I know negative about guitars. I have a nephew graduating from high school this spring and I…read morewanted to get him something meaningful and useful. He plays bass in one of those School of Rock type places and is passionate about it. I called my sister to see if there was anything he could use and she sent me a blurry photo of some kind of board he uses and told me he needs a carrying case. I went to Bananas at Large because of their reputation for being kind and knowledgeable. Their reputation is well deserved. I was greeted right when I walked in, I decided to look around a bit before asking for help because while I don't know anything about guitars, some of the instruments they had on the wall were works of art and I enjoy looking at art. When I was ready, I found the first employee, showed him the photo and explained the situation. He knew exactly what it was and where to find what I was looking for. He then took the case over to where they had the exact thing in the photo to show me how well it fit and other features of the case. He explained the 14-day return policy if it turned out to be the wrong thing and let me decide what I wanted to do. I wound up purchasing the case. I loved that I was nicely greeted when I walked in but left alone to browse. I loved that I didn't have to hunt down someone to help me when I was ready. I loved the general vibe of the place. I loved that they had what I needed and clearly a ton of things I might need if I ever decide to get into playing. I loved that parking was easy. I loved that they were excited to help someone who had no idea what they were doing in a guitar shop, were in no hurry to get me out of the store and patient enough to answer all my questions. I even loved that they accept Venmo for payments. Great place to go if you don't know anything about guitars but love someone who does.

This place is everything a music store should be. Yes they have great selection, and yes their…read moreprices match anything you can find online (even Reverb, often) but it's their service and relationships they build with you that's special. True stories of what they've done for me even in just the last month: My guitar needed some repairs before a gig, and they fast tracked the service and ordered an uber to bring the guitar to my house! I wanted a tuner pedal that was out of stock basically everywhere in the country, and they took their last one from Santa Rosa and shipped it to San Rafael store for free for me to pick up the next day. Best of all, I was unhappy with my guitar tone and Dan spent nearly 2 hours sitting with me trying different pedals and setups, before settling on showing me some different settings on my own amp, some different plectrums and swapping a pedal I'd bought recently for only a $10 difference! It would have been so easy to have sold me another pedal or 2 that I didn't really need, but the fact he didn't builds complete trust and makes me a customer for life!

if you had just a moment to step into a class taught by Rachel Allen or see her in action with her…read moreprivate students you would know that she is the quintessential music professional and gifted teacher. Her passion for helping her students experience the joy of music and discover their gifting is evident from the start. She teaches from a depth of experience and knowledge and is a performer as well as a teacher, which gives her even greater capacity to guide each individual student.

Tone Factor rules! Guitar effects pedals rule! Music rules!…read more Brad is a super nice guy and offers some of the best deals of all the online guitar effects pedal retailers. His customer service is superb. He stocks a nice range of pedals and his return policy is the best in the business. Shop with confidence. Consume guitar effects pedals! Make noise! Your neighbors will love it! My neighbors love it! Tone Factor's house brand of pedals, Mojo Hand, sound really good and offer excellent value for the money. They come in cool colors too. (BTW, Tone Factor has moved and is now located in Kirbyville, TX.)

John has a wealth of experience and some beautiful instruments. I highly recommend this shop,…read moreespecially if you are looking for high end vintage instruments.

In summary: best of the best and highly recommended!!!!…read more My unusual string instrument arrived from overseas with a broken headstock. I contacted various other stores and luthiers for repair but to no avail. They either don't work on unfamiliar instrument, they can only do a partial repair, the wait is too long, or the cost is too high. Very thankful to Schoenberg Guitars for referring me to Amazing Grace as a trusted store that can deal with all sorts of string instruments. Sure enough, the owner (John) recognized the instrument right away (I was very impressed) and done a great job repairing it in a reasonable time and cost. I couldn't be any happier with the results. As an extra bonus, the store has very interesting instruments that made it fun to browse around.

I bought a violin online, and took it to Dolce Violins for some quick repair work (tailgut…read morereplacement). Moses took the appointment quickly and was able to fix it on-site, and had excellent recommendations when I was looking for to change some of the pieces on the violin. Definitely knowledgeable about violins, all the vendors, and improving the sound quality of an existing instrument and keeping it in good order. All the payments were electronic and super easy. I ended up moving before the work was able to be done on the violin, and Moses went above and beyond in helping me. 100% recommend for any violin, viola, or cello needs!

Moses is wonderful and so knowledgeable on stringed instruments! He has not only violins but…read moreviolas and cellos too. He now has a store in San Francisco too!

I've been a student of Simply Music for about 5 years now and my 7 year old step-daughter is coming…read moreup to her first year anniversary. It's an amazing system and Karen is a true master of it. She's patient and thorough, and very committed to her craft. She does free introductory sessions every once in awhile and I highly recommend you go find out for yourself how great and easy Karen makes learning piano.

I found Karen and Simply Music 4 years ago after I retired. I'd always wanted to be able to play…read morethe piano, and retirement offered me the time to pursue that. I can't believe how much I've learned in these 4 years. Karen is fun, patient, creative, supportive, and knowledge. And the Simply Music methodology is fantastic! Check it out at one of her free introductory sessions.

I enjoyed my time working with Ayumi the past 2.5 years. Ayumi is extremely talented and has helped…read moreme improve with voice lessons. Marina and Fabio are extremely responsive and supportive as well. I appreciate the consistency, professionalism and responsiveness of all staff at Better Music.

Wow! I was pleasantly surprised how effective voice lessons online could be! This music school has…read moreskilled instructors who work hard to figure out what singers need and create a program to help them achieve their vocal goals. Becca made voice lessons, fun and informative. She is that rare combination of very knowledgeable and very funny.