I bought my first acoustic guitar from Watermelon, and I'll probably buy my next acoustic from Watermelon too. I buy the majority of my equipment from Watermelon, but not because it's the only music shop in town. I'm a loyal customer, always coming back here for my instrumental needs. Guitar Center doesn't even hold a candle to this local shop. The selection is nice, the staff is friendly and approachable, and the prices can hardly be beat. I've never felt forced to buy anything here; I just appreciate the business. read more

The people are friendly, but the prices are not. I came in to pick up guitar strings and paid three times as much as what I would have had to pay elsewhere. I'm all for supporting local businesses, but as a student, I also need to live within my means. read more

Watermelon Music is great! They have a wonderful selection of instruments, supplies and sheet music. The staff have always been friendly and welcoming, and there is just a great general feel in the store. They offer a discount if you are a music teacher, which is something a lot of people sometimes don't know about. read more

Great place! Bought an acoustic guitar here a couple years back and my daughter has rented her instruments for school here. It's a great place with friendly knowledgeable staff. It's a small store, but they've got a lot of great stuff! read more

I have always been pleased with the staff's overall knowledge and willingness to assist on anything to instrument set up or adjustments ; there has never been any charge even if the item was not purchased at Watermelon. Yesterday I was having trouble with a new music stand my daughter had given to me: without going into a lot of detail, staff was helpful and patient, even to a senior citizen like me. All in all, Watermelon deserves local patronage. I would have hated to run all the way into Sacramento for assistance, and Watermelon's prices are very competitive I have lived in Davis for ten years and have had several occasions to shop at Watermelons. read more

In this place, I enjoy coming here because I can see all these lovely instruments, and I also like seeing OSTs from video games and movies, and songs singers sing. I really want to play those musics, but, I have to focus on classical music, and I can when I master it. I've played piano since I was 4 years and 9 months old. read more

Great music store. I purchased my acoustic guitar, ukulele, and numerous small percussion instruments from Watermelon. They are all of great quality and I am extremely happy with every purchase I have made here. The staff is very knowledgeable and will assist you in buying the best QUALITY product even if this means that they don't make the sale. read more

The spring for the Eb palm key on my tenor sax rusted and broke off when I went to practice my music for jazz. I really needed my sax fixed asap for rehearsal as I am in the UC Davis Jazz Band. I took it in for repair and Brett fixed it within 20 minutes for NO CHARGE! Friendly service and would recommend! I would come back to this store if I need any other repairs. read more

People are really friendly. Will pull down anything off the wall for you to play. Large inventory of music and instruments.

Love Watermelon Super knowledgable and helpful staff. (Sometimes they get a little anal around drums/noise, which i understand but come on guys its a music store) always have what i need (guitar wise, but not electronics) , and right downtown. read more

Stopped to pick up guitar strings. Great selection and nice folks. Parking is difficult. park one street over behind the shop, and then walk through the alley. Much easier than trying to find parking out front. read more

I went to this shop when I attended UC Davis, and I was very pleased with what I came in for. There was a huge selection of music books to choose from, like way bigger than expected, and you can even get a discount depending on which composer's music you're buying if it's their month, which I thought was a fun little quirk! They had a good selection of violin strings (all of the big names and some of the not-so-well known strings) ranging from cheaper strings like Preludes, dominants, and Tonicas to violinist staples like Evah Pirazzi's, Obligato's,Vison's, PI's etc. Something that I really appreciated was that you could buy individual strings as well as full sets, so if you have a specific mix you like, you don't have to worry about buying multiple full sets, and you don't have to speak to someone behind the counter to do so. I'm not sure about repairs or renting/buying instruments from here because I've only come in for violin accessories, so I cannot speak for those services. I've only purchased strings and a few violin music books from here but I would definitely recommend coming here for those items, as well as other orchestral accessories (viola, cello, and bass included) that you want to pick up; they even, had rosin, tailpieces, pegs, mutes,some bows, pegs, and things of the like. I usually have to struggle to find somewhere that sells violin-related items but this place has pretty much everything you would need for being a violinist, as well as a bunch of stuff for other instruments as well. read more

Love this place! The new location is super nice and convenient (no longer have to deal with parking and traffic). And their price is very reasonable and save you the hassle of shipping and online shopping. Their violin collection is very good. They carry some very interesting instruments every once a while such as five string violin, odd shape electric violin, or locally made fiddles. read more

The four stars is because my niece studies with a violin teacher here and she is AWESOME, and most of the staff seems attentive and friendly. The Russian girl Mia is a little "stand-offish" but is actually very friendly and gorgeous as are most women from Moscow. Lol. As for the rest of my experience, that was a different experience entirely. The balding sales guy (trumpet player I think) who works in the brass repairs section, was rude and almost annoyed with a question about a mouthpiece that I already knew the answer to, but I was annoyed that he walked away from me prior to the question as if I were insignificant, so I wanted to test his knowledge. He clearly had know idea who he was talking to. That of course is insignificant, but had he asked by simply introducing himself to me, he would have changed his assumption that I was just another ignorant musician. Regardless of my status in the music world, every customer should be treated with respect and he clearly does not. So, avoid the trumpet sales guy and this store is great! read more

This a great store with wonderful, helpful staff. The new facility is well done and gives them a lot of new space, including a small performance hall. Visit them! read more

They are so nice. I went in with a synth that wasnt working that I had just bought on eBay and they helped me figure out it was a piece of junk basically. BUT. They really tried to make it work for me. And when I started to get all teary eyed about my keyboard possibly being totally ruined (separate issue but same visit to the store) the person who was helping me (Thomas) was so incredibly kind. He didnt seemed phased that I was that attached to my instrument. They love instruments and musicians there. Two thumbs way up. read more

This is honestly such a great shop. The customer service is amazing and they always seem genuinely excited to help. I brought in a busted old bass recently and they did a great job of cleaning it up, checking the wiring, etc, and they only charged for replacing the strings. read more

Watermelon Music is my go to spot for all (well, most) of my musical equipment needs. The store is tidy with a great selection of instruments and accessories. The staff is always helpful and the prices are very competitive with other big box retailers. The only thing holding it back from a 5 star rating would be the return policy. Store credit sucks if you receive faulty equipment and a replacement is not possible. For this reason, I am leery to make any significant purchases here, especially on used items. However, for stings and accessories this place is sweet. read more

I am so in love with this place right now! I've been renting a viola for my daughter for the last 1.5 years at a very reasonable $20 a month. Today I went in to get her the next size up, which they happily traded for me. The best part though was that I had forgotten that all rent gets credited toward the purchase of an instrument (and they base it off the actual value of a used instrument, not some inflated amount) and in 3 months we will own her current viola! read more

I really like this place. It was good not great. I entered the store in the middle of the day and the staff was very kind and welcoming. I was just looking around hoping to get my acoustic guitar strings changed, and the person at the desk was very helpful in terms of giving me his perspective on what strings he liked, what strings he didn't like, and the difference between the different brands of strings. The price was pretty affordable and I was able to get all of my strings changed with no additional cost beside the price of the strings so I was really happy with the business model and the policies of the store. The one thing that I would say is the only negative is that the inventory is it necessarily tailored towards the more experienced guitarist. For example, most of the electric guitars if not all of them are from a Ibanez or companies like that. You won't find fender Stratocasters or Gibson Les Paul, but then again they are selling to college students typically don't have $700 to $1000 to spend on the guitar. Other than the guitars they have a wide selection of accessories and instruments ranging from drums to clarinets to saxophones. I would definitely recommend it to people in the area who need a quick fix on the guitar or a minor accessory like a slide or a pic but I would not buy my guitar from here. But once again it was a nice, kind, and knowledgeable staff who made the experience very worthwhile. read more

Not a huge selection, but I guess you can't expect much more in a small town. The first day after I moved to Davis, I was happy to find this place since I was itching to play guitar but I hadn't brought mine yet. I found a nice Ibanez and played for like half an hour, none of the staff bothered me. Again, the selection isn't great but it's decent; they didn't have a pedal I wanted because they're not a Boss dealer. The employees hadn't heard of my favorite picks (Big Stubbies) but they did have them in stock. Picks and strings seem slightly overpriced. Not ideal, but I'm glad I don't always have to go to Sacramento for my guitar needs. read more

So I came in here today to fix my guitar. Back home in LA, I brought my guitar to a shop to get the same issue fixed (input wasn't working, wires inside were twisted off), and it took them about 2-3 days to get my guitar back. So I give the tech guy my guitar (SUPER friendly dude, by the way), and he has it back to me within 10 minutes. That's as fast as it gets, people. This place definitely will be getting more of my business in the near future. I don't usually go onto Yelp to rate businesses, but when I do, I'm just so satisfied that I HAVE to tell someone. read more

Mostly low end and off-brand guitars (acoustic) interspersed with some interesting non-US acoustic instruments make for an intriguing first glance. But the odd and repellent "Please ask for assistance with any and every instrument" labels are just the first tier in poor (or non-existent) customer service. My request to do just that was not even acknowledged by the "grumpy old man" referred to in other postings. In the cornucopia of regional music stores, this one is more of a lemon than anything else. If you are really stuck in just Davis, try Musician's Friend on Amazon. read more