The Trading Musician

As I promised my SO an Ukulele for christmas it was time to look for one.
We entered the Trading Musician, were greeted friendly and had some time for us to look around and lay hands on some instruments.
After a few minutes one of the employees offered some help, provided us with information and showed us their Ukuleles. After that we had more time to try the instruments and finally found one my SO would be happy with.
For a few bucks we got a gig bag for the new instrument and on our way out a recommendation for a good teacher.
Everyone was friendly, the people were the typically slightly confused style of people that work in music shops and the variety of instruments was huge (new ones and used).
Would definitely come back again.

Bought a used guitar for my son. Scott was super helpful and gave great advice and some education for my son on maintenance. We’ll definitely be using this as our go to shop for now on.

Pretty good shop

I have been meaning to post a review for a couple months because I have had GREAT experiences with this store! We had a couple relatives in town who are also very skilled classical guitar players, and they were able to get a very good deal on renting two beautiful ones for a week so they could get out and play here. The repair service here is not super fast — it probably depends on workload — but fixed a complex problem on my bass quite nicely for a very reasonable price, and the guy at the counter also fixed my mandolin’s broken peg for free, from spare parts because I didn’t care if it matched, on the spot! I saved enough that I started shopping, and you could spend a day picking through the variety of interesting guitars, amps, effects in here, never know what you might find. Prices seem about what I’d expect for used gear in a store, stuff closer to «like new» condition is closer to new prices.
As for you sellers leaving bad reviews just because they didn’t want to pay you what you felt you should get: If you don’t like their offer, just go sell your awesome thing somewhere else. They need to make a high margin vs. risk of not selling the inventory on the buy side to cover overhead and make a retail business work. They didn’t make you buy the damn thing, and you don’t get to decide what your precious item (which, incidentally, you are now trying to unload) is worth to them. It’s called a free market economy, dudes.

Nicest staff, eager to help and explain, or get the gear fixed asap. I’ve bought new and used drum gear and a used guitar, and had a previous guitar serviced. Twice I’ve walked in not knowing what I needed to get guitar back on track, and they get right to it and show me how it’s done. Totally reasonable prices, too. Parking is tight on the local streets, but not a big problem. Every time I’ve gone there, it’s been a great experience.

I bought, via their website, a used snare drum (sight unseen) except for one image. I spoke with Steven who was more than helpful and accommodating to my requests on physically inspecting the drum. He quoted me a price that was around $ 70 less than anywhere else online. 4 days later it showed up packaged carefully and matched the description Steven provided me days earlier on the phone. Plus it was set up and sounded great out of the box! Couldn’t be happier with their service, prices and products. Thanks guys!

Brought an instrument in pristine I had paid $ 3500 for for sale or trade there and they offered me $ 300! The bow alone cost $ 350! Nonsense about offering half of what they could sell it for was the edict however the next day I was able to sell it for $ 2800. Had I accepted their ridiculous offer, I would have been out $ 2500. Seller beware

The staff are really patient and helpful and know what they are talking about.
Great selection. Nice percussion upstairs. The owner is passionate about supporting the community.
I STILL suspect that the one star reviews saying that they had a terrible time here might be because the reviewers had some sort of an attitude problem.
This is a wonderful part of the Roosevelt Community and everyone should shop here!

Great guys. Very helpful.
Got a free piece of chocolate.
Great advice
Fair prices
Loved the vibe in the store.

Went here to get my guitar restrung, cleaned, and the neck straightened because my strings were too high. The guys did a great job and shaved the bridge down for me for $ 10 and now the strings feel soft as butter! Very quick, reasonably priced, and the guys are experts here.

Not only did Scott (aka Pumpkin Escobar) take all the time in the world to help my boyfriend understand what he was looking for when he goes to buy an amp, but he took the time to make sure I was comfortable while sitting around waiting. He knew that we weren’t looking to buy at that moment, but gave us his full attention none the less. He discussed different styles, as well as pros and cons about each item with us. It was fascinating, informative, and I didn’t even mind the wait.
As some of the reviews claim, yes, the people there can be snooty– if you go in there acting like an ass. It’s a retail storefront. Anyone who works retail can tell you how terrible it is when Joe Schmoe comes in off the street and feels «holier than thou» at someone who is very obviously a professional. But if you go in willing to hear a different opinion, and mind your manners, you might just have some fun too.
We’ll definitely be buying from them.
Great shop guys. Keep it up.

Always a great selection of instruments here. Well kept store and the staff is super helpful and amazing. I play guitar and I was an audio engineer student during college and this was always the first place I would come look for new gear.

The luthiers at Trading Musician are competent. I bought a bass there that they had refretted and they did an excellent job. So excellent that when I took it to Mike Lull to have the pickup cavity shielded, Mike said the frets looked good. That’s the only time I’ve heard that from him since he bought his PLEK machine! These guys are open to dickering, both with cash and with trades. The turnover in instruments means you just have to watch for what you want. They tend to have cheap to midrange gear there, with very few and infrequent high end items, and when those appear they go quickly.
They’re also quite variable in their thinking about what they’ll give for an instrument you have for sale. Their standard line is usually that they’ll give you half of what they’ll sell it for, but I’ve also been offered a third, and I know it was a third because it was a third of what I paid for the instrument there! So it’s buyer beware, and seller beware.

The prices aren’t even that bad and the guitar selection is actually pretty cool. But, everyone who works there is the epitome of «Guitar Shop Assh*le.» Everyone is asking for a punch in the face the way they treat customers… but instead they’ll just get a passive aggressive rant from me over the internet.