guitar Center down the street.

Have to support these small music shops. Victor Litz has a lot to offer from types of instruments,…read moreelectronics, lessons, used gear, you name it. I was especially impressed with their selection of ukuleles. Never have I seen so many in MD in one place! Definitely more than what Guitar center offers. They have an acoustic room in the back to try their acoustic/classical guitars. I had the chance to buy one of their used guitars at an amazing price. I appreciate the staff working with me on the price and even holding the instrument for a day when they could have easily sold it to next customer. Shows that they care about customer satisfaction more than just making a sale. I was able to spend a good amount of time trying out the instrument and they also helped tweak the intonation before I decided to take it home with me. The only few downsides I could see was some of the staff were not particularly knowledgeable about certain guitar models that they were selling, but much better than say Guitar Center. The humidification in the acoustic room basically only controlled by a residential type humidifier, so not very precise. Compared to other small guitar shops in the DMV, I don't think I would feel comfortable getting my guitar worked on here just based on the level of expertise I surmounted from the conversations I had. But a good place to buy gear nonetheless if you know what you are looking for. Parking is just a little challenging since it is in the middle of old town Gaithersburg. But in the past I have come on the weekends and there is some parking across the street at the museum.

I used to be a fairly loyal customer but cannot continue to patronize a store that does not…read moreappreciate and respect ALL of their customers. There are many better options in the area such as Chuck Levins and Bill's Music that are more welcoming and frankly have a much larger selection of instruments. EDIT - Tony, you know exactly what you did. You thought you were being funny but ended up insulting a group of people that you may disagree with, but are still some of your customers or potential customers. I do not feel comfortable doing business with companies that do not treat all of their customers with the same level of respect. I respect your right to have your opinions, but we all have choices.

After playing guitar for more than half my life, I decided at age 30 that I wanted to start taking…read moreup lessons again. I was largely self taught and my playing had become a little sloppy (or just plain lazy) over the years. As an adult student who hadn't taken a lesson since she was 13, however, I was a bit hesitant to enter into the process. After hunting around online awhile, Justin was the first instructor I got into contact with - I was impressed with his credentials and felt that he was someone who could get me out of my comfort zone. I decided to give 29th Century Guitar a go and could not be happier with my decision. From our first conversation and trial lesson Justin immediately put me at ease, and 6 months later (1 hr lessons, once a week) I have noticed a marked improvement in both my playing and my understanding of the instrument. He seems to have an even distribution of younger and adult students, which reflects his aptitude as a teacher and ability to relate to just about anyone. He's very friendly and approachable, and extremely competent. He is also flexible and understanding when it comes to scheduling, and very clear about what his expectations and requirements are as far as lesson commitments and payment policy are concerned. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend anyone to Justin - newbie or stubborn, set-in-her ways singer/songwriter like myself.

I picked Justin as a guitar teacher because he 1) graduated from Berklee College of Music (the…read morebest) and 2) he travels to where you are. Once I started taking lessons with him I discovered that he's not just an awesome guitar player but he really knows how to break down the theory part of guitar that most guitar teachers can't or don't do well. And the technical stuff has vastly improved my guitar skills! His teaching style is very disciplined with an easy going personality. I love that I can suggest exactly what I want to learn and he'll teach me that (and somehow sneakily add in some extra stuff so I come out learning a helluva lot haha) Thanks Justin!

Great violin shop! have been a client of theirs since i started playing the violin. Friendly staff…read moreand cozy atmosphere!! If you're looking for anything violin, viola, cello related check this place out, you won't regret it.

We have been their customers for the last decade. Both…read moremyself and my 3 kids violins all came from here. Their service, staff and the quality of their instruments are what you are looking for regardless, you are a 3rd grader starting with your first instrument or professional virtuosa, buying an instrument or getting one repaired I think you would like this shop

They say you can't or shouldn't mix business with pleasure, but what happens when you have genuine…read morepassion for your occupation? My experience at Polyphonic Music could be summarized by saying that the service was amazing. This one stop drum shop got me in and out on my leisure. Very patient and knowledgeable staff, able to answer all of my questions transparently. I learned about Polyphonic Music from craigslist, I was unaware of the kind of dedicated service I would receive from a small business. I have and will continue to recommend the service to friends, strangers, drum enthusiasts etcetera. Special shout out to Vincent for assembling a very portable customized "Frankenstein" drumset that I am able to take with me on the metro and play music outdoors. I have never reviewed a business on yelp! , but I instantly felt that the large amount of attention and care that I received from this small business was worthy of (re)writing history. 5 stars.

From the owner: polyphonic music is a local business specializing in musical instrument sales, consignment, repair,…read morerestoration & parts. we have many drum items in stock and if we don't have what you're looking for then we can likely help you find it. are you looking for something odd or specialized? we can help! there's no charge for questions, information requests or appraisals so feel free to call, text or email. polyphonic's repair shop specializes in vintage bass drum pedal restoration with a vast amount of experience and original parts to work with. restored pedals have been completely disassembled, inspected, cleaned, lubricated, reassembled & tested. feel free to contact us for information about restoring your pedal. some of the vintage pedals we work on regularly include: + ludwig speed king (vintage chicago or modern monroe) + ghost (all generations) + rogers swiv-o-matic + slingerland tempo king + camco & variations (gretsch floating action, early dw, etc.) + tama king-beat + slingerland yellow jacket + asba caroline + ludwig (other: standard, speedmaster, junior, etc.) + slingerland (other: epic, AA, HH)

The Music & Arts store stands like a temple to the fragile hopes of students and parents arming…read morethemselves for another year of rehearsals, scales, and the long march toward competence. Its aisles gleam with reeds, strings, and cases--objects that, in their mute silence, carry the weight of countless hours to come. I found what I needed: supplies and equipment, the small instruments of survival in the regimented symphony of school. The workers moved with efficiency, their knowledge sharp and their actions brisk, yet there was a certain absence in their demeanor, as though they operated behind a glass wall. Helpful, yes, but with a coolness that left no room for warmth--transaction without communion. In some ways, it felt fitting: music itself demands a distance, a discipline, before it can give back joy. Still, one longs for a flicker of shared enthusiasm, some recognition that buying a clarinet reed is also an investment in human persistence against the yawning void of silence. Efficiency will always get the job done; warmth, when it appears, makes it unforgettable. I wish you joy and ease in the school year ahead, and may your new supplies carry you toward moments of true resonance.

Booked a music lesson they never wrote it down. Spoke to manager Amanda no remorse or anything…read morejust because just asked what else as they already had someone else booked in our slot. The used instruments sales are in very rough shape so we didn't purchase there. Very frustrating start to this relationship with this store. Hopefully the instructor is great but if he has no more slots then pointless.