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| - The independent music stores are dying out, especially in this area. Sam Ash is the best thing possible.
First off, the employees are there when you need them, that's it. Nobody is constantly over your shoulder telling you how your kid who thinks they want to take some guitar lessons should totally pick up that $4,000 vintage SG they've got hanging with a spotlight on it. The staff are totally hands-off until you grab someone and start asking questions.
Expanding on that, they're not out to eat each other over commissions. If you ask a random staff member about a set of PA speakers, he will call the pro audio guy, rather than sadly attempt to bluff his way through the transaction with his knowledge primarily of world percussion instruments. The staff really seem to know and appreciate each other as experts in their fields.
The selection is fantastic. They have your standard options, plus boutique stuff. They have plenty of accessories for everything, too. I'm not sure i've seen another music store you can buy quatro and ukulele-bass strings at. They have a huge orchestral instrument section, as well. Bring in a brass instrument from 1949, they've probably got the part you need for it.
A big one for me: they will let you play anything. I once demoed a 1920s-era Gibson acoustic guitar that's probably worth more than all of my internal organs on the black market, and nobody batted an eye when I asked. The regular and mid-to-high-end stuff, you can just take off the wall and play, all you need to do is ask for a cable if it needs an amp, or some "demo sticks" if you want to try some drums. (Total honesty: if you suck and are making more of a racket than anything else, they'll kindly ask you to stop, and I thank them for that.)
This is the best music store north of Cleveland at the moment.
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