Kagan & Gaines Music Co, Inc

Really helped me out of a jam tonight, but that’s really beside the point. They have a truly amazing selection of guitars and drums. A well educated and trained staff of working professionals. Rentals, setups, variety, really an all in one, one stop shop for any beginning or professional musician. A gem especially for those in or around Oak Park, or those who are simply jaded by the terrible experience with online or mega store shopping. I have been a drummer a d guitar player for over 20 years and would recommend this place to anyone.

So very slow. We came in for a quick exchange and 1.5 hours later, were still waiting. The employees keep telling us one more minute, but they have absolutely zero respect for customers’ time. I hate coming here.

Kagan and Gaines needs to take a long look at the employees it hires. They have no manners and no common decency. Ugh. After doing business there for over 15 years (and spending thousands of dollars on instruments, rentals, sheet music and equipment for myself and my children, including a $ 7,000 string bass, numerous sets of $ 200 bass strings and $ 100 violin strings, hundreds of dollars for violin and bass pickups, hundreds of dollars in repairs, hundreds if not thousands on sheet music, books, amps, and other equipment for my kids, etc), I am through with this place. My story: my daughter’s violin bow broke a few hours before her violin lesson one day, so I rushed to K & G near my home to ask if they could rent me a child’s bow until I could replace hers. They agreed, and rented me a cheap bow for $ 20. A couple weeks later, my father died suddenly. I renewed the rental, telling them I had had a death in the family and I had not had time to replace it. (A K & G staff member commented that I should rent from them and not the other music store where we had obtained the violin and bow. Well, K & G has lousy children’s violins and I didn’t want to do that. So instead I renewed and gave them my credit card for the rental.) I promised to return the bow a couple weeks later. Shortly after that, another family tragedy struck, and I found myself caring for my elderly uncle, whom I found in his home delirious with a gangrenous foot. I missed the deadline for returning the bow to K & G. I called to leave a message explaining the circumstances and asking if I could just pay a monthly rental until I could attend to this family crisis? Unbelievably, days later, while I was in the hospital room with my desperately sick uncle speaking with his physician, I received a call on my cellphone from K & G demanding the bow back. The staff member behaved like a nasty bill collector. I was astonished. I explained the circumstances again to her, and told her that I was in my sick uncle’s hospital room and could I please just extend the rental? But she told me no, they didn’t have a rental program like that, they only rented customers to customers who also rented a violin from K & G and who were considering purchasing both violin and bow from K & G. She said I would have to purchase the bow outright and demanded that I bring it back right away. She kept it up, though I asked if I could call her back. She said they would charge my credit card $ 20/​week for the time I had kept the bow, though these were not the original terms. (K & G rents children’s violin/​bow sets for about $ 20/​month. I know because I had rented from them in years past.) I explained that I was a longtime customer, but it made no difference. I have since returned the bow. Ugh. Ugh. Wish I could reverse all of the years I gave them my business. Ugh.

Great music store
We do violin lessons for my 6 yr old with Eloise she is an excellent teacher
The employees are are very knowledgable on instruments from guitar to drums to clarinets
I would recommend to anyone

After seeing so many positive reviews, I’m really sorry that I have to leave a negative one for Kagan and Gaines. I do however feel as though it’s warranted because in my opinion, I feel like I gave them the opportunity to correct the issue but they didn’t take it.
I came to them this past August to rent a Viola for my daughter which was supposed to run me $ 27.00 per month. I made the first installment on the spot. Future installments were to be automatically deducted from my bank account via the debit card on file.
On ¹⁰⁄₇ they debited my account $ 36.00, I just figured this was the October payment, although I was curious as to why it was higher than what was stipulated in my rental agreement with them. They then billed me again on ¹⁰⁄₁₃ for an additional $ 36.00 which caused my rent check to bounce resulting in my management company charging me a $ 50 NSF fee as well as late fees being that I could not make up the difference until I was paid again on ¹⁰⁄₁₅. Therefore, I ended up paying a total of $ 150.00 because of the incorrect billing.
In the meantime, a string from the Viola had broke so I decided to take it to them to replace the string. I decided to call ahead to make sure that they would be open. That call was VERY frustrating in the respect that I merely asked how much the string replacement would cost and instead of being given a straight answer– the person I spoke to proceeded to dodge my question and go into a lengthy response as to why strings cost so much. It took a few minutes to be told around $ 25.00. Okay, fair enough.
When I arrived to their shop, and the clerk was arranging for a loaner he made mention that I hadn’t made my payment. I said, no actually you billed me on ¹⁰⁄₇ also again on 10/​13, while I did not elaborate on the financial hardship their double billing caused me, I was caught off guard when the clerk argued with me that they had not billed me as it was not in their system. I then proceeded to pull up my bank statement on my cell phone to provide proof that they had billed for two payments which made me very uncomfortable. The clerk flashed me his computer screen and began to inform me that «he is not a liar» and state that there was no payment made. Never mind the fact that my rental contract is for $ 27.00 and they are billing me $ 36.00, I mean he flat out ignored me and chose not even to address the discrepancy. Either way, had it been earlier in the day I might have gone head-​to-​head with him. They provided me with a rental, and I figured that since I would have to come back anyways I would let it go and bring in a printed statement from my bank to handle it then.
Today, I get a notification that my account is in the negative again… Why? Well, I made a payment to ComEd and in the meantime, Kagan debited my account for an additional $ 36.00! This is so unprofessional and disorganized! I was pretty heated and decided to call to voice my concerns. Here I am thinking that I will be met with empathy and professionalism, but instead the clerk laughed at me! I actually had to ask him if he thought this was funny? Apparently over-​billing people and causing their bank account to go into the negative and create a financial hardship for them in a very tight economy is entertaining and worthy of a belly laugh to the people they have working there! Well I guess when you’re ripping people off for a living it is. I don’t know, I just know the clerk laughed– it’s not a lie. He did. It’s so rude, and very, very poor customer service. He tells me he’ll call back to let me know that he just doesn’t know what to tell me. It was an error on the service company that handles their billing. Way to pass the buck! Absolutely no accountability what so ever. He goes on to state that they have refunded me $ 46.00 and asks if I’ve got it yet. I let him know those types of credits appear in the bank in 3 – 4 days so no I didn’t, and also I will now again be assessed another NSF. He states he’s sorry but doesn’t know how this happened.
I wish my daughter hadn’t fallen in love with her Viola. I hate that despite what they did to me on three separate occasions causing me now almost a $ 200 hardship that I have to continue to be their customer. It makes me disgusted!

5 stars. tanks

Love K&G! First stumbled across these guys when my son damaged his viola the night before a concert. The rental place suggested by his school is a good hour a way from us, so someone recommended we try Kagan & Gaines for a one night loaner. As is turned out, my son came up with a different solution for that night, but I was so impressed by their customer service and responsiveness to my needs, that I ended my contract with the other rental outfit and signed on with K&G. Now my daughter rents her cello from them as well. They both take string lessons from Eloise (viola/​violin) and her husband Mohannad (cello)right there at the shop (both of whom are world class musicians and wonderful teachers). We’ve also recommended several of their fellow orchestra players to them who now also rent from K&G. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Joe, the really nice guy who runs the joint! From the moment I walked in, Joe smiled warmly and listened intently, and a year and a half later, he is just as caring as he was on the first day. He spent a good deal of time with me and my daughter in the string room helping her choose which cello was the best fit for her. Trust me, the other school rental operations do NOT take that amount of care when trying to match a kid and an instrument. I really felt like Joe and his staff cared about their customers. In fact, he and the rest of the staff are a big part of why I tell everyone I know about Kagan & Gaines. Top notch customer service, great quality rental instruments, and attitude that says «we are happy to have your business!». Plus, it’s very cool and authentic, with musicians of all levels and ages floating through and jam sessions going on in the back rooms. So glad I found these guys :-)

I needed to get a same day copy of a specific instruction book my son’s private lesson teacher required for him. After searching on Unilocal and making literally a dozen calls, I found one at Quinlan and Fabish in far away Mount Prospect. Having gone there before, I know what a haul it is from Chicago, especially during rush hour. My thirteenth call was to Kagan and Gaines. After they verified they had it, I jumped in my car. It also came out far cheaper than Amazon would have been. Excellent. Plus easy parking in front and close proximity to Portillo’s!

Good experience. I recently purchased a violin and received a lot of sound advice on how to purchase a violin. They were very accommodating — allowing me to take the instrument home for over a week.

Kagan and Gaines is a shinning pearl of service and musical product selection.
I bought my first two double basses at Kagan and Gaines old location on Wabash in downtown Chicago in the early and mid 1970’s. I figured if pro musicians from the Chicago Symphony buy their instruments there its good enough for me.
The first bass was purchased when I was still in high school. It was a French flat back bass from the 1800’s. The second bass, a newer (ca. 1970) German Pullman, was bought when I was attending music college in River Grove, Illinois. The latter bass was once leaned up against a wall in a practice room by a fellow student and subsequently slid and fell down. The neck was unfortunately totally broken off at the base. The good news (and to my pleasant surprise) was that Kagan & Gaines artisans were able to restore the entire instrument back to its original pre accident status. To me this was magic. And they did it all at a reasonable price to boot.
Fast forward to the spring of 2009: I purchased a German carved 1957 Ottemar Hausmann bass, at the store’s new Forrest Park location, after not playing for over 30 years. In actuality I was simply browsing but Massimo Dolce, the manager (an Italian transplanted professional jazz pianist) was so adebt at sharing the store’s large bass inventory with such passion and knowledge that I got inspired to begin another chapter of classical bass playing. Having no money was not an issue as Kagan & Gaines have an excellent long term finance plan in place with reasonable percentages. They even take trade-​ins and gave me fair market value on two electric basses I had at home collecting dust.
The store, with their plethora of accessories was able to supply my every need inclusive of bow, bag, stand, metronome, method books, sheet music, and music stand. I was even able to buy a hard to find electric standup bass and amplifier to complement my classical ax setup.
What I like best about the store is the vast selection from student to professional level of just about any musical instrument one can imagine (violin, cello, guitar, drums, etcetera. Convenient parking directly in front of the store is a real plus. Above all is the service I receive whenever I frequent this one of a kind store that has made me a loyal customer all these years. The staff is kind, knowledgeable and open to discuss pricing and financing options to make owning an instrument a reality for any budget. The owner, Joseph Cali makes one feel at home sharing one’s musical dreams and how they can be realized. Cheryl Lynn Tomblin, a local Windy City musician who works the front counter is a real pro when it comes to guitars, violin, vocalist, and Vox related inquiries.
The best kept secret at Kagan and Gains is a man you’ll probably never meet because of his elf like status. He works in the deepest recesses of the store which is off limits to customers. His name is Milosz Turek, a gifted Polish luthier. He’s able to convert one’s purchase into a masterpiece. He was able to take my 53 year old instrument and recondition it into something that looked and sounded amazing after various fine tuning adjustments. He listens very attentively to my every need and then goes to work to deliver unsurpassed old-​world craftsmanship.
Although I now live in the Denver, Colorado metro area I still shop exclusively at Kagan and Gaines (a thousand mile car journey) because of the peace of mind I get whenever I make a substantial music purchase. No matter where you live they will ship on approval the object of your desire. With my latest bass acquisition I received a 2 year warranty because of my out of state status. Locals receive a one year warranty. Kagan and Gaines also do value and insurance appraisals. An interesting note: your instrument retains its perpetual value whereby the store is happy to take your instrument back towards a future upgrade at the same price you paid for it originally. No worries about inflation here.
I cannot say enough good things about my experiences with Kagan and Gaines. They have become a part of my extended family. I trust their quality, pricing and workmanship, the perfect trifecta in my mind. Even if you’re not in the market for buying a musical instrument I heartily recommend a visit to this western Chicago suburb store for the sheer exposure to a unique experience. Ask for Massimo to give you a private viewing of the string room with its climate controlled (39% relative humidity) and negative ionized air filtered environment, you’ll be glad you did. It’s a welcome escape from the hustle of every day life stresses into a world of quiet amazement that harmonizes antique instruments with new and used.