Old Town Music

Great shop… the feel isn’t quite as golden as the old downtown location. I loved that crammed old creeky hallway it used to be in. It had a much more gear swap/​thrifty feel to it. It seemed like a shop that would only exist in a blues brothers movie or something. Now the store feels more geared toward high spenders not just in look but also product and operation. I used to go to the old shop to look for diamonds in the rough. Now there is no «rough», there are less rarities and oddities it seems. I admit it could be in my head because I miss the old joint, it’s still a good shop but the old location gave this business a completely different feel and it was 5 stars all day.

The range of equipment is incredible, and I think you’d truly be hard pressed to leave here without something you want or need (same thing, right?).
The guitar pedal selection is out of this world, and the staff are outstanding. No elitist views, no snobbery. There is so much knowledge here that no amount of reading of reviews can replace just turning up and asking for some recommendations.
Ask for Hank.

I love Old Town. I’ve boughten and sold a fair amount of gear here, and the dudes working are always super cool and helpful. Never once gotten a sideways glance for just coming in and jamming, and to add to that they have an awesome selection of gear to jam on! One of the best local music shops for sure. Only complaint is that there aren’t more locations.

Great selection and awesome laid back atmosphere with an attentive sales staff that is never pushy and always helpful.

I love this place — lots of guitar gear ranging from new to vintage (and also drums and keys). Used pedal prices are pretty good, used guitar prices can be a little optimistic. You can try stuff out there, or take it home with a reasonable return policy. Since there’s a lot of pre-​owned stuff, the inventory is changing constantly.

Great service here! Bought a new guitar case for $ 80. Employees are very helpful and they have an excellent selection of all things music!

$ 5 drum stick bucket wins hard. Decent selection of sticks upstairs, used and new gear. Everything you might expect from a small music store. LOTS of effect pedals. Some lookes pretty vintage but i didn’t browse long.

Cool guys

Terrible customer service. I was in there dialing some settings and playing/​singing a tune. Others were enjoying it and told me so too, then the manager walks over and instead of being polite and telling me to stop playing out of being considerate of others trying to play, gives me a whole rude sarcastic spiel. I don’t care how awesome and local you are, if you’re rude, that affects your business.

Always have a great experience when I visit this place. I typically go there knowing what I want to buy (mostly guitar effects pedals) and the people working here always help me find what I’m looking for. Even further, they have oftentimes suggested less expensive pedals — when I’ve gone in looking for a specific one they listen to what I’m looking for and will sometimes steer me in the direction of one that’s less expensive but just as good.

Really nice, expert staff. Guys that really love what they do. A great place to spend a lunch break downtown.

I like this place. Their pedal selection is pretty unbeatable.
I had an enormous amount of stuff to sell/​trade to them. We got off to a really rocky start when I called ahead to try to figure what they would be interested in buying (the story gets happier though, read on). I had all kinds of stuff– a mixer, an 88 key midi controller, a bass amp, drum machines. They asked me the condition of my gear and I gave them the run down. It was the week of Christmas and they seemed a little stressed. I brought a car full of stuff and loaded it all in. The buyer was a little frustrated — for instance, over the phone he asked me if the mixer I was bringing in to trade was clean. When he saw it, he said, «I thought you said this was clean!». I said it was (cosmetically it was fine and I lube the faders once a year). He said, «Well, I can feel the grit in these faders. I’m going to go through every fader and knob and check to see how clean it is», as if I was a four year old. He later agreed that it sounded fine. There was a little comment about several items that I was bringing in to have checked out. It just seemed like the buyer was angry that I was about to fill his shop with what he thought was shit. I felt a need to diffuse the situation, if only to make myself feel better, so I said straight up, «Hey, if you don’t want something, don’t make an offer on it, it will come back home with me».
I came back an hour later and he was in *much* better spirits. He gave me a break down of prices. For trade, it’s about run of the mill. For instance, I was given a $ 75 offer on something I could sell on Craigslist for $ 125. You kind of have to expect this. Some stuff they lowballed me hard on, simply because they didn’t have the room in the shop, but they were at least up front about it. I declined to sell those things, which seemed to be in both our best interests. Their «cash given» prices were laughable, but I’ve never been in a music shop where that wasn’t the case.
I left with one expensive Strymon pedal and a handshake. BTW, these are the only guys in Portland that Strymon deals with.
If it means anything, I came back later in the week to buy a second Strymon pedal, simply to give them more business. The guy shot the shit with me and gave me a T shirt, and said thanks for doing business. These guys really are sweet, I just got off to a rough start with them.
I’d recommend this place to anyone looking to shop. To sell or trade, try Craigslist first, you might get more for your stuff. These guys are certainly better to deal with than Trade Up when selling and trading.

This place is really cool!!! The staff were super nice too which is refreshing because I’ve had my fair share of sexist, up themselves shop employees or the dudes at guitar center that try and hit on you when you’re just like «just lemme try out the damn pedal already» ANYWAY I tried out this adorable little sea foam Danelectro, sounded perfect, and experimented with a variety of pedals including this wicked, dirty, and crunchy fuzz pedal that I was SUPER close to purchasing on the spot buuut I held back. Stupid adult responsibility. The ONLY drawback was the lack of sound proofing in the practice rooms, which can be expensive so i get it but still kinda difficult to focus on what you’re doing when the kid in the next room is noodling away on a brand new SG, trying to be the next Jimmy Paige.
ANYWAY, check this place out. Decent prices, decent stock of equipment. A++

This place always has cool guitar stuff in stock. Hank and the rest of the employee’s are always super helpful! If you’re looking for pedals in Portland, this is your spot!

I just moved to vancouver BC from the UK and was visiting friends in Portland when I decided that I cannot live without a guitar in my life. So I went to old town music based on Unilocal reviews. The vibe of the store is definitely in line with other reviews, I was able to try out every guitar that interested me on a variety of different amps before I found what would be my new axe without any hassle from anyone. It was a blissful hour and a half. The sale was painless, picked up a couple of things that I would need to enjoy my guitar, and then we left to drive back home.
Unfortunately, 3 days later I pick up my guitar to play for the second time (after staring at it lovingly while I moved in to my new apartment) to find that the pickup selector had failed. Bummer. I bought a second hand guitar and I’m aware that these things can’t be expected to work flawlessly, but 3 days?!
I called up the store and explained the issue, they offered to fix it for free or offer me store credit, no questions asked. That’s great service, but sadly both of those things require me to be in Portland, which I’m not.
My alternative solution was for them to cover the cost of the repair that will need to be carried out here in BC, which will be about 50 CAD. I got quotes from a few stores, and was quoted the same number. They declined this, on the grounds that they would charge less to do the repair, and offered to extend the returns period to a month. I’m not really thrilled with the idea of living with a faulty guitar for a month then paying a couple hundred dollars to rent a car again purely to drive to portland to get it fixed.
So I’m left in a pretty lame situation. I’m going to have to fork out extra money to get a working guitar, and I have to write a negative review of a Portland institution. Now I no longer get that happy feeling when I look at my guitar. I really hope that passes.
Ultimately, my conclusion is that the store is fine for after care support if you live locally, but non-​existent otherwise. Despite feeling bummed out, I can’t hold it against them too much as I have worked in retail for 6 years, and they are a small independent store. That being said, a $ 50 refund, or even $ 50 store credit for my next visit, would have been enough to restore my faith.

still top notch. I love all the used gear and friendly folks!

Lots of selection, very customer-​friendly.
In case you don’t know, life is hard as a bassist. It’s a guitarist’s world. We couldn’t even find the basses on our first tour through the store. My GF asked the nearest employee, who appeared to be the guitar tech and was busy on some restoration project. But he jumped right up and happily led us to the bass section. He even commiserated with me on my first-​world problems.

The store is fantastic! I was out with my son early the Saturday before Christmas looking for a few parts for a used guitar I bought him (he didn’t know) Obviously in a pinch for time. I was in their neighborhood and called an hour before they opened and they still let us in! They were nice enough to scrounge around for the little part I needed and even were great with my 7 year old. Awesome store, great layout, awesome staff… I’ll hopefully be back some day to grab a new axe for myself!

Awesome! Hank was super helpful. Great prices. We are traveling from LA and wanted a guitar from Portland — couldn’t have asked for a better place with good vibes to get it from.

Great used gear. Ask for Hank!