Best music stores in Birmingham: find options near you

Huge selection of guitars available, both new and used. My son demoed a few guitars, and the sales rep also showed us what we could get out of it in different playing styles. It was really helpful to try so many guitars at different price points to make sure you’re happy with your choice.

Outstanding: now THIS is what customer service means!

The exceptional service willingness and in-store personal attention of the Birmingham team are great. Telephone accessibility is very good and there is great understanding of special circumstances / demands.

The staff are also extremely friendly, not just because you are a customer, but really mean and genuine. They clearly enjoy their work and the customer contact that comes with it.

A great experience in a wonderful shop, where I snapped up a great offer that made a 40-year-old wish come true better than I ever imagined 🙂 Too bad I can’t just go from Maastricht to Birmingham for a moment every now and then…

Thank you, guys!

Good selection of instruments. The store seems very open and has a lot of space. It was nice to have a couple of private booths with amps to try out any of the guitars on sale.

Unfortunately the second salesman I spoke to wouldn’t do a deal on something that they have had on display for over 2 years. It’s a shame really as that was the only reason I travelled to PMT Birmingham was to try that specific instrument. It could have had a new owner a few weeks ago but that same guitar is still hanging on their large display wall.

Absolutely amazing customer service. I was buying a guitar for my 12 year old daughter and Grant couldn’t have been more helpful, taking his time and really looked after us. Highly recommend. Thanks Grant.

Although I do like browsing the store with its wide range of stock, the customer service is terrible. Gone are the days when the decent staff existed and actually cared about the customer experience. After an agreement over many emails for a trade in price against a new amp, and agreed a time to collect less than 24hrs beforehand, I drove 50+ miles to store to find the new amp sold the previous evening. Complete waste of time and fuel plus dissapointment. Talking to other customers in store, this is very common practice. A half hearted apology was offered, but it was so thin I was actually embarrassed for them. Absolutely clueless.

I’ll now avoid out of principle. Much better experience at Guitar Guitar or Fair Deal. Gone right downhill since they moved.

Wow what great place and experience. Definitely the biggest place I’ve seen by far, its geared towards guitars and drums but there’s something for everyone. These guys are true professionals and the staff are so knowledgeable and are obviously musicians them selves. 10/10 visited Saturday 30th. We’ll impressed.

I was amazed at the size of the store and the range of instruments. The sales assistant was really helpful in checking what I was looking for and suggesting a few instruments to try. I can’t wait to go back and buy some music stuff.

We are truly grateful for Fred’s patience, professionalism, and kindness. I have no knowledge about guitars at all, but Fred never made me feel uncomfortable or pressured. He explained the differences between each guitar clearly and helped us find one that perfectly suits my 10-year-old child. He also recommended suitable accessories based on our actual needs, without ever trying to upsell anything unnecessary. Most importantly, he was incredibly polite and respectful throughout the entire process. You can really feel that he cares and wants the best for his customers. Thank you so much, Fred!

A fantastic store with super friendly and helpful staff. They ordered the two guitars I wanted to try into the shop for me and time to try both without any pressure in the store. Really pleased with my purchase and wouldn’t go anywhere else for guitars or equipment. With thanks to the guys!

This place just gets better…the customer service is second to none…I bought an East Coast acoustic guitar for my son a few months ago (great guitar by the way) and he broke a string yesterday and needed it for tomorrow…I called in guitar guitar today and they changed it for nothing, the floor manager dealt with me and was just superb. I will always use guitar guitar quite simply for the outstanding service that you get. Thank you very much to the tremendous staff.

Had a great experience here, i spent the whole day here playing nearly every acoustic they had. Chatting with the staff but mostly left alone to just play the guitars and find “the one” with no pressure to buy. Mikey was a great help and by the time i left i felt like we were old friends. After trying all the guitars i found a j45 that had to come home with me. It’s an amazing guitar and looks pretty sweet too. Thanks guys.

Dave spent a lot of time with my partner and I to discuss our requirements. We are complete newbies and wanted to learn electric and acoustic alongside each other. Dave imparted lots of advice and made sure to help with our shortlisted process. Highly recommended, service couldn’t have been any better!

Awesome service from the team at GuitarGuitar. The instrument I was interested in was in stock at another store, but for a refundable deposit they shipped it to Birmingham for a trial. The staff were super helpful, no pressure at all and just offered any help needed, swapping out different guitars for comparison etc, and happy for me to bring my current guitar in to compare. As a result I’m really happy with my purchase. Thanks guys! Great range of guitars and pedals in stock, could easily spend all day there 🙂

A great shop with lots of stock. I was served by Fred who gave me loads of time and let me audition several guitars. Great service and competitive prices.

Not as good as their other larger store down the road, but still worth a look. Lots of memorabilia, nostalgia, and of course, music.

Lovely staff there. Collection is only okay, visit the vault if possible. Also bring your own bag, they cost 75p.

Let’s just say that this is one of my favourites shop in Bullring and Grand Central. Here is why.

I have went multiple times, even before I was interested in music, and I have a lot to say about this place.

The workers there are extremely nice and helpful and are always wearing a smile on their face and are ready to give you the best service they possibly can.

The store is easy to navigate, and it couldn’t be easier with their A-Z shelfs of vinyls and CDs. They have a choice for everyone’s genre, whether they are young or old. The staff are never rude and are very helpful.

I have a collection of CDs and vinyls, so it’s no surprise that most of those came from HMV.

The only downside is that they don’t have any cassettes in store, but I don’t really care as everything makes up for it.

I would 100% recommend this place for collectors of collectibles and any type of physical media (books, DVDs, vinyls, etc.) Even if you don’t like any of those, I still recommend that you go there to have a look. Thanks HMV!

Friendly staff. I bought some headphones a couple weeks back from HMV Manchester and they didn’t work so I brought them here and they replaced them no issues, great customer service

The vibe is really reminiscent of a lively comic shop, with a great atmosphere that makes you want to explore. They have a fantastic selection of posters and collectibles that catch your eye right away. I was particularly impressed by the variety of music albums and the Star Wars T shirts. You can find really rare things here that you wouldn’t find from other comic shops in Birmingham. And the X-Men posters were super cool!

As a hmv lover I had to head straight to this one!! So so much in store I didn’t really know where to start. There was a sale going on and we found some jumpers we liked. Was a lovely young lady called Sophie who helped us with sizes. I know we were really annoying but she was amazing lol. Till staff were great too, Dave spoke to my mum about Ozzy and then helped us with directions to the sabbath bridge. As out of towners this was really helpful. Managed to buy the jumpers and a cd. Could’ve easily got so much more. A great store.

Well stocked and friendly staff.
The lighting is a little dark for my old eyes.

Really like the shop
The assistance was 2nd to none
Love that they dont mind me getting guitars down and getting the “feel” of them
Only 4 stars as no movement on the price at all ( could be because was 2nd hand guitar and they have to make a profit ) but very happy with my purchase

We were served by Jay in the bass guitar area who was so helpful. He helped me try at least 4 different bass guitars to help decide what I wanted but without being at all pushy, even taking one of the basses off to tweak it to my preference before allowing me time to try it again and giving me time and space to play. His advice was excellent and I’m really happy with my purchase. At the same time my wife and daughter were off doing the same thing but with pianos (sorry I can’t recall the assistants name) and had a very similar experience with excellent advice and time and space to test the products thoroughly. We walked away very happy and are looking forward to the arrival of our piano!

Great looking store with an excellent vibe. The team are passionate and are very knowledgeable. They give musicians of all levels the time of day and bring the enthusiasm to keep them engaged in their hobby/instrument.

Jay/Jamie is fabulous, friendly and a great ambassador for the company. Keep it up! We need places like FDM to stay and thrive in Birmingham!

Fair Deal Music, in my eyes, is one of if not the best music shop in the central Birmingham area.

Since the closure and collapse of PMT, a large vacuum has been left in terms of good guitar and audio shops; and I believe FDM to be the shop that is filling that gap well.

The staff are welcoming, funny and extremely knowledgable in their respective areas of musical expertise. I had the pleasure of dealing with Harry in the front of house, who ran me through my ideal products of interest used for my own musical needs, settling on a Blackstar Polar 4. The decision was made as a combination of his own experience with the product, aided well by a YouTube review he had made on the product. Phenomenal customer service, paired with an equally amazing, personable approach.

In a nutshell, in a world defined by social media music shops such as Anderson’s that soak up a lot of traffic, it is a breath of fresh air to see something local still maintaining some breadth of personality and home-like approach, instead of the usual corporate-soulless approach to the music business.

Great atmosphere at the very professional Fair Deal Music.
Parking near enough which matters!
Anyone interested in music should be ok here, their stock seems to cover everything including, for me, an opportunity to check out some rare Gibson guitars. I always think it’s better to be able to try a guitar before you buy, and Fair Deal shuffled me off to their booth with a cup of tea while I tried out several guitars in peace…I didn’t buy this time but thanks for the service guys! If you haven’t been before…check it out!

We went in today to buy a violin for my daughter. The staff were very friendly and helpful, especially Paul. He guided us through different options based on our needs, and we ended up purchasing a violin based on his excellent suggestion.

The people really make this place! If you have the chance to be served by Wayne, you will be in great hands.

I asked ChatGPT for the best piano for my apartment and needs. Wayne recommended the EXACT same one. The man is walking google when it comes to music products. Such charisma and intelligence is rare to find in retail work so it’s nice to find someone who truly cares about what he does.

Looking forward to my delivery.

Tea, good music, great prices— not much more to be said! Went in as a first time customer and was kindly offered a cup of tea or coffee.. which I did have to decline out of paranoia I’d spill it everywhere! Decent assortment of records upstairs and tons of 45’s downstairs. Great shop with lovely owners, just be prepared to spend an hour or two digging through the 45’s

Excellent for digging!
You need two weeks just for discover what in the boxes are !
Peter great person an professional !

Great little shop within easy walking distance of the New Street train station. Knowledgeable staff and wide selection of albums.

Amazing place!! I found three records I’m enjoying at such great prices. I’ll definitely be visiting again 🙂

Fantastic record shop for digging, friendly staff and good prices

Visited birmingham specifically hunting for records on Tuesday, what a find this shop was.
A huge selection of different genres i could get lost for hours in here. Additionally the owner/staff were very helpful and friendly.
Definitely the best record store in brum, will make sure to visit again soon!

I visited today and purchased Bob Dylan’s album, Highway 61 revisited, the mobile fidelity pressing. The service and friendliness here is amazing, great prices and real music lovers! Couldn’t recommend highly enough

This shop is in a beautiful arcade at No.14. I missed it first time I walked through because there are 2 shops in one and it looked like a Warhammer vendor. Lots of reasonably priced new vinyl here which is arranged in alphabetical order unless it isn’t. However, the owner knows exactly where everything is if you are looking for something specific.

As others have said here, Rich is an absolute stalwart legend of Brum music and record culture. He’s always friendly, curious, and more than willing and able to recommend music based on the most esoteric tastes. His store may be small, but it’s perfectly formed and he does some amazing deals too. Cannot recommend him highly enough. Long may he remain.

My First stop in independent record stores, one thing I rate highly is the owner and his ethos of selling brand new records which is a rarity in indie record stores. His prices are always fair and he knows what is hot even from small bands, he’s usually either got it on order or already in and does his absolute best to get records in he hasn’t got in stock.

STRONGLY RECCOMEND a visit!

Rich is an absolute legend. He will do everything in his power to get you whatever Vynil you are after. He is also so knowledgeable when it comes to music, he can recommend records based off your taste and the prices are the cheapest I’ve seen.
I will go to no-one else for my records!

Ignite is exactly what a proper indie record store should be about. Not only does it always have a fantastic selection (including many titles you won’t find elsewhere), but Rich always remembers what records you bought before (or finds out what you’re into if it’s your first time shopping there) and then makes recommendations based on that. I’ve discovered some great new music as a result. This personal touch makes all the difference, in my view. He’s currently between premises at the moment following the sad closure of the Oasis, but he’s still doing mail order, and once he’s sorted with new premises (hopefully very soon!), I would absolutely recommend popping in, whatever your musical tastes.

Superb selection of indie records including some rare gems hard to find elsewhere. Prices are very competitive and customer service is superb. The current (temp?) location in the Great Western Arcade allows for lots of crate digging activities due to great layout. Highly recommend for vinyl music lovers!

First stop for any records my husband and I need. I love Rich’s attention to detail. As a regular he knows exactly what we are looking for when we visit and always tells us about new stock he has we might be interested in. Top guy! So friendly and have added many to our collection from him. Great range of records from all genres too.

I purchased an Irish bouzouki case from Hobgoblin in the USA several months ago, so when I realized I could visit the store for real while in Birmingham, I went! They have a fantastic selection of folk instruments to try, including Irish bouzouki (several varieties), Irish citern, mountain dulcimers (for the lap and also a stick one, and “walking” style that can be played standing up), Turkish ouds, mandolins, accordions, concertinas, all kinds of guitars, violins, cellos, music, strings, cases, cords and plugs and things like that, harmonicas, flutes, clarinets, etc etc, you name it! And not only are the employees super friendly, but the other customers are helpful as well! I love my new mandolin, and feel like I made some new friends in the process! ❤️

Huge thanks to Dot who serviced my clarinet. It’s now as good as new after not being played for a decade, and all for a very reasonable price.

I visited there on 17.02.25 mid-afternoon. Good selection of instruments and accessories. The only reason I gave it a four instead of a five was the service. I was waiting at the till for a while despite there being someone there. Once I was eventually served, small things such as a smile would have gone a long way. I didn’t get the impression the server really wanted to be there. I’m sure everyone else working there gives better service so will definitely go back.

Difficult to find.
Staff very helpful and let you have a shot at the accordions.
Also did a demo.
Husband thought a reasonable stock.

Great selection of instruments and really knowledgable staff.

Excellent customer service and detailed knowledge of the instruments they sell
Excellent people.

Some years ago I was looking for a new mandoiin. It is of course important to try an instrument, because simply reading the specification gives you only half the story. I tried a very nice one in the Hobgoblin shop in Birmingham, by playing Gardebylaten (sorry, I can’t do the Swedish accidentals on my computer) because it is a tune we use frequently in morris dancing. The woman behind the counter immediately asked, in Swedish, if I was Swedish. Well, no, I’m Welsh, but I was very impressed with her interest in what I was doing. Full marks to her and to Hobgoblin Birmingham.

Great selection of used music gear. If you are looking for instruments this is the place to go. A few people were in the store playing to test the guitars and it sounded great. The staff member was very helpful in recommending a good starter guitar for my son who wants to learn to play.

Good people, good gear, good prices, and good vibes. Not a giant corporation, but they’ll beat the big store prices. I’m so glad they’re there, and I hope they always will be!

Great selection of guitars! There are some great speciality pieces here too. The employees are all very humble and helpful. I dig the vibe for sure. I mean…that pink guitar is amazing.

First time in the shop today. Went in to grab some strings and ended up buying a new guitar!

The deal was so good that I didn’t even play it in the store. Snagged a pre owned (and flawless) Ibanez RG5 with a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gate at the bridge, a Hot Rail in the middle, and an EMG H4 at the neck for $250! There’s more than $250 in pickups on it!

Will absolutely be stopping in regularly to check out the inventory.

Great selection and customer service. I found a great deal on a beautiful accoustic bass. I felt comfortable throughout my shopping experience. The staff was welcoming polite and knowledgeable.

These guys are rad. Took a guitar in for some work. Lots of guitars. Cool place.

My boyfriend is a music equipment collector and we visited this store together. One of the workers ignored him at first, and then when my boyfriend asked him for the price of some vintage amps again, the man asked if he had enough money for them. ??? Finally he went online so he could decide a price and gave us a price 800-1000 dollars more than they sell for. I am unsure why he would ask that of him and I would hope that this worker refrains from making rude assumptions or stereotyping in the future.

After reading other reviews, this is a common occurrence.

Consistently phenomal service.

I had various works done on my guitars over the years, from basic set ups to major heavy tools action stuff.

Always a very quick turnaround, more than decent pricing and overall great chaps to talk to.

Nice selection of guitars and amps in the shop, especially the rare pieces.

Hands down 10/10

Tom

I bought a floral JEM a couple of weeks ago from The Little Guitar Shop. Great guitar, great shop, friendly atmosphere and brilliant staff.

I was very pleased with their services. I recommend them for any kind of guitar repairs or if you want a new one, they have all types.

Absolutely fantastic guitar shop and luthier. My first visit was on the recommendation of a pro’ musician. Quality stock from the likes of Gibson, Fender and more, plus first-class customer service. I’ve been really pleased with the work they’ve done on my guitars – managing to get them looking, feeling and playing better than before.

It is little and it is a guitar shop and the staff are always really friendly, helpful and have time for the customers. Have some interesting new and vintage guitars, basses, amps, pedals, plus a good stock of essentials and repair services. Everyone there is helpful and informative without any of the ‘attitude’ you can sometimes get in music shops. They really will take the time to talk and offer any advice, information and just have a chat with customers. There should be more shops like this around.

I bought a pair of their humbuckers for a guitar I was building. They both sound fantastic, clear and powerful. Very happy.

Highly unprofessional job had been done over accustic guitar saddle. It’d been inappropriately grinded – in order to lower string action –, it was made curved not flat causing it to wobble. Tension put by bass strings causes rise of violin strings’ side of saddle. Need prop saddle with tiny wood shaving. More than that bridge suffered a few dents from pin puller. Yet the review that I posted previously together with pictures was supposedly deleted as having been unfavorable. No remorse? No mercy! Will add pictures again.

Could spend all day in there!

Great value vinyl and a huge selection.

Soundgarden was playing when we went in so extra stars for that and the tribute to Ozzy in the window

Huge selection of used vinyl and new. Lots of classical and 7 inch. Very reasonable prices.

Superb record shop. Amazing selction of vinyl at decent prices. Friendly and helpful staff (sorry for not catching your name!). Awesome decor too with band promotional materials on display. I spent 2hrs+ there and came away with 20+ 7″ vinyls and a tape. Could have happily spent twice as long.

Really great assortment in here; no matter what you’re into, it’s covered. New records, used records, CDs— it has the lot. Good tunes playing when you walk in, and you get offered reasonable prices. Not much more to ask for.

Awesome local business!
The Birmingham spot for vinyl record enthusiasts!
Jake sets a standard for customer service and passion for the craft!
Definitely recommend

A great treasure trove of records. Lots of vinyl that I’ve not seen in other shops with very fair prices. Don’t forget to go round the corner, in the shop, to find classical recordings and a large selection of 45″ singles.

Very nice little shop. Glad I found this place. Very friendly guy that was working there who I had a bit of a chat with (assumed it was there owner but never asked really)
Lots of new records but also a good selection of second hand ones too. Seemed to be a lot of 45s there too but I didn’t look at them at all. Great shop, hope to visit again in the not too distant future