King’s Music

I have had my Gibson SG restrung & he traded me a brand new acoustic guitar for my old best up Yamaha. friendly service and very fair prices !!

Great place for kids music lessons. My son has been going to Kings for almost 2 years and takes lessons from Carrie. I couldn’t ask for a better teacher. Her level of care and concern is amazing and my son’s trombone skills have risen to new levels under Carrie’s instruction. She’s awesome.

Best place for repairs! Let me explain.
I know when it comes to repairs, us musicians panic! We just want our precious instruments back ASAP in working
long story short, a friend of mine gave me a 1968 AMPEG B-​15 head. Super sweet! Only problem… it needed repair :(sadly I couldn’t play it And I needed in working condition by Sunday. If you’re from Philly then you know theres like a hand full of music stores and the odds of them being backed up or even getting to your gear within two week is slim. I needed mine done in two days. And Kings music made it happen! :) super fast service repair at a great price. I highly recommend Kings music.

I purchased a beautiful banjo from Joe, the owner of King’s music via Ebay. Joe went out of his way to ensure that my instrument was shipped out promptly, despite a major illness occurring with his family member. I would recommend King’s Music to any musician looking for fair prices and honesty when making their next instrument purchase. A+++ !

REAL musicians — don’t bother. The store is a hole-​in-​the-​wall joint. When I tried to buy a music stand, «with a strong desk to hold music,» I was shown an old wire stand. When I asked for a more substantial portable stand, I was shown a heavy non-​collapsible stand. This place is typical Philadelphia — nothing of substance with plenty of hype. Save your time and money.

I don’t normally post reviews on Unilocal,but what happened at this music shop, King’s Music in south Philly, was bad enough that I felt that I had a duty to warn others. Here are the details… you can judge for yourself.
In the summer of 2014, while living in Rittenhouse Park area of Philly and attending graduate school, I needed to have my flute cleaned and contacted this music shop in South Philly. This flute, by the way, was purchased in Cairo, Egypt for about $ 400 (I own another flute that was purchased in Istanbul, Turkey for about $ 400, also). I dropped off my flute, they sent it out to their contact to clean it, and I picked it up about a week and a half later. I was happy to pay the requested $ 70 for the cleaning because the cleaning job was fantastic. I was so happy that I even purchased one of the flutes that was on display in the shop for about $ 200, along with a case for the flute. So, then, I had three flutes.
Fast forward to May 2015 and I needed to get all three of my flutes cleaned. I contacted this music shop again and they said they were happy to do it. So, I dropped off my flutes and was informed two days later that it would be $ 90 per flute, or a sum of $ 270, to which I agreed. A week and a half passed and I contacted the shop to find out the status on my flutes and was told they’d be ready in two days and they would call me. No call came. I contacted the shop again and they told me the same thing, but again no phone call from them. So, I kept contacting them several times about every three days over the course of about three weeks and was always told the same thing… the flutes will be ready in two days and I’ll get a phone call. But I never received any phone call. On one of the phone calls that I made to them, the receptionist (who I suspect is a family member or some other close relation) asked if I’d be willing to pay for the flutes over the phone, to which I declined (they already had my flutes, I wouldn’t dare trust them with a payment upfront). On the next-​to-​last phone call that I made to them, the «receptionist» could sense that I was unhappy and chatted with the owner for a few seconds and told me, again, that it would be about two days. I asked to speak to the owner and she said that he was unavailable because he was heading out of the shop. So, now, the owner wouldn’t even speak to me and inform me as to what is going on. On my final call to them, they wouldn’t answer the phone.
I have been putting off a summer trip to wait for these flutes and can put it off no longer. So, in the end, or as of now, I’m out three flutes worth about $ 1000 in total, which have simply been taken by this «music store» from whom I could never get a straight answer. I fully realize that a musical instrument is just a physical object, but I loved my flutes. I have travelled around the world with them and am forever grateful for the many hours of happiness that they brought me. Much like a family pet, I considered them members of my family. I would love to be able to edit and update this posting to report that my flutes have been returned and all is well, but, as of now, I will/​would never shop at this shop, buy anything at this shop, or utilize any service from this shop. If you have an instrument that you love, I would keep it far, far away from this place.
Judge for yourself… you’ve been warned.
Edit 7÷15÷2015: To be completely forthcoming, here’s what happened after the prior review. I sent the shop a certified letter demanding the return of my flutes. Within an hour of the shop receiving the letter (I had the tracking info), I received a text message from the owner stating that my flutes would be ready the following Monday morning. On Monday morning, about halfway to the shop, the shop owner called me and told me the flutes wouldn’t be ready until the following morning because his worker had some issue with the utilities at his house. He also stated he would give me a discount to the cost that he paid for them. The following morning, Tuesday, I went to pick up the flutes. At the shop, I observed all three and saw that they were, indeed, clean and I assembled them and played them in the shop. Two of the three flutes had an error in re-​assembly and didn’t work correctly. The one that did work had some sort of scratch or burn on it, which was not on it when I brought the flute in, but I overlooked it (I also suspect that the flute had been swapped for another flute). The owner gave me a… wait for it…$ 10 discount! So, I paid $ 80 for the one flute and left. The owner said he would repair the remaining two flutes and contact me. Later that day, he contacted me to tell me the flutes were repaired. I picked them up on Thursday and paid the remaining $ 160 ($ 90 each, minus the $ 10 discount).
All said and done, I will never go back to this store or recommend this store, and it, unfortunately, reinforces the negative perception of South Philly.

Summary: Worst shop in Philadelphia. Never going back — ever.
Where to start with this train wreck?
I dropped my guitar (a 1983 Gibson Explorer, a rather iconic guitar) off on February 11^th (a Wednesday) for a pickup wiring. A simple task, felt like helping out a local business, so why not? Well, the woman at the disk was… unknowledgeable of what I wanted. She kept calling the toggle switch a «flippy-​thing». How do you not know the basic terminology if you work at a music store??? Whatever, that can pass. She told me I would receive a phone call regarding a price quote and seeing if I would give the green light to send it to their out-​of-​house tech the next day, as Joe King (the owner) was not available at the moment. That’s totally cool. Thursday came and by, nothing.
Okay? So, I go to call the store on Friday. He still wasn’t available. I called saying «I dropped my Gibson Explorer off on Wednesday» and again the ditz-​of-​an-​employee was like «uhhhh» «The big… black Gibson?» «OH!» Gee. Not like they’ve been around for 60 years at this point… Again, whatever. I was told I’d get a call back later that day. Lo and behold, nadda. Saturday, try several times, busy or no answer — left messages. Sunday, same thing but I went by their shop and they were closed (despite Google saying they were open?).
Monday came, and I called AGAIN. Apparently, my guitar was sent off to the tech without my consent or giving me a price quote! Okay, whatever, most shops would just charge $ 50 for a pickup installment (Spoiler alert: The final price was not $ 50). Now I’m in the mercy of the tech. I’d call back every other day to ask if they had updates, nadda.
About two weeks later, the tech calls my cellphone to discuss what I want. Thankfully, he was nice and relaxed and seemed knowledgeable. Everything was fine with him.
But a week later, I started calling the store again, with no updates on my guitar. Now I’m getting really upset. I was told by Joe King (again, the OWNER) that my guitar would be back on March 9^th. On March 9^th, I was going on vacation for spring break, and I called Joe that morning to see if he had my guitar in. He told me that he’d have it in late afternoon/​early evening. Unfortunately, I had a 2PM bus to DC to catch, so I told him he’d have to hold it till Friday, and I’ll return to pick it up.
Friday comes. With this AMAZING, totally professional, five star consistency (note: sarcasm), what do you think happened? They didn’t have it still! He said he’d have it in that night, but I was busy that night, and informed him of such, and wouldn’t be able to pick it up till Sunday night. Joe, seemingly agitated at me (lol?), gave me his cellphone number so I could call him Sunday and he’d show up and open the store to give me my guitar back.
Sunday night comes (this is March 15^th, by the way). The moment of truth. I call his phone (at about 830, maybe 9 at absolute latest), and… no answer. Uhhhhhh? Call again. No answer. Call AGAIN, right to his full voicemail box. Excuse me? So I send a text and wait half an hour, and FINALLY get a call from Joe saying he was on his way! WHOA. So I got there and he said «What can I say, I’m a man of my word!» «Uh…» We ring up the transaction and as I’m looking over the guitar to make sure it wasn’t injured, he goes «Now, I KNOW I gave you a price.» «…No, you didn’t, actually.» «Well, it’s $ 115»
That’s right, folks. A service ANY other tech will do in half the time for more than half the price, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN US DOLLARS. He would NOT back down, insisting the store «only gets like $ 15 from this». I was agitated and tired, so I reluctantly paid and left.
Luckily, everything works (not EXACTLY wired the way I wanted it, but I’ll take it; it’s not a travesty) and the guitar wasn’t injured but holy crap.
If you’re a musician who actually gives two shits about music, don’t support this con-​artist. Support a shop that hires employees that know a thing or two (like Bluebond)!
Never. Shop. Here.

Easy going, knowledgeable staff that is kind and courteous every time I stop in. Their store is regularly stocked with name brand instruments, accessories and gives music lessons on top of it all. Before you head out of town to Guitar Center or Sam Ash to get something as simple as strings or if you are in the market for a new instrument give King’s Music a try!
I came in the other day on a whim and got a couple of chords, some DR strings, and some sticks. I went to practice and the first pair of sticks that they had recommended withstood the beating that my drummer put on them and he usually breaks about 2 to 4 a practice. My guitar player plugged in the chord that I bought and for whatever reason it was giving off a bad hum… so, I took it back with the receipt, the owner looked at me, told me he remembered who I was and handed me another chord with an additional 20ft! That’s service you won’t get at any other store big or small!
All in all, King’s music is a solid music store and I highly recommend them as someone who has been playing for almost 20 years. Definitely support their great local business and spread the word about their shop!

This is an exceptional music instruction and merchandising location. My 8 year old daughter goes here for guitar. The owner is an accomplished musician. In addition you can buy and sell instruments. Highly recommended. Two weeks of summer camp, which my daughter LOVES!!!

Joe is passionate about music and incredibly knowledgeable in all stringed instruments. It’s a great, small shop stocked with a wide range of instruments and accessories. Stop in and check it out for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

Really pleasant man own’s this shop. Not pushy at all, genuinely interested in talking to his customers about music. Lots to choose from, and fair prices.

Maybe I am old school, but I still care about customer service. I absolutely love to support a local business, but this one will not be it. It took them 3 weeks to get some basic wiring fixed in a bass amp. They NEVER called back when I asked them to please call back and give me information. I called them about 10 times for an update, and not once did they call back. If I have to hound a business to give me my stuff back, that is not good. I was hoping that they would at least once, reach out to inform me of what was going on since it took them a record amount of time to fix the equipment. Def. not a music store for actual musicians.

The place is a good stop for, as a previous reviewer called it, bread-​and-​butter supplies. I totally agree. Mic stand, the exact model I needed, he happened to have at a great price. The owner is very attentive. Go and patronize this store.

Since Sam D’amico’s closed in south Philly years ago I’ve been struggling with trying to find a place to pick up bread and butter supplies. The first time I was in the owner was real helpful and eager to keep what I needed in stock. Excited to see how these guys grow.
P. S. along with the comic book shop next door I’m going to be losing a lot of cash on the ave!