Kennelly Keys Music

The short version: Good local music store with good service and knowledge. Looks to mostly be a band/​orchestra store, but the guitar selection wasn’t bad — just smaller than you’d expect from a true «guitar store.» Got out of there with new guitar, guitar set-​up, gig bag, capo, and picks for under $ 275.
The long version: I recently decided to start taking guitar lessons, so I needed a guitar. I did some research online, and I found a model that got great reviews in my budget.
Kennelly’s website showed they had the model I was after, so I stopped in to take a look at the guitar in person. I didn’t mention that I had a model in mind because I was curious to see what they would recommend, and I was open to looking at other options. The man helping me recommended a guitar one step down from the guitar I was looking at. It was $ 50 less than the model I was after (same brand — very similar), but I opted to spend the extra $ 50 on a solid top instead of the laminate (I’m told this is upgrade is worth it down the road — a beginner wouldn’t necessarily need/​notice the difference in tone).
The man helping me (wish I remembered his name — I’ll have to see if it’s on my receipt) answered almost all of my questions before I asked them. He was open about the fact that he wasn’t a seasoned guitar player and he was also learning the instrument, but I felt like he knew more than enough to outfit a beginner. He had to check on a few things, but I can understand not knowing every detail about every instrument on the floor. He had to check exactly what the difference was between the $ 150 guitar and the $ 200, but his guess of it likely being the type of wood used was correct. He also thought it might include a gig bag, but it didn’t — not a big deal. I had already planned on buying one anyway.
The main concern I had was getting it set-​up properly as I tried learning the instrument once with a guitar right out of the box. This made learning difficult, and I later found out you have to make adjustments to a new guitar. I was surprised to hear they offer this service for free as I don’t believe it is usually included, and it definitely isn’t included with an online purchase. If you don’t know how to properly set up your new guitar, it’s a nice service to have included. Turnaround was quoted at about a week — they do their instrument servicing in Everett. I was told you can take the guitar home and bring it back later for setup in case you want to see how it plays first or if you need it immediately. As long as you bring it back within 30 days of purchase, the set-​up is free.
To summarize my experience, they had the guitar I was looking at online for the same price (less if you factor in the cost of set-​up), the service was good and seemed trustworthy, they didn’t default to recommending the more expensive options, and they offer free guitar set-​up.
Update: guitar was back in three days. It sounds and feels good to a beginner. One of the strings got dinged during the adjustment. No big deal to me, but worth noting. Total price/​discount for this service was 87 bucks.

They have great selections for all type of music instruments. Great service here. Great piano and violin teachers for music lessons. Start your adventure here for yourself or your little ones. Check them out. Highly recommend the store and the service for all ages.

We had a great experience, good service and fair prices. They let my daughter try different instruments so she could choose. Highly recommend this local store.

So, other people might really enjoy this place. I grew up in a small town where a really good violin cost 356 $, plus a few startup costs. Violin strings are around 10 $, and 25 $ for a good warm set. A room to rent is free so long as it’s available, and classes start at around 18 $ for a fully-​trained teacher.
Small town, right?
I came for strings, and since I’m in a budget apartment (playing violin probs Not OK), I stayed for the room. After buying the strings and asking if anything else on the instrument needed fixed, they strung up and tuned my violin. Cool, thanks guys! That usually happens at my small-​town shoppe, but not here where the tinny strings are 20 $.
So after all is said n done, cool customer service guys if not a bit air-​headed.
Afterwords he admits he could’ve warned me about the 20 $ in-​store restring under repairing.