For me it’s a bit of a hike to get here but it’s worth the trip every time. Everyone there are pros and fantastic to work with.

Went in to get some new strings for my Bass, having never bought new strings. John helped me pick out the proper strings, strung them for me and taught me some good information about guitar care at the same time. Checked the price of the strings I bought when I got home, they are nearly 3x as expensive on Amazon! Great deal and super helpful staff!

We love Dale City Music. Everyone at this store has been nothing but helpful and friendly with our family for years. Our kids take Drum lessons with Steve and Saxophone lessons with Scott. They are both excellent instructors. My kids have made so much progress and truly enjoy and love their instruments. I don’t even have to ask my kids to practice! Even through the pandemic, they have made virtual learning work for both my kids. I highly recommend them. Working with them is such a pleasure!

As always, Jake and everyone at DCM was incredibly helpful!! I would never go anywhere else!!

My daughter started taking lessons at Dale City Music earlier this year. Shes active with different activities that are sometimes unpredictable, and sometimes necessitated schedule changes with her music lesson. Dale City requires 24 hours’ notice for rescheduling, of which we made best and every effort to adhere to. The difficulty is that in order to give them 24 hours notice, they require that you get a live person, at their store, on the phone. If they dont answer or are otherwise unavailable, too bad. Its on you. Phone messages (they dont have a way to leave one anyway), emails, Facebook messages -- none of them matter. And you only have a 50/50 chance, at best, of getting them to answer their phone during their published open hours. I have 3 kids, all of which have been in some sort of music lessons over the years with different companies, as well as lots of other activities, and by far, Dale City Music is the most difficult, unreasonable outfit Ive ever experienced or worked with. They seem to take pride in being completely and utterly unreasonable. They almost relish in making quick and easy schedule changes painful. You could have a family member die, and theyd still charge you for a lesson that you cant make because of a funeral, even if you attempted to contact them in advance. They make no exceptions for any reason, whatsoever. Ever.Worse, when you do try to reschedule and they say you cant, as you scramble to try to adjust things so your kid can get to their lesson as previously scheduled, they cancel the lesson anyway -- but still charge you.And worse still, when your kid actually attends a lesson -- of which youre paying $1/min for -- the instructor chit-chats about off topic subjects with your kid for 7-10 minutes while youre on the clock paying for that chit-chat and making the 30 minute lesson more of a 20 minute one.Finally, worst of all, the chit-chat that the middle-aged divorced instructor is engaging in with your teenage daughter is wholly inappropriate discussion about his ex-wife and other things that have absolutely nothing to do with learning how to play an instrument. I had expected to pay for music lessons, not for some guy to charge me by the minute to engage in having my daughter get to know him better.There are far superior, and friendly, choices for music lessons that Dale City Music. You’ll regret wasting your time (and money) with them. Without a doubt.

Jake provided outstanding customer service A+++

This is an old Review so if the owners respond its kinda too late. Im just reposting since Google has a better review page now.The Good: They are small and local, so you dont have to drive far to check out some lower end or mid range guitars. They also have some used gear that you can check out as well. They do lessons and have a lot of students. So if you want to go check out some music gear or get some lessons and you dont want to drive more than 20 minutes this is the place.The Bad: Nothing in the store they sell, or that they do would be considered good. Its either low end, fair or mediocre. The service is mediocre. The selection is Very Small. The prices are no better than any other place and I mean arent as low but close. They dont have what youre looking for most of the time and discounts arent that great either. Guitar Center has a much bigger selection and much better prices though they are further away and dont have the most reliable staff see my other reviews. The service at Action Music is probably the best in the area and Dale City Music pales in comparison. They also lose in the repairs category VS Union Street Guitars and Action Music who are much faster and better at quality repairs. If youre looking for used guitars there are plenty of pawn shops and resellers in the area that beat them too. Dale City Music is pretty much 2nd or 3rd in every category in comparison with the stores in the area. Even Music and Arts beats them in the price department since they price match.The Bad Continued: Youd think that even though they dont have the best prices, even though they dont have the best selection or best repairs they would have the best staff. Wrong again. They arent very social. They arent the most friendly. They kind of just sit there, doing nothing. No gear talk, or items theyre excited about. Its very much like buying an oven or a microwave. Just appliances with prices and if you have basic questions they can answer them, but its not an experience. No actual excitement or interest in the gear. Its just a transaction. Youd probably have a more social interaction at every single other store you could think of. Perhaps they have the best lessons? I never had to take any, but at the same time if they are mediocre in every category I highly doubt they excel in lessons.Final Verdict: If you are not interested in getting a great deal. If youre not interested in getting exceptional service. If you dont care about the repairs. If youre not looking for a wide selection. If all you care about is distance from you to a guitar store thats pretty much the only strong point for this store. Which is a real bummer because youd think that a mom and pop shop would have a personal touch and real friendly quality. If it was there, its long gone now. Its painful to see a music shop have that many problems. Anyone reading this working there or a customer, dont take this personally. When you compare other stores Dale City Music just doesnt cut it. Objectively they are not a good store.But some heavy straws broke the camels back.The first was recrowning a single fret. The clerk tried to dupe me into some fret buzz while playing it laying down and really plucking it hard to get it to buzz. I calmly picked it up, put it in the playing position (because when its laying down it bends the neck slightly causing it to bend and buzz a smidge more.) and playing it normally instead of like a bass player. And it didnt buzz. I told him Thats funny, it doesnt buzz for me. and he realized I wasnt stupid, and I let it slide.The second issue was when I brought a Les Paul with a cracked neck. I explained there was a time limit since I just bought it and it was still returnable. 30 days. They explained they could fix it. I got it back some time later and it wasnt fixed and the neck was now really sticky. I asked them again to fix it again and the repairman refused to speak to me on the phone or in person. I gave up on the place after this and simply returned the guitar

Great staff, super helpful and knowledgeable!!

Very nice store. Well run and helpful staff

Great store! They tuned my guitar, violin and ukulele very quickly. Thanks!

I was told this store was a good store to buy gear at. I stopped by last week to pick up some mini congos. I was told by the associate who was less than helpful this was all they had. I noticed some slight damage, and I asked for a new set in the box. he said they didnt have a new one.I asked for a discount for the damage noted. he said he couldnt but his manager could when he gets back off Holiday. I purchased in good faith and sent a note to the manager via facebook messenger. the manager called me yesterday and told me he wasnt willing to discount the damaged mini congos as they were low end. I will not go back to this store.

Extremely knowledgeable and friendly. Their prices are quite reasonable, especially for repair. They are very music instructor friendly and are able to get instruction books if they dont already have them. More of a family feel not a big commercial operation. We use them for all our music and instrument needs.

Both our boys take lessons here: drum and guitar. Gary and Steve have really helped our kids fall in love with their instruments and appreciate music even more. Josh and John are always in the store, as pleasant and helpful as can be. Being around these great folks has even gotten me playing again. Great place! Thanks, DCM!

I BOUGHT THIS SLX3 FROM DALE MUSIC it came with no trim Springs the trim was loose in the shipping box and damaged the guitar there are no Springs to be found in the shipping box or anywhere on the guitar I called the owner he called me a liar and says his employees dont make mistakes he refused the refund nice way to do business here is the photos of the guitar I did receive my money back after I got a hold of the credit card company and Reverb I did get refunded only when they got involved

Awesome big help when I needed measurements for an instrument

Great visit. Went to the store for classical guitar strings. They had them put on my guitar in about 15mins and tuned. Great customer service. I will be going back for all my musical needs. Thanks!

Note: The shop has moved a few doors down to a bigger location since I wrote this review. Its still awesome though!For as small as this storefront looks on the outside, Dale City Music has an impressive selection of gear and accessories. The people working there are very knowledgeable and informative in helping me choose gear and accessories for myself and my two sons, and were able to set up and re-string my sons guitar and my bass for me. My sons are also taking lessons with Bill teaching guitar and Paul teaching drums. My boys are at the bare-bones beginner level and the instructors are patient and have really helped them learn, and have also taken a moment to show me what the kids are learning so I can help them with practicing at home.

Awesome Music Store & Great Staff! KPJ 2020

My 8yo is in piano with Mr Paul, and my 7yo is in guitar with Mr Nick they love their lessons. The staff is amazing and I’m so thankful to have found them.

The people here are so nice rental pricesAre cheep

Most of the time theres not an issue but the last thing I expected was to be given attitude when I ran into a time restraint for a repair - something beyond my control and theirs. But telling me itll get done when it gets done isnt acceptable, especially when I initially requested a swap. Ive rented and purchased multiple instruments from them. Not cool.

Very helpful and friendly staff, also very knowledgeable. Got my guitar repaired quickly and at a decent price. 9/10, would go again.

I Very friendly and knowledgeable staff. I brought my tuba in to be repaired and they did and EXCELLENT job. I was repaired and cleaned also. I not only got to sound good but I looked outstanding. Thank you staff... I will always send clients to you when I hear they have an instrument problem.

Good place por the kids to learn music. Great teachers. Casey is really nice.

Very nice and patience staff. He answered all the questions that my children had no matter how silly it was. He took his time explaining how to care for the instruments.

Kids are taking piano and ukelele lessons. Teachers are great, staff is friendly and accommodating, and process are good.

Have gone here for years taking drum lessons. Great staff. Best music store in the state.

They did an amazing job on my viola and answered all my questions. It was a fabulous cleaning and restrung job.

Weve been renting violins from Dale City Music for years for our boys. Always a great experience and the store remodel looks great.

This is where I learned to play guitar. Friendly staff and great prices. If you are local and looking for a place to send your child to learn to play this would be my suggestion.

Because i cant find it andIts annoying to keep looking at your phone so u can find this place

A wonderful music store to be sure!Yesterday I was traveling to dale city for a chili cook-off and found myself wandering through a strip mall in search of music. I first walked into a pawn shop where I was shouted at and so I left disappointed.To my pleasure though, I ended up in Dale City Music and was greeted politely by the owner and given a tour of his shop.The associate helping me was knowledgeable, friendly, and picked up on my aesthetic tastes immediately. Quickly, I was offered to play/plug in and try some Stratocasters.As a fender dealer, they were all very helpful and most likely be seeing from my face again for an amp purchase. I have my eye on a blue finish yamaha as well!

Not only does this place have a surprisingly great (and well-kept) collection for the size of the store, they have incredible customer service. I went in looking to buy a bass, talked to somebody, and within minutes I was plugged in to a bass amp trying suggested bass guitars based on my price range and the sound I was looking for. After maybe 20 minutes of trying stuff out, I decided I wanted to leave and browse guitar center to make sure I was getting my ideal instrument for my price range. The person helping me was extremely understanding and even encouraged me to do so. I returned the next day disappointed in guitar center and overwhelmed by how friendly and well ranged Dale City Music is. The people at the store worked with me to get to a price that I could deal with. On top of all of that, they routinely check all of their instruments too make sure theyre up to standard and will set-up your guitar complimentary with purchase. They have an amazing selection of guitars, basses, ukuleles, drums, straps, strings, accessories, etc. Anyone from entry level to professional musicians would feel at home here.

We are renting an instrument for my child for school. The monthly rental fee is a fair price and the instrument is of good quality

Very knowledgeable about guitars, shopping decisions made easy.

They only give store credit for refunds. Its not the type of store credit where they build a relationship with the customer, by creating an account and keeping a tab. Its not more modern where they give you a store card that you can keep in your wallet for years. They just give you a written receipt with Store Credit written on it. Never coming here again.

I like supporting a local store, guys are friendly and quick with repairs.

Took my son in for a beginner music lesson which went well. I scheduled a second for a week later. The following day I received a call and the store said they need to cancel as they were moving location... I said OK, can i schedule for a week later? The lady said... Yeah were busy that week. I said, OK, what about the following week (2 weeks later). She said, Yeah, well, it looks like were busy that week, yeah. I then asked, What about the following week. Her comment, we probably going to be busy then too. I asked her, What does probably mean if Im trying to schedule and what about a next month. She said, Well, yah were got people scheduling for that week already and I dont know who might schedule and next month is booked to. I then said to her, Nevermind, Ill go somewhere else. Her comment, Yeah, ok sure.In closing, I would NOT go back to Dale City Music. Not only was the staff very unhelpful, but scatterbrained and unprofessional.

Nice place, plenty to select from

Great customer service.

Very unprofessional staff she sat at the computer from the Time I walked in to the time I left and never spoke. I was sent here on a recommendation as Im in the market for 2 guitars, I wouldnt return to purchase a pick to strum a chord.

Nice guys and very helpful.

Thank you is good service

Nice and helpful staff

Great folks!

Nice place