There are few cities more ripe for starting a band than San Francisco. Like fellow cities Seattle (especially in the 90s) and Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area’s music scene has and continues to nurture the best of the best across every genre (be it punk, indie, or hip-hop). Any city harboring a flowering, vibrant musical subculture must have available a litany of music stores and instrument shops at which you and your math-rock group can pick up new distortion pedals, replace the bass drum head you busted at your last show, or even seek one-on-one lessons.
Since well-stocked instrument shops are so vital for the Bay’s many future Grammy-winners, we’ve gathered a smattering of some of the best music shops in and around San Francisco. Worry not; we made a point to include more than just guitar stores your drummer and keyboardist can enjoy themselves too.
See also: Rage Against the Machine at These Best Underground Bay Area Punk Venues
Russo Music
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4072 24th Street / website
Situated right just north of Noe Valley and just south of the Castro, Russo Music is the all-purpose one-stop shop for budding musicians of any inclination. They offer everything a proper music store should and more, including instruments for purchase or rent, parts and accessories, sheet music, and a robust lesson program.
Whether you’re a busy adult who wants to carve out an hour each week to reignite your piano passion or the parent seeking a music summer camp for your little saxophonist, Russo Music has you covered.
Guitar Solo
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230 Townsend Street / website
Right across King Street from Oracle Park, the storied shop Guitar Solo has earned the trust of every local guitarist since its opening in 1974. Though they limit their offerings to acoustic and classical guitars, their quality-over-quantity ethos ensures that their selections are top-echelon.
Apart from an impressive array of new and used acoustic guitars, they provide mandolins, ukuleles, steel and nylon strings, songbooks and sheet music tailored to every skill level, repair services, and even a list of recommended local guitar teachers.
Subway Guitars
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1800 Cedar Street / website
Like Guitar Solo is for San Francisco, Subway Guitars is Berkeley and the East Bay’s resource for any and all things guitar. Having been in operation since 1968, Subway is everything an old guitar store should be: a quirkily retro hang-out space for old-school enthusiasts, a thoroughly well-equipped guitar shop, and a place for one-on-one lessons.
Over the years, Subway has acquired the liquidated inventories of major brand-name factories like Kalamazoo Gibson, Dan Armstrong, Ampeg, and Vox. As a result, their shop now touts over 3000 new and used guitars, basses, amps, mandolins, and ukuleles.
Sunset Music
2311 Irving Street / website
If you thought Guitar Solo or Subway Guitars were historic locales, Sunset Music takes the cake definitively: the shop was founded in 1948 and has remained in its Outer Sunset location just a couple of blocks from Golden Gate Park ever since. Like Russo Music, Sunset offers basically everything but the musical kitchen sink, touting the largest selection of sheet music in the city, purchasable and rentable instruments beyond just guitars (be them brass, woodwind, or rhythm), all manner of accessories from drum sticks to metronomes to saxophone reeds, repairs, on-site lessons, and even studio rentals for those in need of a quiet, comfortable practice space.
ROBOTSPEAk
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589 Haight Street / website
We’ve catered to the needs of just about everyone, whatever their musical predilections, except for the electronica-heads. Worry not: San Francisco’s famed Haight-Ashbury neighborhood houses Northern California’s preeminent synth shop: ROBOTSPEAk. For everyone who saw Stranger Things and became obsessed with its dreamy, nostalgic synth-driven soundtrack, a visit to ROBOTSPEAk is the first step on your way to becoming the next Kyle Dixon or Michael Stein (the two synth masterminds behind the show’s music).
Since 2002, the shop has provided SF synth geeks all the gear they need to be the next Aphex Twin, offering modular synthesizers, analog synths, digital synths, drum machines, and a slew of other gadgets and gear. Check out a live Modular performance at the shop every 3rd Saturday of the month, or show up to one of their classes to learn the ins-and-outs of your new Moog board.
Berkeley Musical Instrument Exchange
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2923 Adeline Street / website
The Berkeley Musical Instrument Exchange is another long-time neighborhood favorite that’s been an integral institution of the East Bay music scene since 1974. Their guitar selections undoubtedly impress, featuring both hand-crafted and brand-name acoustic guitars, flamenco, electric, and even acoustic basses.
Fortunately for non-guitarists, they also tout a robust mish-mash of musical paraphernalia, from drums (bongos, full kits, etcetera) to violins to trumpets, making this famed storefront one you can bring the entire band to.
See also: Awaken Your Inner Music Geek At SF's Best Alternative Independent Record Stores
Photography by: Susan Mohr/Unsplash
There are few cities more ripe for starting a band than San Francisco. Like fellow cities Seattle (especially in the 90s) and Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area’s music scene has and continues to nurture the best of the best across every genre (be it punk, indie, or hip-hop). Any city harboring a flowering, vibrant musical subculture must have available a litany of music stores and instrument shops at which you and your math-rock group can pick up new distortion pedals, replace the bass drum head you busted at your last show, or even seek one-on-one lessons.
Since well-stocked instrument shops are so vital for the Bay’s many future Grammy-winners, we’ve gathered a smattering of some of the best music shops in and around San Francisco. Worry not; we made a point to include more than just guitar stores your drummer and keyboardist can enjoy themselves too.
See also: Rage Against the Machine at These Best Underground Bay Area Punk Venues
Russo Music
View this post on Instagram
4072 24th Street / website
Situated right just north of Noe Valley and just south of the Castro, Russo Music is the all-purpose one-stop shop for budding musicians of any inclination. They offer everything a proper music store should and more, including instruments for purchase or rent, parts and accessories, sheet music, and a robust lesson program.
Whether you’re a busy adult who wants to carve out an hour each week to reignite your piano passion or the parent seeking a music summer camp for your little saxophonist, Russo Music has you covered.
Guitar Solo
View this post on Instagram
230 Townsend Street / website
Right across King Street from Oracle Park, the storied shop Guitar Solo has earned the trust of every local guitarist since its opening in 1974. Though they limit their offerings to acoustic and classical guitars, their quality-over-quantity ethos ensures that their selections are top-echelon.
Apart from an impressive array of new and used acoustic guitars, they provide mandolins, ukuleles, steel and nylon strings, songbooks and sheet music tailored to every skill level, repair services, and even a list of recommended local guitar teachers.
Subway Guitars
View this post on Instagram
1800 Cedar Street / website
Like Guitar Solo is for San Francisco, Subway Guitars is Berkeley and the East Bay’s resource for any and all things guitar. Having been in operation since 1968, Subway is everything an old guitar store should be: a quirkily retro hang-out space for old-school enthusiasts, a thoroughly well-equipped guitar shop, and a place for one-on-one lessons.
Over the years, Subway has acquired the liquidated inventories of major brand-name factories like Kalamazoo Gibson, Dan Armstrong, Ampeg, and Vox. As a result, their shop now touts over 3000 new and used guitars, basses, amps, mandolins, and ukuleles.
Sunset Music
2311 Irving Street / website
If you thought Guitar Solo or Subway Guitars were historic locales, Sunset Music takes the cake definitively: the shop was founded in 1948 and has remained in its Outer Sunset location just a couple of blocks from Golden Gate Park ever since. Like Russo Music, Sunset offers basically everything but the musical kitchen sink, touting the largest selection of sheet music in the city, purchasable and rentable instruments beyond just guitars (be them brass, woodwind, or rhythm), all manner of accessories from drum sticks to metronomes to saxophone reeds, repairs, on-site lessons, and even studio rentals for those in need of a quiet, comfortable practice space.
ROBOTSPEAk
View this post on Instagram
589 Haight Street / website
We’ve catered to the needs of just about everyone, whatever their musical predilections, except for the electronica-heads. Worry not: San Francisco’s famed Haight-Ashbury neighborhood houses Northern California’s preeminent synth shop: ROBOTSPEAk. For everyone who saw Stranger Things and became obsessed with its dreamy, nostalgic synth-driven soundtrack, a visit to ROBOTSPEAk is the first step on your way to becoming the next Kyle Dixon or Michael Stein (the two synth masterminds behind the show’s music).
Since 2002, the shop has provided SF synth geeks all the gear they need to be the next Aphex Twin, offering modular synthesizers, analog synths, digital synths, drum machines, and a slew of other gadgets and gear. Check out a live Modular performance at the shop every 3rd Saturday of the month, or show up to one of their classes to learn the ins-and-outs of your new Moog board.
Berkeley Musical Instrument Exchange
View this post on Instagram
2923 Adeline Street / website
The Berkeley Musical Instrument Exchange is another long-time neighborhood favorite that’s been an integral institution of the East Bay music scene since 1974. Their guitar selections undoubtedly impress, featuring both hand-crafted and brand-name acoustic guitars, flamenco, electric, and even acoustic basses.
Fortunately for non-guitarists, they also tout a robust mish-mash of musical paraphernalia, from drums (bongos, full kits, etcetera) to violins to trumpets, making this famed storefront one you can bring the entire band to.
See also: Awaken Your Inner Music Geek At SF's Best Alternative Independent Record Stores
Photography by: Susan Mohr/Unsplash
