Hix Bros. Music

My only experience here has been with taking guitar lesson, I can not fully speak to any experiences on the shop side of things.
What I can say is that my teacher was very knowledgeable and friendly. He put forward a great effort in making sure that my lessons were tailored to what I was interested in learning. If there was not a student after me, he would offer to extend my lesson a few minutes so that we could go more in depth in certain topics. Overall, A+.
The only thing I thought was odd, was that they do not accept credit cards for lessons, so there is no way to set up reoccurring payments. At the beginning of each month you have to remember to bring check or cash to pay for your lessons.

Let me start by saying that I try desperately to not shop at Guitar Center. They are the downfall of mom and pop music stores. Guitar Center forces other stores to not carry the musical instruments by having exclusive deals with places like Fender, Martin and Gibson to name a few.
Also people that give guitar lessons outside of Hix will not recommend you buy your instruments from Hix because they are worried of their lesson competition. They would recommend a place like Guitar Center that doesn’t offer lessons, just because the least money they can give to any teaching music store is one less dollar they have to compete with. I say this without taking any lessons from Hix.
My review comes from three different occasions that I happened to come in to Hix.
The first time: I was looking for a higher end acoustic. My price range was $ 2,000 or less. I am an intermediate guitar player and was playing an acoustic guitar that I didn’t like and wanted to invest some money into something better that I could grow into.
I had already gone into a couple of other music stores, and had an idea of what I wanted… but, this was a huge investment for me so I wanted to be sure. I loved the richness and «baseyness» (I know, not a word… but guitar players will know what I mean) of a Martin. I tried Taylors but they had too much treble.
I was greeted at the door and asked if somebody could help me… I asked the person to point me in the direction of higher quality acoustics. They did, and I was eyeing a couple of instruments.
I was asked to remove my flannel. Which was weird to me, because I have never been asked this before… anywhere. I get that this person was worried that I would damage the instruments with my buttons. And, I had very mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, I appreciated this. I feel guilty when I tap my guitar on a wall or anything because I love the quality that goes into the instrument. But, then on the other hand… I have played many guitars. Yes, I have a few dings on my guitars that are war injuries. But, I have never picked up a guitar and damaged it with my flannel. It would be fine if I was playing a friends guitar, that I was not intending to buy… but I felt like Pretty Woman in this, I should have been spoiled rotten because I was about to spend an Obscene amount of money in this store.
I was shocked when I saw no major brands in this store. I didn’t want to be a brand snob and though, that then maybe I could afford to get an instrument that doesn’t just sound good but looks good too.
The guy would not leave me alone with the instrument and kept telling me the advantages of this feature, or that feature. This made me feel weird, because I didn’t want somebody standing over me judging my playing. So, I felt like I was «on».
That’s not the experience you want when dropping a ton of cash (in my eyes that is at least.). Unfortunately none of the guitars I played could live up to the feel and sound of the Martins that I played. There’s a reason people spend so much on the brand name «Martin» because they are special. In my humble opinion.
My second experience: I went in to find buy a clip on guitar tuner. But, I also love looking at guitar pedals and they didn’t have anything that I felt was worth it. I would rather shop on
for pedals and use YouTube for reviews and demos.
Third Experience, and now found the sweet spot: Where Hix has every other music store in the area beat is in ukuleles. I went in to find one, and they had so many of excellent quality.
They know their stuff and showed me a bunch. They gave me their own personal opinions on which uke to buy as a beginner. They asked me my range… this is where most places will show you something just out of your range to get you to stretch that a little… they didn’t.
In Fact they showed me things that were at least 20% less than my budgeted range. Which was awesome.
I personally like to see the cadillac before I buy the chevy so I know why things are cheaper and asked to check out some of the higher end ones.
They helped me make a good choice. I needed a case for mine, as it didn’t come with one so with the case I was $ 8 over my range and I was thrilled. The uke plays great and hasn’t even gone out of tune in the weeks I’ve played it.
Oh, I will be back for Uke stuff… time and time again. For guitars, I’ll stick with Naperville Music. For my pedals, Reverb.

i love this place. not only have i shopped here ive also taken lessons. very nice staff. its hard to accept and help a customer whos creative and musical but these guys know what theyre doing

Just visited for the first time and I am impressed, the minute I walked in I felt welcomed! Carl greeted me and was very knowledgable and helpful in finding me what I wanted. I also signed up for lessons with Zach because a very musically talented friend of mine said he taught him. Prices for lessons are very inexpensive and Zach was flexible with scheduling and has availability for people with busy schedules. The store had a wide variety of quality instruments and accessories for competitive prices. Hands down best music store in the Naperville /​Aurora area!

dont go here. their sevice sucks. the owners are smug as hell. iI was told to leave their acoustic room because i was playing their guitars. i thought that what you do at a music store. how the hell are you gonna know what you like if you cant play it? they are over priced and never have any good bass gear in stock. i always have trouble getting my cables warrentied there. i’d rather go to guitar center where at least i will be treated right.

Ukulele Heaven! These folks are wonderful to work with and have a large collection of uke’s (all price ranges) to choose from and try which is surprising. Usually the larger stores have a few back in a corner — they are either really cheap or over the top in pricing. I was looking for a particular ukelele and they were the only local store to have it in stock. It was at their Batavia store and had it sent over to Aurora for me. The Uke is beautiful and sounds great, I tried others also. I know that once my decision is made I will return to Hix to purchase my upgrade ukulele. Everyone was extremely helpful and they actually know what customer service is — most places don’t anymore.
They also give music lessons.

So I bought a mesa boogie amp from Hix about a year ago. I bought it from the owner and he said it was his own personal practice amp. The price was fair but not more than two days later I had trouble with the amp. It cracked and popped all over the place. I came into the shop about a week later to ask about getting it fixed or returning it if the repair wasn’t covered. The owner himself told me that there is a 7 day return policy…7DAYS? They would not do anything, not acknowledge the problem, and instead tried to get me to buy effect pedals. The owner is the biggest scumbag I have ever encountered in my years of purchasing equipment. This store is a joke that prays off getting young kids to «learn music» from them. If you plan on making a big purchase go to Guitar Center instead and get a real warranty.
For the record I bought the amp for $ 400 at Hix, after it crapped out they would only offer me $ 150 for it. I went down the street to Guitar Center and explained the situation and they gave me $ 400 for the amp toward a trade in of a $ 600 amp.

Nice local owned store with caring teachers. My son has been taking lessons here for over two years. On time, caring and great pricing on their equipment with staying competitive with the big box tores. Awsome conert every year called «Rock You» with all the students performing on stage. Great value for your money and two locations. Keep up the good work.

I took lessons here when I was in high school. My Teacher, Adam, was a great guy and even better teacher. Only good things to be said for that. If you are looking to take guitar lessons, this is the place!
As for shopping there, its another story entirely.
The guys who work the registers are the most holier than-​thou-​pricks I’ve ever met. No other way to put it. It was actually only after I moved to Chicago and began perusing music stores there that I realized how much crap I had put up with at Hix. Overpriced and slow repair, poor selection, and sarcastic at best service.

Great classes, teachers and staff who really know their stuff. I have bought my kid’s guitar and a classical guitar from them and we play them everyday! The lessons are key! Learning from someone who really knows how to play is the best way to get better. Rock on, Hix Brothers!

Nice store with prices that can compete with Guitar Center. I’ve bought a bass, an amp, an overdrive pedal, a microphone and other random stuff here. They’ve made an effort to distinguish themselves by carrying some brands that big box stores don’t have, like Mesa Boogie, Orange, and various boutique effects pedals. And they have an audio/​recording section, which is unusual for smaller stores.
The staff is knowledgeable! I hate asking questions at a guitar store and having them recite the catalog listing to me. But Hix knows their inventory inside and out, and have showed me some items that I normally wouldn’t have checked out on my own.
They also put on a high school battle-​of-​the bands every year, which is really cool. It’s nice to see a place that is trying to give more opportunities for kids to play instead of just trying to make money off of them.