Sam Ash Music Store

This Sam Ash location has been around FOOOREVER (cue Sandlot clip). It’s where I started my musical journey many moons ago.
My Dad bought me my very first guitar here. A Fender. & as far as I was concerned, the most beautiful thing ever!
Last night I walked in with my 5 year old son. He’s undecided on whether he wants to learn the guitar or drums. So I figured he get a feel for them both, & we could go from there. We walked in, were greeted, & we beelined straight towards the drums. He grabbed some sticks & just started smacking the crap out of the drums. Which everyone was cool with. Immediately he said he wanted to be a drum player.
I had to flag someone down to help decide which drum would be best for our apartment. I didn’t mind having to flag someone down because I didn’t feel like I had someone hovering over me trying to sell me something.
When we finished checking out drums we went to the acoustic guitars. I think he already had his heart set on the drums because he wasn’t really feeling it. I asked Dave for advice.
He recommended I buy some drum sticks to see how my son would do at home just banging things. He said, «It’s better to buy $ 3 sticks than go all out spending hundreds on something he may not be into». Sold! I bought Mason $ 3 drum sticks & that’s exactly what we did. I never felt pressured by anyone, I never felt out of place, & I love how they kept me in the loop the whole way through our Sam Ash experience. I imagine a bunch of people come in & just touch, & leave. They were never rude. They were always respectable to me AND my son.
Will defiantly be back. AND they offer lessons!

First: price wise you can do better going to the other Costco of music… Guitar Center.
Second: Customer service wise… they suck.
I’ve never… ever…been to a store of any sort where the sales agent rings me up and then WALKS AWAY from me without saying thanks, saying goodbye, bagging my items ($ 78.00 of strings) and leaves me to tear the receipt off the damn register! WTF!!! Sam Ash?!
Greg the sales jerk at Sam Ash committed a first as far as I’m concerned. There was no rush of business at the time, and nothing prepared me for his behavior. What an a##

I have to say, I’m liking this Sam Ash more than the Guitar Center I frequent. Great guitar selection, a lot of unique pieces, very cool straps, VERY knowledgable sales reps who were helpful and made me feel confident with what I was buying… The prices are reasonable, they offer a great financing program. They also have a great selection of replacement knobs and various hardware for Gibson and Fender guitars. I could’ve spent a few hours there, easily!

Started my musical journey here. My first acoustic guitar I got here.
Me and my friends picked up a great classical guitar for cheap also.
We usually if not always come here to play on the instruments and waste time away.
The staff was so nice, he taught me how to replace my guitar strings for free. He replaced my strings also.
I highly suggest visiting this place even if you don’t buy anything. It’s a fun shop!

I have been searching for a ukulele for awhile, and stopped in here, not knowing anything about the store. I was really pleased. A very knowledgeable and «low pressure» handsome young salesman named Devin came over and asked if he could help me out; Devin went above and beyond answering all of my many questions – and I had many… I am a Senior Citizen and I am «nit-​picky» when it comes to making a purchase, e.g., I want to make sure that I getting a good product AND good deal. I ended up buying a uke in the end; was very pleased with the price tag, the guarantee that came with it, and more than pleased with the kind attention that was given to me. Thanks, Devin. Thanks Sam Ash–

great customer service, drums section is my favorite.

A big THANKS to JARED at Sam Ash in Canoga Park for his efforts with handling the trade in on my used gear, which sealed the deal for me on purchasing a GUILD WESTERLY F1512E Jumbo 12-​String. What a tone & What a deal!!!

Was able to sell an old guitar and pick up a new baritone uke, with zero problems. Needed to add a few adjustments to the uke and Wayne took care of it, right away! A big thank you to the manager, Dana, who answered all of my questions patiently and pointed me in the right direction. Will definitely come back to this location for all future music needs.

We stopped by last Sunday to browse at guitars for our thirteen-​year-​old daughter who was about to start lessons. Sam Ash has such a large collection that we had no idea where to start. We would have left if not for the attention we received from Greg. Greg was very helpful. He immediately knew what we needed and showed that guitar package to us. As we were trying that one out, he helped us understand how you judge if the guitar’s size, width, thickness is a fit. He brought several other guitars so that we could compare. We were so impressed with Greg that we decided there was no reason to visit any other store. Greg took the time after the purchase to check everything in the box and tuned up the guitar.
Greg is a professional musician and a guitar collector. Look for him if you are visiting the Canoga Park store. You will be very pleased just as we were.
I later checked the online reviews on our purchase. Nothing but 5 star reviews on Epiphone PR-​4E.
We have decided that our daughter will sign up for classes at Sam Ash instead of trying out some one else.

Very satisfied with my brand spanking new Taylor guitar! I firstly called to have them store a uke for me, but ultimately changed my mind when I picked up a mahogany baby Taylor and strummed.
I must thank Brandon in the guitar department who more than kindly helped me find the right strings for my guitar, and helped me tune it before I went home. Amazing and sweet customer service.
Merci Sam Ash!

Great experience. Came in looking for my first electric bass. Have been a crappy guitar player for a few years. Rock’n Dave found me an awesome Sterling Ray 34, dispensed some sage advice and helped me for a good two hours and I left loaded with a full practice rig that was exactly what I needed and within budget. I have had a couple bass lessons from Josh, and will likely continue.
A few weeks later as I ponder this review, I feel like I got a really good deal, I feel like Dave guided me to the perfect bass for me and Josh has taught me some game chargers that have already improved my guitar and bass skills.
Check em out and talk to the staff. They know what they are doing, absolutely.

Paid a visit to Sam Ash — Canoga Park and Rockin’ Dave was very accommodating. Got a great deal on a Hotone Blues overdrive pedal. I’ll definitely be returning for future purchases. ROCK N’ ROLL!!!

This is the worst Sam Ash on the planet. Stood in there for over 30 minutes waiting to spend some money. Employees walked by intentionally not making eye contact. The long haired guy with the southern accent was moving instruments around right by me. He saw me waiting and never asked if I needed help or called anyone over. No problem, I knew what I wanted so I found it on eBay cheaper (no sales tax) with free shipping. I try to support local merchants but this place is a crap hole. If they show me no respect I will spend my money someplace that will. This review is not about Sam Ash as a whole, I’ve been to others that were great. This review is for the Canoga Park store and its lazy unhelpful worthless scum sucking sorry excuse for a staff. Piss on each and every one of you!

THIS PLACE IS AWESOME. I actually live closer to a Guitar Center but because Sam Ash is known for their unbeatable prices, I decided to head there instead.
Everyone there was so helpful and nice, even the customers! This is my second time coming in. The first time I came in was a few years ago (2009 – 2010) to buy a ukulele but I can’t say I remember my experience there at the time.
I went in yesterday to buy a guitar and Rockin’ Dave was very informative and helped me get my brand new Gibson Memphis ES. The manager, I think his name’s Dan, was very helpful and understanding in getting me the best prices for all my equipment. Which he did! Everyone there’s badass! Will definitely come back and I highly recommend anyone looking into buying/​selling their instrument or music equipment at the Sam Ash in Canoga Park.
Great staff, friendly service, and they beat any seller’s prices!

There’s reasons why I keep coming back to buy stuff from this place (three keyboards so far).
1) Prices are competitive and they have a guarantee that they’ll beat other prices out the even after you’ve purchased something.
2) 30-​day return policy.
3) The team over there is very easy to work with.
4) It’s close by (for me at least).
5) Kevin in drums — who ironically enough is my main keyboard for a Roland keyboard I’ve purchased.
Not only that, it’s a great place to hang out and play. I like the fact that these folks encourage that and that’s smart marketing on their part.

I love this store and it’s because of their outstanding customer service. They are so helpful and understanding. I bought a digital piano 3 months ago and the only one left was the one on display. They not only gave me a discount, they promised they would allow me to exchange it for a new one once they came in. Sure enough, THEY called ME to let me know that a new shipment had arrived!
I was really busy and wasn’t able to make it back to the store until a few months later. I figured I had passed up on the window of opportunity to exchange the piano but I thought I would ask about it while I was there. I couldn’t believe it when they said they would STILL allow me to exchange it for a new one!
They guys are great, make this your first choice for anything related to music. I’ve left very happy every time :)

This place was a nice break from guitar center. And some of the staff are okay people, the most memorable? «Rockin» Dave! (*guitar wail*). The selection there (guitar, drums, bass, brass, etc.) is slightly limited, but Rockin’ Dave was the most helpful, his approach to help all the customers is what convinced me to buy something.
The process for payments and transactions should all go to the front, but they have registers within each dept. So after you buy an item from one of those departments you have to go to the dreadful and fear mongering, «Ticket Guy». That guy that checks your receipt before you leave. Dude must have been mental or he takes his job waaaay too serious, because he had an aggressive attitude, and all his job requires is to look at a paper, and swipe it with a pen. I only bought two cables, held in plain sight and in some bully tone, he tried to interrogate me to see if i stole anything. It was amusing to see someone act like that and i could understand what some people go through in a job like «Ticket Guy», but he was just being a douche, regular ol’ scum sucking douche.
It’s not hard math to realize a product you purchase contributes to a staff member’s paycheck, and when you get one sh! t staff member out of the flock, it makes future business reluctant for return.
With that aside, the prices are sometimes out of reach, but you can always look to Rockin’ Dave (*guitar wail*) to match or work a deal. Really, he makes the experience worth going to. Give it a try! At least once!

This place is on the lighter side with their stock. What they don’t have they can usually order however. The staff is great but not always around to help, seems short-​staffed.
It’s not my first choice when I really need something specific but it is the closest. Guitar Center Northridge is further and not that much better.

This is where I got my first guitar 10 years ago. Squier by Fender. Came with 10 diff. colors of picks.
My dad got me an acoustic guitar for my birthday. Never forgotten the moment.

My daughter just started playing the flute at school, and my mother sent up her old one for her to play. I know nothing about flutes… I called a couple other places to find out how much pads or a cleaning would be — everyone was so rude!
Then I got Mory on the phone from Sam Ash. He answered all my questions, then when I came in to see him, he not only gave me a great deal on pads and cleaning, but explaining things in a way that I could understand.