The Monterey Music Store — Local services in Monterey

I have gone in several times I the past few years and each time my experience was the same. There prices are way out of line. They were ok to communicate with but compared to Grand Finale Musical Showcase they could not compete with Grand Finale Musical Show case in prices or the quality of instruments. They were out of touch. I remember when it was Alvarado Music. It was much better. It was much ore personable back then. Grand Finale Musical Showcase is a local online and mobile music business. They have the market cornered as far as low prices an high-end brands go. I found them in the yellow pages. I also love Wise Music in Salinas. They have an excellent selection of accessories and low priced instruments but lack the quality of Grand Finale Music Store. I bought what normally is close to $6000 in some stores for $2225 a Limited Edition Stradivarius Professional Model Big Apple 190 series. I also play alto sax and came across a $500 brillhardt Mouth Piece for $150. I am glad my son's teacher let us know about Grand Finale. We could have never been able to find such quality at amazing prices I guess the owner's overhead is lower being a mobile type of business with internet sales. Music Unlimited did put a set of strings onthat I bought from them on my electric gitar and...

I brought in a junk electric bass for repair to see if it was worth the trouble and cost. The employee/owner? looked at it and said sure. First, you need to buy some new strings ($30) and then I'll work on it. $100 later, he told me it was junk with an impossibly bowed neck and somebody had filed down some of the frets, probably to ameliorate buzz. The bass probably cost $60 new (a Johnson). He said he worked on it for two hours, but it was junk. To be fair, the bow was somewhat less pronounced but still really significant and not seriously playable. I feel if I had brought it in to sell he would've instantly made the determination that it was junk and not worth saving. It's not like its defects were hidden. Filed frets are (or should be) obvious to any serious repair person. I understand rents are high and trade may be light, but I feel a potentially repeat customer was gamed for a short-term payoff. I...

When people say their prices are bad here, they should have looked a little deeper into things. I may not know music that well, but I do know basic business practices, and that got me out the door with a cheap, brand new guitar. I was in the market for my first guitar, and yes they were all a little expensive, BUT I had seen the sign outside their glass doors that says "we match or beat any price." Boom. Done. You can't lose when a place has a sign like that. Sometimes you gotta do a little research to get what you want (in this case, look at prices online at other stores), and then ask for what you want, instead of just taking in-store prices As...