Catalano’s Music Center

Musical instrument and supply stores can be far and few in any given neighborhood. When googling for a music shop close to home, the results will usually be ads for Sam Ash, Guitar Center and a host of online stores.
The Catalano’s Music Center isn’t the biggest store or have the largest selection of instruments compare to the superstores. But it does have an old school neighborhood appeal.
If you’re looking for sheet music or take lessons, consider Catalano’s. If you’re looking to checkout a large selection of musical instruments, you may be disappointed.

Odd hour to. open 11 am, might as well open half day @ 12noon. Prices are marked up. shop around folks alternative competitive prices alseep where and online.

Bought a guitar here today for my daughter’s class. We didn’t know anything about guitars, the cost etc. should’ve done my research before I went to the store. But the man who helped me, I think he’s the owner or manager, was super helpful and not pushy. I ended up buying a ¾ size guitar for $ 80 and $ 20 case. I think I did ok from a cost standpoint. The guy tuned it up and gave my daughter a complimentary pink ID tag which she loves. There were a bunch of younger employees but they just stood around, didn’t ask me for help and looked to the guy that helped me for work direction. He might as well be a one man multitasking machine. But still I highly recommend the place and I see myself coming here again.

We needed a quick repair on our daughter’s alto sax so she could join us for a gig on Saturday afternoon. I brought the instrument in on Friday and did not have high hopes that the repair would be done in time. But the staff went out of their way to contact the repair person at home (Friday was a day off for him) and alert him that he would have to work on the sax first thing in the morning. Lo and behold the repair guy did report on time and took care of her instrument in time for her to do the gig with us. This is the kind of «above and beyond» service that local businesses are more willing to provide than large music superstores.

I rented my clarinet for 9 years from here, and had a great experience throughout those years. When a clarinet was given to me sometime after I decided I wanted to get back into playing, I noticed the clarinet was in missing a few essentials to play. Unfortunately the clarinet I received was not from a home of TLC and was in pretty bad shape. It was missing padding, the metal reed holding bracket, and the corks were also worn down to nearly nothing.
The off the bat repair appraisal was $ 200 for it and I had to decline. While I really want to pick up playing the clarinet again, this price was too steep, especially when I was told by a former music teacher that replacing pads wasn’t that expensive (and could actually be done at home). The corks would probably be the most expensive part of the repair, but I can’t see that tipping the scales of $ 200+ (they told me they couldn’t give me an exact estimate unless I was actually getting it done.)
I guess I’ll have to take my clarinet elsewhere to be repaired.
On a side note, Catalano’s is a huge store and has many instruments, accessories, and musical books for selection.

Wonderful place. My daughter gets piano lessons here. The staff is friendly and ready to assist you with any questions. Even though the size of the store is small, this place offers plenty of music books and instruments to choose from.