Lidgett Music — Local services in Council Bluffs

In a Nutshell - arguably the best guitar store in Iowa.

14 Years I've lived in Iowa... 14 years and I never knew about this place. Sure - I live in Des Moines, but I had never even heard of this guitar mecca until I found them when looking for an Eastman Dread through Eastman's Dealer Locator.

I was able to see their inventory on their website and their Reverb shop, and their inventory on those sites was very up to date and accurate. I called and spoke to Rob Schlautman who confirmed the guitar was in stock. Rob was super nice over the phone and gave me a bunch of info.

So I packed up my car and drove 2 hours west, hoping the shop people would be cool and helpful and would be alright with me trying a bunch of stuff.

When I got there, Gage Wiggins is the one who helped me out and sold me the guitar. Super nice, thoughtful, knowledgeable, and helpful. Gage knew a ton of stuff about the guitar I wanted, and the subtle differences in models across the brand. Gage helped me A/B a bunch of guitars to the one I wanted, and made the decision making process super easy. He was patient and super helpful even though I was in the shop for two hours trying different stuff. He even grabbed some guitars for me to try out I had no intention of buying!

Lidgett has an insane selection of guitars, high end stuff you can't find at Guitar Center or Pro Music in Des Moines, and a good mix of affordable stuff as well. They also had a custom shop Strat which is the best electric I've ever played.

I ended up purchasing the guitar I wanted - an Eastman Acoustic. Incredible buying experience. The band and I will be taking a field trip back here SOON.

P.s., the shop dog Clementine is an A+ employee and a real go getter! Love...

Listen here. Lots of selection but it doesnt matter because nothing is for sale. Walked in and asked for a pick to try some guitars and the guy gave me a runaround about how customers are not allowed to touch any inventory without supervision. Wanted to know how much money I made, what i did, how long I've played for. Didn't know it took that much info to borrow a pick. Pick-less, he took me to the lower end guitars and started talking to me about this and that. I told him what i was interested in, and he kept ignoring my pleas to simply PLAY ONE. I tried looking at a tag and he guided my hand away from it. Is this a daycare? I was dressed properly, very forward, had my wallet out. All I wanted was a pick and 10 minutes. I was ready to drop $2k on a Martin. They did not want my business. If you want to attract any new customers you might want to loosen up the grip on your inventory and let someone try something before buying. It's like walking onto a car lot and you have to buy on sight only. That is the absolute last time I walk through those doors. What a crock.

Edit : the following Saturday I spent $2,360 on A Martin HD28V at Dietze music. Cash. Stick...

There’s an unbelievable beauty to this place. Rob helped me get into my final two bucket list guitars. I’m from Arkansas and found his store on Reverb. During the buying process, he had extensive conversations with me, took his time to ensure it was the right fit, and provided exceptional customer service.

This music store does it right. It has a vintage vibe with guitars of all types. Rob changed my perspective on guitar buying and the customer service involved. It was absolutely worth the seven-hour trip to pick one up. He even FedExed the first guitar to me before my impromptu second purchase.

Apart from all that, I’ll be buying every high-end instrument from Lidgett Music in the future. They do things differently,...