Sylvan Music

Took my Gibson J200 to the Sylvan repair shop as it needed a new bridge, neck adjustment, and some fret work! Alan did a super job on the J and its never played or sounded better then it does right now! Thanks Alan!!!

This is a great great shop.
My buddy and I were on our way camping at Big Sur over the weekend. Car was full of our crap including guitars but what the heck. Braaaaaakees – we parked and went inside. And I am awfully glad we did.
The front room looks like an average shop. I poked around looking at books. Went into the side room and strummed a gypsy guitar because I like Django but won’t own a Django guitar anytime soon. Then came the back room. Oh my, we needed to get to the campsite asap and beat the rain but I had to try everything. I ran around like a kid in the Ritter chocolate factory.
I got to try all the cool guitars we see in Fretboard Journal. And the best part, they encourage you to play! Just «please take off any clothing with buttons or zippers.» I went into the electric room and they had beautiful Nash guitars and other cool boutique guitars hanging. I had just spend quite a dime on a Collings the day before so I wasn’t planning on buying anything and therefore didn’t want to waste anyone’s time or ear space but the repair guy comes out and says feel free to plug anything in into any of the amps!
Next room over are all the heirloom Martins. I fell for a 1948 D18. Good thing the nut was too narrow for my preference and good thing I had self control.
Great selection and cool repair guy. I bought a capo because I wanted to support them. Didn’t even ask for price because I noticed the guitars were priced real fair. I will definitely come back when the time comes to buy a Santa Cruz guitar or new electric.
Support this shop! Places like this are rare.

The single best place in the Santa Cruz area for acoustic guitar work, and tied for first for electric guitar work. That is saying a lot since many musicians call Santa Cruz home and we have a lot of options. Al is a local legend and a great guy. From set ups to upgrades to hard repairs, they are reasonable and yet master craftsmen. They seem to focus more on acoustics but they also have done great work on my funky electrics. They won’t BS you, they won’t overcharge (greater chance they’ll under-​charge you because they are nice guys). They know a shitton about stringed instruments. They front store guys are also very good but honestly I usually only buy strings, etc. For electric work, they are tied with the legendary Steve Crisp.

Alan helped me out a ton with a used electric guitar I bought from Craigslist (rookie mistake!). My guitar was missing a knob on the pickup selector switch and I stopped in just to ask if there was a part I could buy. Alan took a look and told me I needed my guitar set up with new strings, etc. before I even started. As a beginner, it was disappointing to get my hands on the guitar just lose access so quickly, but I wanted it ready to play.
Long story short, the guitar needed WAY more repair than I was ready to pay for and it discouraged me from learning and had me considering to scrap the whole hobby altogether. Alan worked with me and gave me a greatly discounted price on the repair service he provided to repair my fretboards — an involved process.
I work in the art materials industry and know how discouraged beginners can get and how overwhelming (not to mention expensive) certain hobbies can be. I really appreciated the time and care Alan took with me to keep me on the path to take up guitar, especially in consideration of my budget.

Haven’t had a chance to visit the store but I follow the McCoy Tyler Band and I really enjoy Sylvans Blog written by McCoy. He is an amazing artist, knowledgable and very well written.

Bad customer service & rental instruments that leave much to be desired. Rented a flute and had to return 2 times before I got an instrument my child could use and even then it had problems. They never offered a single thing in exchange for my trouble. Then when I returned the flute right after a payment had been taken out they just kept my money without offering to refund a penny. I asked for a T-​shirt instead and the answer was «we don’t do things that way» …my question is what way? The friendly good customer service way?

Outstanding service. I bought a pickup for my daughter’s cello and it stopped working within a few weeks. Even though I no longer had the receipt, Sylvan tested pickup, confirmed it was no longer working and gave me a replacement. No hassles. I will take all of my music business there.

Great selection of guitars. But I don’t feel comfortable with the level of «watchfulness» of the older sales staff.

These guys are AMAZING !!! Every single employee is friendly, intelligent, and phenomenal musicians in their own right. I recently purchased a high end ukulele from Sylvan Music. I was very indecisive with my purchase and they were very, very patient with me after multiple exchanges. They never ceased to make sure I was satisfied. No matter what!!! If you’re looking for a new instrument or need a setup done, you MUST go to Sylvan Music. They are the best!!! All-​star crew of employees!!! Ask for Albert, Mike, Alex, McCoy, or Alan and you are in great hands!!!

Terse, rude, overpriced. Bow at their alter and beg them to take your money. Lost big deal with me. Found item elsewhere for about 20% cheaper! Nothing against California but recently found some really bad vibes with L. A Guitars, Gryphon (with the infamous Derek See)& now these guys! Maybe it’s me– but I doubt it, I don’t treat people like they are pricks.

It’s been 11 years since I’ve been here and I was super happy and not shocked to see them still here at the same location. As a singing teacher in Santa Cruz I need a place that has sight singing books and pitchpipes for my vocal students and I found this place to be the perfect location for it.

At it’s best, the store sells many vintage, high end instruments and a few years back, they fixed my banjo at a very reasonable price.
The bad?
I can’t even go in this store without being watched like a hawk and being lectured on how «many of the guitars are expensive so don’t touch them unless you’re really careful». Um, duh.
I went in to look at a bass guitar and one of the employees COMPLAINED about me wanting to play it before I bought it, left me and my friend in a room with it for a little while to play it, then a different employee came in and explained to us that if we broke it in any way we’d have to buy it. I’d like to point out that this was a $ 100 used bass guitar. Nothing fancy at all. Needless to say, I took my business somewhere else for that specific purchase.
I have also gone in to look at their ukuleles and have been treated the same, rude way.
Also, their prices for the same instruments are way more expensive than in other shops. I found a ukulele in Sylvan that was upwards $ 500 and found the EXACT SAME ONE at Union Music on Pacific Ave for half the price. Not marked down at $ 250, but just $ 250.
Awful customer service will keep me from never going back. Even though it’s a short walk from my house, I refuse to go there for even guitar picks and just stop by Union whenever I’m downtown.

This place is pretty amazing. They have a fantastic selection of stringed instruments. My boyfriend especially liked trying out the different classical guitars, of which they have a good selection of the high-​end stuff. My bf was tempted to buy a $ 2K guitar, but he just couldn’t pull the trigger on such a large-​ticket item. We’ll have to think about that but may come back to get it.
I brought in a vintage mandolin to see if it would need any repairs. The guy was super helpful and told me that it was in good shape the way it was. He didn’t try to rip me off and have me pay for any unnecessary services. I appreciated that.
In my opinion, this place has the best guitar selection in the Bay Area.

This store is off the hook!
After not having touched a guitar in over 20 years I decided to pick it back up again. Of course my age addled brain has forgotten 90% of what I knew. Except for the «D» chord, I’ll go to my death bed knowing how to play a D chord. Anyway, I was in serious need of some knowledge. This was definitely the place to go.
Now I’m aware that Youtube can teach you just about anything you need to know about the guitar these days but I’m old school and I like books on paper. And Sylvan is overflowing with them. From beginner’s method books to every genre you can think of to song books, they’re all here. Shelf after shelf after shelf. With good prices to boot. I had an employee help me pick out an appropriate book and he was more than helpful, not to mention very pleasant to talk to.
Also, if you’re a ukulele fan, this is definitely your store. At the risk of sounding girlishly hipster they have the cutest selection of ukuleles! Pink, white with hearts, good lord, I’d buy one just to hang on my wall. And only $ 40.00. Maybe I need to go back …
Oh and there’s lots of parking at the back of the store! What more could you ask for?

This review is long over due but I really liked the store and the employees. They’re very helpful and don’t mind answering questions.
I have a 53′ Martin 000 – 18 and I brought it in there fully expecting to pay $ 600 – 800 to be re-​fretted and have the neck set, but they informed me that it wasn’t necessary as of yet, and offered me a much cheaper solution of creating a new bridge to lower the action.
When I picked up the guitar they informed me that there was a slight crack on the upper scratch guard that they filled glue in with no charge.
I’m pretty impressed. The owner told me he’d be doing this for some 20+ years. I will be returning should I have anymore work to be done on my guitars.

I rented a Mandolin here last winter, and it was wonderful. It was just a cheap rental, but I could tell that it was properly maintained and well cared for, like all the instruments in Sylvan. The folks at Sylvan really know their stuff, and are friendly to anyone who comes in, whether expert or beginner.
All of the instruments there are beautiful and in good condition, and there is a definite emphasis on quality. There are mostly acoustic instruments there, but a few electric as well. There is also a fairly decent selection of sheet music and tablature, which is awesome.

Supporting a local economy is a great concept, but when it’s inconvenient or expensive to do so, even the best do-​gooders are forced to look elsewhere.
From the friendly staff to the incredible inventory to the hard-​to-​find items to the skilled craftsmen in the repair shop, Sylvan Music is one of those unique gems in the musical instrument business.
From their success competing with much bigger ‘chain’ stores online, the store’s exponential growth is testimony to how well they treat their customers– from local walk-​ins to regional drive-​ins to international shoppers on their web site.
If you play an instrument, or even dream of playing one, you owe it to yourself to drop into Sylvan Music and talk to one of the friendly staff. They will make you feel like an old friend, and likely find you the deal you didn’t know existed on an instrument you only dreamed of finding. It happened to me more than once!

As I am passionately playing my Ukulele after my difficult Chemistry midterm, one of my strings pop. I was really depressed. I start to look up music stores around campus and BAM! Sylvan Music.
It’s conveniently placed right at the bottom of Bay, perfect location. A few of my homeboys came with me, my roommate and his girlfriend actually, and right when we stepped in we were taken aback by the wide array of guitars that donned this store’s walls. I knew I was at the right place.
I was greeted with a friendly, «hello,» and I quickly told the worker my story. He knew right away what kind of strings that I needed for my Soprano Uke and he sold me the best kind — Aquila’s. So far the feel great and they make my Uke sound TEN times better! After I bought the strings my friends and I journeyed through the store, touching and experimenting with guitars that were as much as half our school tuition!
This is one of the best music stores I’ve been in and I’d definitely come again if I need anything.

A real music store, good selection, friendly staff and a very tempting revolving choice of vintage instruments. They have Pyramid strings! They have a repair department that I’d actually trust.
Let’s be clear, as far a the Monterey Bay area is concerned, Sylvan is the only real choice, the stores in Monterey are a joke, and Gryphon Palo Alto, another good shop, is a long drive. Sylvan is my go to local musical needs supplier, they’ll see you right. Highly recommended.

I agree completely with Jen A. Sylvan sells the good stuff like Santa Cruz guitars (Expensive!), Martin, Bourgeois…
Emphasis is on acoustic instruments, there are some electric instruments.
I’ve bought both new and used instruments here. The techs set up the guitars to my playing preference on the spot. They do excellent repair work.
Highly recommended.