Going Underground

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this place! They always have the obscure artists I’m looking for and the pricing is wonderful, compared to Amoeba music.

I really like this place, great selection and fair prices. I always walk away wishing I could afford to pick up more ha. Yet, I don’t always feel welcome. I know music can sometimes be an insular thing, but I often get monosyllabic answers and sideway glances. I feel like asking is my taste being judged lol. Also, each time I try to sell them something, that record happens to be overstocked. Bad luck, maybe? Cool shop, still.

Was passing through Bakersfield and stopped it to browse. What a GREAT record store with a fantastic selection of Jazz and Blues. Lots of Blue Notes and Prestiges at fair prices and even a Carl Perkins on Dooto. I picked up the Big Walter Horton LP on Arhoolie at a really fair price. This place is a GEM!!!

Coolest place to buy vinyl in town. Tons of records to explore, great selection of jazz and soul, everything is reasonably priced, and owner is friendly. Great selection of tunes playing while shopping, really creates a hip vibe.

I love coming here! The staff is always super friendly — they’ve tucked into a box of 45’s when I was looking for something specific — and the used records are priced appropriately.

A few months ago my boyfriend decided to get a record player for himself, for his birthday. I thought it was a nice hobby to have, but I grew up with a turntable and wasn’t about to relive the constant babysitting that the it seems to require — in a day when you can create an infinitely long playlist to run in the background, why subject yourself to turning the record every 3 – 5 songs, removing dust, and dealing with the skips that inevitably happen?
So clearly I’m not sold on the mechanics of the record player. But what I am sold on, is going to a place like Going Underground and finding those LPs that I grew up with — the Pointer Sisters, Kool & the Gang, Hall & Oates, and my mother’s collection of the entire Beatles catalog — right next to Beach House, the Arctic Monkeys, Flying Lotus, and an infinite number of artists I don’t recognize by name. This is your eclectic music haven, and you’ll spend an hour here and not even skim the surface. It skews heavily to rock, but there’s something here for every musical taste. If I had my way, the electronic section would be much bigger — but I can’t imagine that’s in high demand here in Bakersfield.
Going Underground is not just a place to buy records — it’s a place to do some digging, take your own trip down memory lane, and maybe even discover something new.

This place is the real deal. Besides Amoeba in San Francisco, this is my favorite record store. In addition I love the new location! A real Bakersfield gem.

By far my favorite record store till this day and I’ve been to my fair share of record stores since I grew up in LA.
Ronald has always been helpful and he’s always In a good mood which makes shopping there comfortable and not to mention there’s a wide selection in each genre of music
I dig the new location too, it’s definitely easier to find everything and if you need any help finding anything specific he’s always pretty helpful with that.
Definitely recommend going underground to anyone who has a love for great music.

One of the best record stores in California. You can find every genre here and a fat selection of each. I’ve been going to Ronald’s spots for about 9 years now. My personal favorites are the Jazz, Latin and hiphop/​instrumentals section. He also has turntables, speakers, receivers, tape players, and other accessories to get you going if you don’t have the proper equipment.
You can find a wide selection of tapes as well, usually with some local beat makers and punk demos in the mix. Occasionally he puts out a limited quantity of store shirts and totes always with a new design. Ask him about shows too.

This is a great store with a wide selection and a staff that knows the product.
If you need records or stereo equipment in Southern California this is the place.

This is my favorite vinyl store. I stop in Bakersfield every time I’m returning home from Disneyland just so I can shop at Going Underground Records. I can always find rare and hard to find gems that I can not find anywhere else. Going Underground Records has reasonable prices on Rock, Soul and Jazz albums. They also have an extensive punk section. Going Underground Records recently moved to a much needed larger store. This allows for more albums to be on the shelves and makes the shopping experience much easier than when they were in their smaller store.

Outstanding store — great records, easy to sort through and well-​displayed, the owner and staff are pleasant and knowledgeable, and very fair prices. Awesome.

I spend all my monies here, but honestly great selection, fair prices and cool owners/​employees

This place is awesome. It has grown over the years and currently has a great selection of hip hop, new releases, and classics. Everything is well organized and easy to navigate. The owner is great; friendly, and knowledgable.
I love being able to go in there to get something specific, and walk out with a couple new finds as well.

The employees are friendly and knowledgeable. There’s always something interesting playing in the background while you search for vinyl. But what I really love about this place is the atmosphere, it’s magnetic. And most importantly the prices for quality vinyl are fair.

This is an awesome shop — I love the cool time warp in the store’s front windows, and the records inside are clean and easy to sort through by artist. Most importantly, the staff is friendly, easy to work with and you know you’re getting quality records at a reasonable price. With vinyl, at some stores you have to worry about playback quality and getting what you thought you paid for. When you find a record store you can trust, stick with it!