Astoria Music

I needed a set of guitar strings and was pleased to find this place as I wasn’t keen on making my way over to one of the ‘big’ stores. A nice selection of guitars and basses hung on the walls and effects and accessories in the cabinet. The owner was working on a violin. We chatted as he dealt with my purchase. Nice guy who knows his way around the industry. Good to see a local store in my area.

Just making sure everyone knows, the store moved to 34 – 17 28^th ave! George at the store is very attentive and cares about what his customers are looking for. Just bought a guitar today; he makes sure you take your time with the guitar, and although it’s a small store the selection is great quality.

I took my violin to get fixed up and the owner was so kind and knowledgable! Their prices are really great too! Happy costumer :)

George is awesome. If you’re a musician in Astoria and need instrument maintenance and repair, be sure to stop by here. Very reasonable prices, great service and friendly staff. Recommended!

George at Astoria Music was a pleasure to meet. I brought in a limited edition Yamaha electric/​acoustic that had been sitting for years, with busted machines, bowed neck, worn frets and moldy fret board. He gave it a once over and told me immediately what he would do. That was at 6pm just before he was closing. He called me the next afternoon and it was done, and played like it just came out of the factory.

I brought my wife’s Martin accoustic/​electric here for repair after speaking to George on the phone. He is very nice, honest and clearly loves what he does. I brought the guitar in at noon with 3 different issues and he addressed two of them in front of me within 10 minutes as they were very simple fixes (but I could not have done them). He did not charge for that part — which left only 1 (more major) issue — which he fixed at a very reasonable rate and had it done in 3 hours.
He did not attempt to upsell me for any extra repairs or anything. People like George are hard to find — honest and capable. I was thoroughly impressed with this place and would come back if I ever needed a guitar repair. He also gave me some great guitar care advice too, which was appreciated.
For information: I called guitar center to ask about a similar repair. They said I’d need a basic set-​up ($ 75) and a new battery box ($ 20+labor) and then I think they said $ 40 for the other issue… so over $ 135 for that. George did everything for $ 45 so I tipped him very well to compensate.
It’s VERY hard for me to believe that anyone would get scammed here, George did not push anything on me at all and did a great job, fast and for a great price. Highly recommended. Can’t believe he doesn’t have more great reviews.

Forget those big box stores. This is the place to go for your musical instrument needs and schooling. The owner George is gem.

This place is a SCAM. My boyfriends birthday was quickly approaching and I knew he only wanted one thing… his guitar to be fixed. After pondering whether or not to go to Guitar center, I chose mom and pop Astoria Music after walking by everyday assuming they would be much more honest with me.
So I went one day when the BF was still at work and shuffled the broken guitar along with me. When I say broken, basically my bf was complaining that when he played the strings hurt and that the strings were too far from the actual neck of the guitar. I obviously know nothing about guitars and that was my downfall when I met the owner (I don’t remember his name, he’s always there working when I walk by).
I explained to him that the strings hurt my bf when he played and he inspected the guitar. I thought this was really nice of him. I told him I didn’t mind getting him a new guitar if fixing the guitar seemed pointless. I actually pushed for this because I tend to always end up splurging on gifts anyway and my bf talked about wanting a fender. The owner told me that the strings were far from the guitar head because my boyfriend didn’t play it enough (which was true, he’s a casual player) and that the strings were tightening over the years, causing the guitar to bend and make a gap between the guitar and the head (it made sense I thought). He then insisted that the guitar was too expensive to fix and that replacing it would be cheaper. He also INSISTED that this current guitar was a great guitar and I should just get a new one and tell my boyfriend to play more. In my heart I knew my boyfriend wanted a fender and that this guitar was some no name (Crescent). I thought that the owner was just looking out for my wallet. He volunteered to call up places to get a price on it and then call me back to confirm the order. I told him to go ahead and look for one in the same color. Meanwhile I thought something was fishy and I knew I’d probably say no anyway because my heart was set on getting a fender anyway. Still, I waited for the owner to call me back just to know the verdict.
He called I think that night or the next day with the price. He said to order the same exact guitar it would cost a little over $ 200, perfectly in the low end of my price range. Still thinking that things seemed fishy, I decided to research this guitar and find the actual retail price (finally using my street smarts!). After finding a very rough website

and then calling the company who makes these crescent guitars. The retail cost of the guitar was actually $ 69… hmm from a guy who said this was an «ideal guitar»
So basically the owner knew I didn’t know anything and decided to take advantage of that. Or giving him the benefit of the doubt, he researched the wrong guitar maybe. Who knows, but I felt scammed. The only thing that helped the situation was telling my boyfriend how much the guitar actually cost when finding out his ex gf had gotten it for him. :)
Happy ending: I went to guitar center and bought a reasonably priced fender my boyfriend loves.

I’ve been coming here for a few years now and this is what I have to say. They have a good selection of bouzoukis but their guitar selection leaves MUCH to be desired. Everything is cheap Asian plywood. George would be much better off stocking Yamaha guitars which have proven themselves as great values many times over. They have a very basic sheet music selection that has obviously been picked over for years, evident by the many torn and frayed corners.
George seems to do okay setup work and can do quick repairs while you wait but I would take my instrument to a private technician if it needed some TLC. He nearly botched a simple neck heel strap button installation on my flattop. They also provide private instruction. I have no experience with their instructors but a friend that has taken lessons there seemed to find it worthwhile.
George likes to talk but I’m afraid he’s often not very truthful about what he’s selling. For instance, one of the first times I went in, I asked to see the banjolin (banjo mandolin) he had hanging up. It was a vintage piece and the rim was cracked in two places, there were numerous shoddy repairs and the neck was unplayable. It was a decoration, not a working instrument. He insisted it was flawless even after I showed him the obvious cracks and he was still asking an outrageous price. Not a good sign, I thought. I realize he has to eat like the rest of us but that’s just bad business practice.
Most recently, I visited to check out the Hohner accordion that’s been sitting there for years. It’s way out of tune throughout the instrument and some of the pallets are leaky and he’s still asking $ 850 for it. It would need a full overhaul and tuning which would run close to $ 1,000 if not more. Again, he insisted it was flawless and wouldn’t consider moving on the price. That was pretty much the nail in the coffin for me considering buying anything from him.
I want to love this place and support a local shop but between everything being overpriced, their sub-​par instrument and music selection, and George’s less-​than-​forthcoming sales approach, I cannot recommend them.

Astoria Music is great.
George the owner is helpful, funny & extremely knowledgeable.
He used to be a NASA scientist and has the unique ability to fix almost any instrument, amp or other gear for a good price.

This is down the block from me, I needed a repair on my guitar which I couldn’t do at home due to the lack of equipment and went here. It was a 3 minute job and cost 30 $ which is the same price gutiar center charges (I called and asked). The staff is friendly. They also have a variety of guitars, basses, literature, strings etc and they teach piano, guitar, bass, theory from what I heard while I was there so check um out if you need any of these services. They dont hound you to buy guitars and what not like they do at guitar center for commissions.

This little store is a perfect example of why musicians should always give their local music store a try before going to Guitar Center.
I visited for the first time last week. I’d just inherited a not-​so-​gently-​used electric bass from my new bandmate and needed the equipment to restring it and clean it up, but I didn’t know what kind of strings would sound best for the kind of music I’d be playing. George gave the option of cleaning up my bass for me, but was still eager to help me when I said I’d rather do it myself. He was encouraging and very knowledgeable, and made recommendations that weren’t the most expensive options. Not only did he cut me a deal on a strap, he even gave me a soft sort of steel wool to clean the bass’s neck and demonstrated how to clean with it.
While I was there, two musicians came in to pick up guitars that George had repaired; they were very satisfied with what he’d done. He also set up lessons for a walk-​in. I have a feeling that he’s there a lot. I left the store having spent a little over $ 100 for a great gig bag, strings, and a padded strap. I’m sure I could have found these somewhere online for cheaper, but George’s expertise and encouragement were more than worth it (not to mention the convenience of picking these things up a few streets down from my house).
Local musicians: I highly recommend checking the place out and giving George your business.

It is a small Mom and Pop type of instrument store that specializes on Greek instruments. They have some good electric guitars from non-​brand name makers but are known to be of good quality. All of the gear there is excellent for beginners and intermediate players who aren’t looking to buy beginner (mediocre) quality gear or want to expand their inventory but don’t want to sell a kidney and a foot to afford it. Unfortunately the store does not carry tube (valve) amps. The store does sell replacement tubes and does service them.
The owner, George, is knowledgeable about the things he sells, is very friendly and is more than willing to answer any questions.
The store also teaches students how to play. I’ve seen a student or two in the back room both for violin and guitar lessons.
I’ve had my two electric guitars set-​up by him and he does treat them as though they were his own. The price for two separate set-​ups was $ 52 and $ 70 (the higher priced one really needed a lot of work done to it). The price and the work he did was more than justified. I compared the work he did the first time and realized that I might have paid more for that same work at a chain store or at another instrument store. The best part of his service is that his work is often ready for pick up on the same day. Other stores I’ve had set-​ups done had me return a day or two later and they did less work on the instruments.