So great to have Peter round to help me create my crazy ideas for guitars, or to take on the work I…read moredon't or am unable to do. Thank you Peter for all you do, and have done over the decades! Call him, share what you want done and make a new friend!

So glad I found Peter--not only is he an incredible luthier, but he's also an absolute gentleman…read more I brought my Fender Strat in for some intonation issues, and Peter knew exactly what to do--and then went above and beyond. He did a full fret dress and worked out a slight heel kick so the notes wouldn't fret out. He fine-tuned the intonation, deepened the nut slots to make the first fret easier to play, cleaned out all the pots, and straightened the neck. He also adjusted the whammy bar and corrected the bridge, which had been pulling up too far. It now sits closer to the body with a gentler angle--still allows a half-step pull-up, but with better stability and improved tuning. The guitar plays so much better now--and Peter even promised I'd sound just like Stevie Ray Vaughan. I'm pretty sure by "now" he meant in about a million years. Peter works out of his home in Aina Haina. It's a little tucked away at the end of a driveway , but if you follow his texted directions, you'll find it. Although I did drive past said driveway the 1st time around LOL. Happy Shredding!!

Unacceptable Service & Zero Priority I am beyond frustrated…read morewith the service I received today, and I ended up walking out. My wife, my two kids, and I walked into this establishment around 4:35 PM on March 25th. We were greeted at the front by Ted, who told us he'd be over to help us "real soon" and instructed us to head back to the electronic drums. Couple other staff asked if we needed help which we did, and was told they couldn't really help us because they weren't the 'drum guy' and to wait for Ted. We waited. For 25 to 30 minutes. When Ted finally decided to show up, he gave us maybe five minutes of his time. Instead of actually helping us make a decision, he left us with more questions than answers. He told us he'd be "right back," and then disappeared for another 10 minutes. From where I was standing, I could see him at the front of the store helping people who walked in long after we did. The breaking point was when he finally came back to our area...but not to help us. He started assisting another person who had just arrived. At that point, I was losing my cool. He knew we had been waiting patiently for a long time, yet he continued to treat us like we weren't a priority. Once he finally finished with the latecomers, I had to confront him with the facts. I told him exactly how long we'd been sitting there while he ignored us for newer customers. Instead of offering a solution or taking accountability, he just hit me with excuses. Then, he actually had the nerve to ask if I had "more questions." I told him flat out: I was ready to check out 30 minutes ago, but he left us hanging high and dry. I was literally about to tell him which set we were buying, but after that experience, I decided right then and there that we wouldn't be supporting this business. We walked out. Bottom line: You need to get your priorities straight. UPDATE: I'm updating my previous 1-star review to 5 stars because of one person... Senior Manager Anju (I hope I spelled that correctly). After that initial visit yesterday which left us feeling disregarded and unimportant... Anju reached out to me personally to make it right during our phone call. It takes a true leader to own up to a mistake and honestly she did so with such grace. Took full accountability for her store and them some. When we returned today, we weren't just 'customers' we were felt like actual guests. Anju provided the kind of high-touch and personalized support that made the store feel more like a community. She was patient, informative, answered all my questions and incredibly kind to our 5-year-old. She made sure we walked out happy and we left with the perfect Roland TD-07DMK Electronic Drum Kit and a matching V-Drum Amp. I felt Anju made it her mission to make sure every detail was handled perfectly so we could focus on the excitement of our daughter's musical journey instead of the issues we faced previously. It's easy to be a good store when things go right, but how you handle things when they go wrong is the true test... Anju passed with flying colors. From here on out we'll be supporting this business under her leadership. Mahalo for turning this around for our family!

Easy Music Center has always been our go-to place! We love the convenience, wide selection, and…read moregreat service. Every time we visit, we usually have an idea of what we're looking for, and there's always someone knowledgeable who helps us narrow it down -- whether it's for piano or ukulele -- and we always leave with something perfect. That's why Easy Music Center was the first place that came to mind when my daughter needed to interview someone with a guitar background. I called ahead to ask if anyone might be available, and we were lucky to connect with Mike Wong. Funny enough, my daughter's essay (which she'll turn into a book) is for her English teacher, Doc Wong -- what a coincidence! Mike was wonderful -- patient, friendly, and generous with his time. He answered my daughter's questions, played something beautiful, and shared great insights into how guitarists get started. Thank you so much, Mike, for taking time out of your busy day to talk with her! After the interview, my girls and I walked around the store. My oldest was fascinated by a square ukulele -- she played a few tunes and couldn't wait to get home to practice again. The little one had her eye on the smaller guitars. We always have such a great experience at Easy Music Center -- thank you for making music shopping fun and inspiring for our family!

Nathan has done my guitars for decades. He is very meticulous and precise in his craft. Every…read moreguitar he's setup for me is fantastic. I really appreciate him being able to take me in on my latest guitar as he is probably semi retired now. Mahalo plenty Nate!

Nathan Ching is a very nice guy who did an excellent and professional job in adjusting the action…read moreof my tenor ukulele. He also changed my strings to Koolau Gold Low G with wound G & C strings. Uke is much more playable and sound has definitely improved with a fuller richer deeper tone. His charges were very reasonable as well.

Thanks to these good guys for always fixing my daughters ukulele every time lol best service and…read moreawesome talent very humble Big Mahalos

Let the gentle and experienced hands at Good Guys Music & Spund guide you…read more If you're an experienced ukulele or guitar player who knows exactly what you want, Good Guys with their assortment of electric guitars, acoustic guitars, amps, soprano, concert, and tenor ukuleles, ranging from under $100 to thousands of dollars delivers a nice collection of goods in their tightly packed Kaphulu location. However, if you're like me -- just a dad shopping for his son's first beginner ukulele this is also a surprisingly excellent place to check out. Their store had an overwhelming number of positive Yelp reviews which helped to put my slightly nervous mind at ease. The shop is easy to find on Kapahulu Ave. right next to Jamba Juice and across the street from Jack in the Box with ample parking space in the rear parking lot. Rodney, who was so laid back that I mistakenly thought was just another customer, greeted us and answered all of my novice questions patiently letting us try a number of ukuleles before making our final decision. As other reviews have noted, there is no pressure at all to upsell and it genuinely feels like they want to find whatever it is that you are looking for at the price point you are most comfortable with. I liked the used koa Kala ukulele that Rodney first showed us, but my son finally chose a new spalted mango Lealani concert ukulele. Both sounded beautiful, but especially when Rodney played a few riffs! All in all, big thanks to Rodney and Bob for calming this dad's nerves and helping me to find the exact ukulele my son was looking for! Side Note: When I asked how long these guys have been in business, they told me 26 years! I've passed this location hundreds of times so I'm glad to have finally had a chance to support an old school local business like this one. Better late than never!

I needed help with my baby girl, my acoustic guitar. I'm by no means an expert, and honestly,…read moredespite some experience on stage, I'd still barely call myself an intermediate guitarist, so when my acoustic's connections went on the fritz, I was at a loss for what to do. I asked one of my much more experienced and knowledgeable musician friends, and he instantly suggested BR Frets. He was then confirmed by another guitarist friend of ours who was hanging with us, saying they're hands down the most skilled people on island that they both know of, so I went ahead and made an appointment. Both friends said to expect a couple of weeks, maybe 3 depending on how busy they are, as they do get quite a bit of business, and to try and get an appointment when I can, so I did as soon as I could. I was greeted warmly by Chris, who asked me some pertinent questions, took a look at Hayley, and gave me a clear idea of what to expect; either he can fix her, which if he can, he'd try to do so that night. If he can't clean and repair the connections on my pick up, not only would they likely need to send out the pickups for diagnostic and repairs, but the cost to do so would jump up significantly, showing me how much the piece costs broadly and then factoring time and labor. Sure enough, I called the next day, as advised, and Wes said to come back on in to pick her up. I got there and spoke with Wes, who told me Chris stayed up a bit the previous night to make sure Hayley's good and ready to go, and she was back in action! They also only charged for the time and labor, which was more than fair for the quality they provided and all the relief they gave me. Definitely worth coming to them when guitar help is needed.

I've been playing more in open D tuning and got tired of retuning my Taylor every time I wanted to…read moreplay something in open D. So I took my old beloved Takamine F360s out of the closet and decided to leave it in open D. But it was playing rough. The action was very high even after I adjusted the truss rod. Also the intonations were off. I took it to a major guitar store in town and the luthier there said he couldn't help me because the guitar needed much more work than he could do. Then I found Chris at BR Fret shop. OMG what a God send. Talk about someone who cares passionately about guitars and knows the instrument like Wolfgang Puck knows pizza. Chris identified that the problem came from under the bridge where through years of humidity, that area was bulging and pushing the bridge up thus raising the action. He took it apart, sanded under the bridge then put everything back together along with new strings. I was completely blown away at how low he got the action with no buzzing. In fact it made my Taylor seemed hard to play in comparison. So I ended up taking my Taylor in for an adjustment as well. Pro tip : make sure you register your Taylor guitar with Taylor manufacturing and they will pay for the adjustments at certified Taylor shops. I hope Chris and his assistant Wes never decide to leave O'ahu. We are very lucky to have them here in our little corner of the ocean. Happy pickings...or strumming!!

It has been a dream of mine since I was a kid to take voice lessons. The closest training I ever…read moregot was high school chorus and a couple music classes while in college. But even after taking these classes, I've always wanted to do more. But when life got busy, I ended up putting this passion on hold. As I got older (and hopefully wiser lol), I realized there will never be a right time to do the things we love until we make time for them. So I did a quick Google search and found Grammy award winning soprano, Audrey Luna. And this is where I started my beautiful musical journey. To be honest, I really was a bit scared and anxious to reach out to her knowing I had no real musical background. But I took a leap of faith and sent her an email to let her know I was interested in private voice lessons. She responded promptly and inquired about the reason for wanting voice lessons. And I told her for personal development. She quoted me a reasonable price for a trial session. And before I knew it, I was attending my 1st private voice lesson :) Although she is a world renowned singer AND Grammy award winning soprano, she truly is a humble and kind person. During my lesson, she taught me how to do some vocal-warm ups and improvements with my singing technique. I was able to immediately notice a difference in my singing ability, which really surprised me. She helped me to determine what my range was. All my life I thought I was an alto because I was told this in my high school chorus class. But with Audrey's guidance doing vocal-warm ups and help with technique, she was able to reveal the soprano in me to my great delight :) If you are looking for a friendly, supportive, patient, kind, knowledgeable, vocal coach who has solid technique and the voice like an angel, look no further. Audrey is everything stated above and so much more! For one whole hour, you will have access to a vocal coach with over 15 years of experience who teaches any level (including beginners like me), who is able to sing and teach in all genres and multiple languages. For all the years of experience and knowledge Audrey has, you would think her voice lessons would cost an arm and a leg. But her prices are so affordable, she has students ranging from young to old and even internationally. Audrey has helped me achieve a personal goal, and this has meant so much to me. I feel so lucky and privileged to have a vocal coach of this magnitude guide and support me in this wonderful musical journey. I highly recommend her. You won't be disappointed.

First of all: Audrey is a wonderful colleague and a great teacher!…read more I am an opera and concert singer (working mainly in Germany and Europe) and have worked with many teachers and coaches. When I had the opportunity to sing the extremely difficult coloratura part of "Ariel" from Thomas Adès' "The Tempest," I became aware of Audrey. She has successfully sung this supernatural part at the world's greatest opera houses (MET, La Scala, Vienna, etc.)! I felt very honored when she immediately agreed to help me. And all of this online (due to the great distance between us). Her singing technique is so experienced and stable that she can master the most demanding parts with a healthy voice, and she can also teach this technique. Not many teachers are able to listen to or see their students online and correct them so precisely and effectively. Audrey does this very well, and I firmly believe that live lessons with her would be even more brilliant! She also attaches particular importance to the development of musical colors, dynamics, phrasing, and expression/acting. I was able to successfully perform "Ariel" with her and haven't wanted to stop working with her since. Now she advises and helps me with classical repertoire such as Queen of the Night, Olympia, Blonde, etc. I would also like to emphasize that Audrey supports me with repertoire questions, career planning, and mental training, which is essential in this business. I can recommend her to every singer (whether beginner, advanced or professional)!

Go on their FREE tour if you want to learn about their 100 years of history and expertise in the…read moreukulele making world. Still family owned and ran, this gem is worth checking out. You can see in every piece they make that they have a true love for the craft! Mohala!

Purchased the wrong size tenor hard case and the Kamaka crew exchanged it no problems. That's what…read moreyou want, no drama no issues. Mahalo

Good people, great gear. I used to have a studio on the ground floor. It was so easy to run up the…read morestairs!

Brian at Thunder Studios has been great and alwsys dependable when you need anything and has been…read morevery accommodating for our band mahalo Brian and staff at Thunder Studios!! Blakk Diamond.