Metropolis Music

I was in the market for a ukulele to keep with my sister and I found this shop. The selection and prices were great, and I was helped and felt welcomed by Mark. Really great energy and I would recommend to anyone! Shout-out to Marshall, the dog.

This is a fun little store tucked down on Newark Ave. Super friendly staff and they always seem to have what I'm looking for. But the real hidden gem is their music teachers. I've been playing guitar for the past 35 years, but knew my lack of formal training held me back. I asked around and was referred to Nobuki Takamen. I did some research and was surprised to see such an accomplished musician working just two blocks from my home. So I signed up for three lessons just to see how it felt. I'm now on lesson #52 and have grown tremendously. It's been a deeply satisfying experience.

Loved the service, I went there to get guidance on how to amplify my rubab (Afghan lute ) and I was rightly pointed towards a pickup to put on the skin of the drum, they helped me in finding the right spot to put the pickup, helped to modify Jack on the pickup so that I can play it with any amp. I was at a jam the day after and my god, the difference it made was fabulous! Will come back again 11/10

For the price they ask for guitar setup - quality is awful. I bring my new tele here for neck fretwork(very sharp edges) and proper setup(trust rod, intonation. etc ) it took them almost a week and even after that fret edges still was sharp, no rounding was made, frets higher that 15 was even untouched. My advice to everyone - just go buy fret file on amazon and do fretwork on your own.

They were just what we needed before a podcast record. The staff was knowledgeable, kind, and most importantly, open when we needed another mic and cable.

I used to love this place growing up but attention to detail is gone. I guess i didnt know as much when i was 17 but i am 30 now. Everyone ive sent here to get their guitars worked on had a complaint after. if you need to get your guitar set up go somewhere else.

Brought my guitar to change strings today. The clerk is very nice and gentle person. He helped me changed the strings professionally also help me lubricate the strings and oil the fingerboard. It was a very nice experience and glad to know there is a great guitar store near my home. Definitely will come back again if needed.

My daughter took a few months of piano lessons here. In a few months they shuffled us around to three different teachers. Three times in a row they also canceled our lesson within 2 hours of our class. THEN, their staff messed up and apparently a child was bumped off the schedule (nothing to do with our lesson/time slot). They asked me several weeks in a row if I would mind switching my lesson so that they could move the schedule around and accommodate said child.

Nothing to do with us and not even our lesson time.but I did them a favor and changed our day, time and instructor as a favor. (no 'thank you', by the way.but you're welcome!) THEN I needed to cancel ONE lesson. ONE. And they wouldn't even extend to me the courtesy of allowing me to miss it without charging me for it! No decency. No courtesy for the favor I did them.or for the three times they cancelled on me with very short notice. Wow. Just wow.

Great setups that are reasonably priced. Cool shop and knowledgeable staff plus they offer lessons with excellent instructors at a hard to beat deal. Super cool local spot

I went in here and asked if I could by some wire to re wire a bass, NO we do t sell wire, they did have some interesting books, the bass selection was poor 2 secondhand instruments, looked like a place to buy children there first guitar, the guy in front of me took a guitar up and asked for a better price the answer was NO same as I got so NO I won't go back here

My son has been taking guitar lessons at Metropolis for the past several years. I find the teachers and staff to be friendly and knowledgeable. The cost of lessons is reasonable. I especially like the flexibility of scheduling that accommodates my son's ever changing sports schedule. Thank you, Metropolis!

What can I say about Metropolis Music? Great place to shop for all things having to do with musical instruments and accessories, to Music lessons and Great service. Everyone from the owner Mark, to the guitar teachers are easy to talk to and are very knowledgeable on all things music.

I have been going to Metropolis for years for music lessons and instrument repair and purchase and I couldn't be happier with their services. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. Metropolis is a neighborhood institution which I always look forward to visiting. Their teachers are always the best and Mark (the owner) is an expert at repairing and maintaining instruments.

If you cannot find a particular instrument in his shop, he is happy to order one for you. I also enjoy browsing their selection of music instruction books. To anyone looking for a rock-solid music shop and/or music lessons for children or adults, I can't recommend Metropolis enough. It really adds a huge amount of value to the neighborhood, and has for years.

That place looks good and is probably good but they sold me a cheap Luna guitars for $200 when it's posted on the actual company for $79, they're selling some cheap stuff

I found this place on yelp, and there are other negative reviews here but I decided they might only be one-offs. I rarely, if ever, leave reviews and if I do they are almost always positive. So hear me when I say this, don't go here if you can avoid it. I went in with a very old ukulele in early May asking to have strings attached, and a few cracks fixed with the intention of giving this as a father's day gift.

I was told 1-2 weeks. After two weeks no one got in touch with me, so I called. 1-2 more weeks. This cycle continued and I've just picked up the instrument on July 29th. Nearly 3 months it took for this to be completed. No one ever called me, every time I called it took ages for them to even find it within the shop, and no apologies for the massive delay or offers of discounts.

When I inquired about it both on the phone and in the store, I was told to talk to someone else who's rarely in the shop, which at that point I just wanted to be done with the whole thing. Also when I got home and took a look, the work seemed fine, but it was severely out of tune for new strings. Go to any other music store around if you can help it.

Actually 1.5 stars because the guys behind the counter are usually pretty cool. This store ripped me off on a "repair", and I feel needlessly risked damaging my instrument as well. I brought in my acoustic because of fret buzz. I was basically charged $40-50 for them to carelessly over-adjust the truss rod. The action was so high the instrument was unplayable.

Such a careIess adjustment of a truss rod in a short period of time can damage a guitar. I will never again bring in an instrument here for repair. oh yea, the older guy who i assume is the owner was pretty rude UPDATE: thank you for your response. the action was so high when i received the instrument back such that i found the instrument to be unplayable. after getting the guitar back, I re-adjusted the action myself to a point where the instrument was playable and fret buzz was mostly gone. it was obvious that several turns had been unnecessarily made on the truss, and IMO an instrument should never leave a shop in a state where the user must readjust it to make it playable.

Great little guitar shop. Very accommodating staff; they will take good care of you. Small but decent selection of guitars and basses, although too many of their basses have too many strings (as in, they have a lot of 5-string basses and not many 4-string). Not much in the way of heads or cabs. Will definitely be back.

This is my first Yelp posting. I went here today Sunday, around 3pm on August 30th, with my 17 year old daughter. She spoke to me yesterday about her desire to learn a musical instrument, more specifically, she wants to learn how to play the guitar. As a supportive father, i told her fine, we will pick up a guitar and maybe look for an instructor.

I told her that I know of a small musical instrument store in downtown JC that I've passed by before, and I promised her that we would go on Sunday. I also told her that it's important to support small mom and pop type of retail establishments since they help out the local economy. We went to this store and as soon as we walk in, we see a guy in a small booth fixing a guitar, gives us a look, and goes back to what he was doing.

We walk over to a small show room where we see lots of nice guitars new and used with decent prices. There's a guy in the corner playing a guitar who also gives us a look and then goes back to his strumming. We are there maybe 10 minutes in the show room looking at the guitars, and still no one to help us. We go back to the front where the guy is fixing the guitar, still no eye contact from this guy.

After a couple of minutes just standing there and waiting for some help, I start walking towards the door and told my daughter that we should go. Maybe I should have spoken and asked for help? But it was a hot and humid day and I didn't have the patience, so we left. As we were leaving I told my daughter "you don't give your business to someone who doesn't acknowledge you when you walk in their store." The owner of this business will probably not like this posting.

I am pretty sure by all of the other reviews here on Yelp that it is a great store, but today I've decided to give my business to Walmart - delivery by Tuesday of this week, not bad. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Silvertone-SD3000-Acoustic-Guitar-Package-Black/12330365

I've been meaning to write a review for metropolis music for quite some time. Being a student here on and off for the last two years, with a stellar attendance rate, it's the least I could do. First off, how cool is the name metropolis? If you're not immediately thinking guitar super hero, then read no further for we will not get along.

So like I said, I've been taking lessons here for a short while now and despite having a very hectic work schedule and being too old for parents to force me to practice consistently, and a husband who now probably hates guitar music because it really wasn't music for a long time, I kept coming back. The store owner Mark is super cool, he has all sorts of different interests and I could spend hours just chatting with him about vintage cameras or when I will finally buy my first real guitar. (Walden, anyone?) I've taken lessons with eddie, art, alex, and now finally with dan.

I think you just have to find the right teacher for your style, but they were all rock gods in their own way. Very intimidating to jam with them and especially embarrassing when you didn't practice. But they are all awesome and even as an adult, I highly recommend checking out the store if you want to take lessons, buy an instrument, or just learn something new! Can't recommend this place enough!

Do you wanna ROCK? Then get on down to Metropolis Music! I wanted to learn how to play guitar and I was surprised at how easy it was to get started. Lessons are 30 mins long and $30, which I think is reasonable, and its even cheaper if you buy a couple lessons at one time. There are several instructors, and I believe they offer lessons for a variety of instruments. I learn something every time I have a lesson and I'm so glad another Yelper turned me on to this place!

A great music store, friendly atmosphere and I could not be happier with the customer service. I had new strings put in my violin and it was ready in no time. If you at the store, ask for Hector - he's very knowledgeable and will patiently answer all your questions and give great suggestions. I have just started my adventure with the violin and he was a big help to me. The store also offers some classes which I may be taking in the near future. Also, the prices are reasonable too! Highly recommended! A++

After moving to the downtown area, a friend suggested I stop by and check this place out. As a songwriter/guitarist, a music store within several blocks of my apartment sounded like a godsend. Upon walking in the sales Reps/Managers gave me a weird vibe. An initial acknowledgement and no follow-up even after 15 minutes of standing around, checking stuff out.

A "hey, can I help you with something?" would be nice especially since I was interested in the acoustic guitars they had in stock. Speaking of which, who sets these things up? Or do they at all? I checked out three Walden guitars, a brand I never heard of, and encountered all sorts of buzzing, dead frets, etc. Not cool. Once again, if someone came by and explained things that would've made up for it but no one did.

The same friend mentioned they give great lessons. I'm sure they probably do but I didn't stick around to find out and ask. Seems like a good place if you need accessories like strings, picks, straps (nice strap selection!), or a practice amp. Parking on Newark Ave. is a pain and a trap. Pay your meters!

This review only applies to the guitar set up service Metropolis offers (as this was my experience with them). I brought my acoustic guitar in to have it set up. I was told by the owner - who was working the register - that they were backed up and it would take a week. Fine, I said. A week later, I come in. The owner is in the same spot behind the register. "Hi, I'm here to pick up my guitar" I say, passing him my receipt.

He replies, "Okay, let me see. Ah! Yeah I haven't gotten to it yet. But I could have it ready for you in an hour or two if you'd like to come back before we close." Translation: "I've got better things to do then the work you are paying me for. Your satisfaction as a customer is nothing more than an afterthought to me." A week, 2 hours, and $50 later, I got my newly "set up" guitar. It's been restrung and the fretboard has been lightly cleaned.

When I get home, I check for any noticeable changes to the neck relief, saddle height, nut slots, bridge pins, intonation and overall stability. Nothing. Not the slightest change from when I brought it in. These features- crucial to a proper guitar set up - have not been so much as touched. Surely the new strings have at least been stretched? Nope.

The tuning slips constantly as I play. Sure enough, this guy has done the absolute bare minimum with my guitar. Bottom line: Something here was definitely set up and it most definitely was not my guitar. To anyone thinking of having their guitar set up here - don't. Buy strings, a wire cutter, and a string winder on the web (Amazon) for a 1/3rd of the price that Metropolis will charge you. Youtube how to restring a guitar if you're new.

This dude either took me for a complete novice or is just plain lazy. Final thoughts: Metropolis is the only guitar store in Jersey City so they have little completion. The result is that they have little incentive to provide anything less than minimal service. The worst part is - and I can only speak for the store owner I encountered - it's done with a smug face. Lots of luck buddy, I have zero sympathy for your shoddy business.

Metropolis is a gem! Everyone I've run into who works here has been super-friendly, and they really know their stuff. I've been taking voice with Alex Brumel here for over a year, and I can't recommend him enough. They have classes for all ages, and very affordable guitars! Hurray for Metropolis. :

Absolutely fantastic neighborhood music store. Great prices and a solid selection of equipment. I went in to buy some strings for an old guitar I had lying around, ended up buying a used Samick guitar and old Fender Bullet amp. I couldn't be happier with the purchase; I've been playing it non-stop ever since. The staff is incredibly friendly, down-to-earth, and unpretentious, which I think is a huge plus in any music store, especially for someone with no prior musical training.

They give honest recommendations and really help you to find the kind of sound you want. The price and selection alone have me highly consider going back each time I need something, but the staff is what makes Metropolis music the only place I go to for my musical needs.

Great job fixing my trumpet. Extensive schedule for lessons and a very knowledgeable staff.

Metropolis Music is just a short walk down Newark Ave. from the Grove Street PATH. You'll find they specialize in guitar sales, guitar repairs, and a range of lessons for every skill level. Metropolis has a very knowledgeable staff with knowledge about recording, amplifying, tuning, and repair. I noticed they have a moderate amount of practice sheet music as well.

Bring your kids here when they start getting the itch to play and you'll find something small for them to start on, plus a game plan for learning the ropes! Need a tune up? As a master luthier, you can trust the owner of Metropolis with your pride and joy, but don't expect him to have the bandwidth to also repair your amps and gear. We've gotten really good recommendations from the staff whenever we need to go somewhere else for more help. Trustworthy used equipment at reasonalbe prices, and a fair return policy, rounds out the experience, giving Metropolis a top score in my book.

Nice place. Variety of instruments. Used and new equipment. Extremely knowledgeable and approachable staff guy. Big big range of music books. Flashback to Recorder 101. I almost bought that one. Fur Elise anyone? One of the many random music stores sprinkled throughout this city.