Guitars Etc — Local services in Longmont

What’s that I hear? There’s finally a Bourgeois Guitar Dealer in Colorado?!?!

I played hooky and drove up to Longmont yesterday to check out Guitars Etc. They have four brand new Bourgeois Dreadnoughts in stock and I’d been hoping to get my hands on this builder for quite some time. I’d never been to Guitars etc before… what a treat!

First off, I wish every town in America had a music store like this. The “Etc.” in Guitars etc includes just about everything you could ever need. Huge selection of Brass and woodwind instruments, live sound equipment, recording gear, drums, keyboards, ukulele’s, banjo’s, mandolins, strings, harmonicas, books, lesson rooms & teachers, rental service, a repair shop, a musicians workshop space downstairs, amps, guitars, guitars, guitars, etc, etc, etc.

It’s a shame I have to drive an hour to get to Longmont, or I’d be here a lot more often!

I haven’t even talked about the best part of the visit yet – the people at Guitars Etc. Tyler welcomed me right away and pointed out the premium acoustic room upstairs where I met the store owner, Todd. Todd has recently been in serious motorcycle accident but it barely slowed him down. He was crutching himself around, handing me guitars, pulling special instruments out of his personal collection for me to try, having me sing songs for his wife, and exchanging some wonderful stories you can only accumulate after decades in the business. His engaging positive personality is contagious. You can just tell right away that he has a deep love for what he does and a humble appreciation for the role he plays as an enabler of both music making and educating in his community.

The guitar tasting was the best I’ve ever experienced…. I probably played 15+ premium guitars over 4 hours; Collings, Breedlove, Bourgeois, Waterloo, Taylor, Martin. Several Brazilian Rosewood Guitars, a magnificent jumbo Koa Breedlove... WHAT AN AMAZING SELECTION! Truly a treat. I was really drawn to both their large soundhole Bourgeois Dreads…that Rosewood especially worked well for my voice. Alas, I was not prepared to pick one up yesterday, but I know exactly where I’m going when I get the OK from my wife. And you better believe for any other future instrument purchases I’ll be grabbing lunch in Longmont at one of the great restaurants in their lovely downtown area, then spending the rest of the day upstairs at Guitars Etc.

I was so deeply moved by my experience with the folks at Guitars Etc. Their selection and professionalism is only surpassed by their service and philosophy. Todd and Tyler never once made me feel pressured to buy, or that I was wasting their time. They were so accommodating and fun to talk to and play music with. Tyler gave me an impromptu flatpicking lesson, and Todd insisted my corporate gig is not where I should be spending my time (a genuine compliment that is making me smile as I write this).

I had to give Todd a hug on the way out. Guitars Etc is my new favorite music store in Colorado. And we have some great ones. I’ll be back...

My family and I moved to Longmont about a year and a half ago. We are very excited to have found Guitars etc. Todd and his team have been very helpful in selecting both electric and acoustic guitars from a very wide range of brands and prices. We have bought four new guitars this past year. I feel we could have played every guitar in the store prior to making any selection. You don’t really need to even be in the market for a guitar to play them here. Just ask - it is never a problem to play the instruments in the store.

I am at the store a couple days a week for lessons with my kids and for myself. During this time I see many people come and go. I see regulars that are comfortable taking a guitar of the wall, plugging in, and jamming for a while. I see many other’s seek help from the staff to get set-up before playing. All of these option seem to be regularly available at Guitars etc. I also see folks just come-in to browse and ask questions about the equipment or make purchases from a very nice variety of instruments, accessories and other music equipment, including rentals. This is a legitimate small business so there are not employees standing around in each department waiting to serve every person within the first 15 seconds who walks through the door. If you are a box store person or Internet shopper who needs this type of attention, perhaps your patience or ego may not be well served here. But, if you are about supporting small business – you make new friends with common interests, be happy to work with the team here, and definitely become a regular customer.

Lastly – my son, daughter and I each take guitar lessons and my daughter also takes violin lessons - we could not be happier with the quality, flexibility, and styles of the teaching methods we have been offered. Each teacher has been top notch, has many years of experience, and been very open to the very different playing goals...

One of my favorite small businesses I’ve encountered since moving to Colorado. Everyone who works here is super friendly, it’s a wonderful store, and I cannot express this next bit enough- If you are looking for guitar teachers or supplies- Do NOT go to guitar center in Fort Collins! They’re very rude and unfriendly there. Guitars Etc. Has better stock than them anyway, and fantastic customer service!

My younger sister and I walked in one day on a whim. We’d been toying around with the idea of playing guitar and had a hole two- ish days experience under our belts. We were greeted upon entering the store, all of our questions were answered thoroughly and enthusiastically, and we left with the numbers of a few in house guitar teachers. I believe it was only a week or two until we had arranged to meet with one and were seeing him once a week. I’m sure all the teachers are great, but I’ll have to sing Richard Ellis some praise for being kind, patient, treating us more like friends than students, but still being a super efficient and helpful teacher. Not to mention, took no time at all for the rest of the staff to recognize us, welcome us before each lesson and send us of each day with a “see you next week!” And a smile. I’ve had a few issues with payment regarding the lessons, all of which were which I cannot emphasize enough. But despite this the owner talked to me about them personally and I was able to sort everything out. Despite a few recurring issues on my end he remained patient, understanding and willing to work with me each time. Unfortunately due to my own personal finances I’ve had to stop lessons for now. But my sister and I plan on coming back the moment we’re able- we loved meeting with our teacher and always felt super welcomed and comfortable here. Meantime, we will be going nowhere else should we need anything...