Spruce Tree Music & Repair

Fantastic place! Got my old guitar repaired and sounds perfect! Great knowledgeable people. I also bought another guitar from them to add to my collection, it is beautiful and sounds amazing not a very expensive guitar but great quality. Honestly no complaints guys, God bless you all

Nice shop but if you are a gigging musician be wary of their estimated repair times. My instrument sat for many weeks without being worked on after a 10-14 day estimated wait time. I ended up taking it back before anything was done

I needed a very small repair to my classical guitar. They were able to fix it while I waited at a very reasonable rate. Other stores either didn't have a tech on site or didn't answer their phones.

I brought my Strat in for a setup and they absolutely botched it. I took it back in 3 times (within a day or two) for them to fix obvious screw ups. At first, there was a massive uneven notch in the nut for the G string which made the string audibly and noticably crack back and forth. It was obvious they hadn't actually played the guitar after "setting it up".

I brought it in and they filled the notch in and gave it back, only for the G string to be WAY HIGHER than all other strings on the neck! I brought it back a third time and they filed the notch out a bit. It fixed the level issue, but the string still cracks back and forth. This happened almost a year ago but I'm still irritated. I'm going to have to bring my guitar to Dave's for someone who actually cares to take a look, because I'm getting tired of hearing my G string crack every time I bend it. 2 stars because they were nice enough when I was in the store looking to buy a mid range acoustic. Glad I didn't end up buying one there.

DO NOT TAKE YOUR GUITAR HERE! My limited edition essentially new Taylor guitar sustained significant damage to multiple parts. Owner failed to resolve issues only attempting to cover them up. AVOID!

Forget guitar center, spruce tree music should be every musicians place to go! The owner is knowledgeable, attentive and his experience honest and direct. Iam so glad to have googled this place for a tune-up for my travel guitar! I highly recommend this beautiful music store!

Been dealing with Will for years. Though I've moved hours away and have tried other shops, my loyalty remains with Spruce Tree. This summer I stopped by on a whim after a gig in which my Taylor guitar underwhelmed. Sure enough, Will had the exact right, perfect instrument for my needs: a Larrivee 12 fret dreadnought guitar. Remembered my name after having been gone for years. Fair price, no nonsense. 40 years in Madison -- I'll be sad the day it's gone. The passing of an era.

Really excellent, knowledgeable people who love stringed instruments! I came looking for a new acoustic guitar, and left really happy spending half my allotted budget! The personal help selecting a guitar, having a place to play was absolutely unique. I've been playing strings for about 20 years; guitar only for the last 2. Absolutely recommend Spruce Tree to anyone, all levels!

I moved to the Madison area last year and Spruce tree has been my go-to for guitar setups. Nice people and they turn around a quality setup in 2 weeks.

As a beginning violin student, it is great to have a shop like this in Madison (Pros depend on it also). It's a beautiful shop packed with gorgeous stringed instruments and wonderful, expert staff. MY violin bridge was out of position and beginning to warp. Altho I bought the violin from China and its at the cheap end, the staff kindly helped me get it playable again. This sort of shop (and it's neighbor, Bernies Rock Shop) make Madison cool. So grateful Spruce Tree survived COVID and is ready to support our musicians into the future.

This place was recommended to me by my ukulele instructor as a small local business. I got my ukulele from my boyfriend as a present but needed a strap and a case for it. An older gentleman helped me out with drilling a whole to put the strap holder, a new strap and a nice case. All under $60. It was also a plus that I never felt pressured to buy anything that I didn't want or need.

If you are unsure if they provide the service or carry the product you need, you could always call ahead and ask. I went there close to their business hour so I called ahead to make sure that they weren't busy with other orders and they answered phone right away. I would recommend this place.

Very competent repair department and a wonderful selection of high-end guitars and other bluegrass and folk instruments. They have some good student-model guitars there too from Arts & Luthiery. cool Canadian instruments with solid wood tops. But the selection of Bourgeois was larger than you will see really anywhere near here. And my son was able to try out a very nice Spanish-made classical guitar. Lots of very impressive used hollowbody electrics and a few solid bodies. But this is more of a bluegrass than blues place when it comes to guitars.

Went here recently on the recommendation of a friend. Moments after walking in the door, I was greeted by the owner and he asked what my budget was and what style of guitar I was looking for. After telling him, he immediately searched the store for all of the guitars that fit my criteria and placed them on stands near me so I could test all of them out.

He then left me to test out the guitars and came back occasionally to follow up. There was no pressure to buy and he was very polite. Ended up walking out with a new guitar that day! Before I walked out, he threw in a free humidifier and doubled checked the action for me. Was very pleased with this store! Definitely worth checking it out.

I love this store. I bought a vintage banjo here a while back and they were really helpful as I went through the process of trying a bunch of instruments and eventually settling on "the one." I've brought it in a couple times for adjustments and it's great to have them recognize me & the instrument (they really care about their instruments!).

Their selection of instruments - new and used - is broad, and they are very knowledgeable about what they're doing. Madison is really lucky to have this gem of a folk instrument store!

Expect to find an amazing collection of acoustic stringed instruments of all kinds and to get expert advice and repairs. I'd love to spend hours there playing with all the toys, but they don't cater to browsers, and I guess I can't blame them. They can be a tad dismissive if you bring in a cheap-o instrument for appraisal. But they have good quality instruments for beginners at fair prices, and the sky is the limit if you're looking for something special. I gladly support this shop!

I had a great experience trying out a number of banjos. I didn't feel pressured and took my time doing lots of comparisons, and ended up trading in my beginner model for a beautiful instrument with exactly the tone I was looking for. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable, including Traveler the dog!

Brought in my grandfather's violin -- bought back in the 1800s! -- and they did what I asked, when they said they would, and it wasn't too costly. Replaced the pegs, fixed a crack. Not sure what the choices available are for string fixing in Madison -- here of Ward-Brodt? I'm glad I went here.

People are knowledgeable, like really knowledgeable, so I sit and listen, it's neat to see what you can learn from people doing this before I was born. Was able to try out instruments I obviously couldn't afford, but ended up walking out with an angelic sounding guitar for $199. Again, just amazing tone quality, and the people there were nice, they let you know stuff you may already know, but also learned stuff I had forgotten.

And they don't sell junk. They don't know how, thank goodness. Admittedly though. you could tell they see a lot of people who don't know much, and treat new customers as such. But honestly detracted none from my excellent experience.

This was a great shop to visit on my trip to WI. I walked out with a very nice guitar. Knowable and helpful staff. They handled us three guys from Boston barging in on a winter night nicely.

Went in to purchase a set of strings and was lectured for 20 minutes about how warped my bridge is. The woman helping me literally repeated herself 4 or 5 times. In the end, I got what I came for, but due to the unwanted lecture, missed an event I had planned on going to. Also, they charge $10 or $12 to put on new strings for you. I think it should be complimentary considering how simple a task it is. Anyway, most of their stuff is pretty pricey.

If you are a student musician who doesn't have a lot of money to spend, I would consider purchasing your supplies online. Note: they have two golden retrievers they just let wander around in the shop. They are very well behaved and love to be petted, but if you are allergic, this might not be the best place to go.

I want to like this place, I really do, but every time I walk in here I feel like I'm just unwanted. The staff are always rude, and never very helpful. Its looks great from the outside, but I just don't go in any more. I don't know about guitars, but if you want to buy a violin/viola, go to Ralph Rabin, Lane's Lutherie, or Charles Pinckney. I have gone to all of them over the years and am always impressed, and they're all much friendlier!

I called Spruce Tree and talked to Julia, who is very knowledgable about strings for instruments. Definitely knows a lot. She asked what kind of ukulele I was wanting restrung, I told her it was an Oscar Schmidt (it's an OU3), proceeded to tell me the many ways why those are junk. They don't sound good, they are made out of the wrong kind of wood, etc. Fine, yes, I am aware that it is neither the greatest nor most expensive ukulele in the world.

I think it sounds pretty darn good, but opinions are like buttholes, we all have one. We discussed a very specific kind of string that I wanted, fluorocarbon strings, for my less than impressive ukulele. I still wanted these strings, so she said $7 for the strings, $10 for the labor and then tax. I said great, I'll be there in about 20 minutes.

So I head on down there. Have you ever been in say like a jewelry store and you're not looking great or wearing your best, and the salesperson has a non-overt, but a detectable type of adverse attitude toward you? Same thing with this woman. I get there and take out my uke, hand it to her and at this point it is also too heavy for her liking.

I am thinking Oh. My. God, I must be on Candid Camera. Then they don't have the strings we were talking about, LESS than AN HOUR BEFORE. Don't you think you could turn your head around and check, before I drive all the way there from VERONA? Sorry, but DUH. But gas is free (right?) and I have nothing better to do than waste my time, quite a bit of it apparently with construction messes on Fish Hatch I had to navigate.

Maybe they do great work, who knows? But this lady's attitude sucked and oh my gosh, seriously? You didn't check for the strings that are right behind the counter knowing full well I am stopping in? No, really? really? *facepalm* Sorry about my pal good ol' Oscar. I don't feel the need to make any excuses for him. He is just like me, kinda crappy, but doing his best to be the best ukulele that he can be with what was given to him.

I still want the strings, but I am not going back there. I am not and will never be a music snob. That kind of pettiness in no way represents what the spirit of music means to me.

Worst customer service experience I've ever had. I'm a beginning guitar player and went in to buy new strings for a used guitar I picked up from a friend. These people wouldn't even sell me strings- told me my guitar wasn't worth putting money into (what, so I should buy one of your $600 guitars when I don't even know if I like to play?).

The female owner was incredibly condescending, and the man mocked me for having paid money for a guitar from the '60s. I will never visit this store again. If you are a beginner, or you don't like being mocked and condescended to, steer clear

Spruce revived my boy friend's violin that was literally in pieces. Three months of fixing up and voila, the finished piece was a beautiful violin that could be sold for "$1,500 -$3,000." Wow, considering the amount my bf paid at a garage sale, near $400 repair price was well justified. And of course the sound coming out from this violin is fantastic! I'm assuming we were talking to the owner (he had that seniority look).

He gave us the most sincere customer service. As soon as he figured out that we're two beginner fiddlers, he gave us good information on how to take care of the violin against varying weather, how to select chin pad, etc. I am very much satisfied with the service and impressed with the owner's knowledge on instruments.

Great store. Yes the owner has his ways but come on, how often can a guy listen to someone play "stairway to heaven" and not want to puke! In my interactions with him he has always been honest to a fault. He says it like it is. As I generally play acoustic guitars this place is great. Expensive, not really when you consider the quality of the instruments.

I used to think that once you got over $1000 the sound was not really better you just got a more ornate guitar. Was I wrong!. They carry a fine selection of guitars and National Resonators. Repairs may be a bit more expensive but hey, these guys work on guitars that cost thousands, they must have a pretty strong skill set! I don't think I would take a custom made guitar to Guitar Center and have some minimum wage monkey work on it! If you really love acoustic instruments this is the place!

As others mentioned, they are snobs there. Don't even mention electric guitars here, although they do sell. One of the "experts" there prettly much told me that all electric guitars sounded the same like "doesn't matter". I was thinking, "what a douchebag, acoustic elitist snob". Yes, they do know their stuff about acoustic instruments. I bought a 1967 Gibson acoustic there awhile ago. I ended up breaking the headstock off, (my 3 year helped). I should've taken to these guys right away. I tried to fix it myself, and really messed it up.

In addition to specializing in acoustic guitars, Spruce Tree also covers instruments that have been largely neglected by guitar stores and band/orchestra retailers: mandolins, ukuleles, banjos, dulcimers, lap steels and harps. They've also got a bunch of violins and violas. In a sense, it's difficult to compare them to other stores because nobody else even has this stuff.

I was just elated to have more than one or two choices for these instruments. I had a 80-year-old ukulele that needed some work to make it playable again. I felt really involved in the repair process. They informed me of the different repair options and replacement parts and helped me make choices that were within my budget. The uke plays great now, and I felt comfortable that this family heirloom was in good hands with them.

The most common complaint I hear is some of the staff can be snobby and elitist. While I have never had any problems personally, I think there is some truth to that statement.

I took banjo lessons down at Spruce Tree a while back, and man.what a bunch of pricks. My instructor was great, but the guy who owns the place is unbearable. God forbid I have an instrument that was purchased somewhere else. And asking questions in that place is dangerous.because there are such things as dumb questions, kids, and the bearded asshole behind the counter will surely let you know. I think he's hiding the fact that he never learned to read. Two stars.solely on the unproven, but certainly portrayed quality of instruments for sale.