The Starving Musician - Santa Cruz

The Starving Musician is a great place to visit. You can test the instrument you want before purchasing. I went to sell a couple of instruments that had been used in my home, and they paid a generous sum. Staff is professional and follows all legal procedures to ensure quality products.
It's lots of fun and reasonable prices, making it easy to pick up another instrument .

Good shop, visitors need to ask for knowledgeable help and wait for it. Not in same league as Sylvan for vintage/collectable, but got a GREAT deal on a blond 2006 ES175D OHSC case queen. Shop setup was spot on, threw in strings and strap. Bring cash and dont blink.

Lot's of cool instruments plan on returning with more 💰

I was buying a gift for my husband and received a lot of personalized help! As an example, when I told the kind of music my husband listens to and plays, one of the employees showed me a guitar that I would have never tried (this one ended up being the perfect one!) Super awesome staff, friendly, accommodating, and would recommend going on a weekday:)

Good place and the employees make you feel welcome and are knowledgeable of products. Its a plus thatvthey carry used items

I recently received an old acoustic guitar and needed to get some basic supplies to get it up and running. I was pretty pumped and didn’t want to wait for Amazon deliveries so I headed down to the local music shop in Santa Cruz. I bought a guitar stand, 2 packs of strings, a few picks and a 🎶 tuner. The staff was nice and helped me out pretty quickly. It looks like they have a decent selection of used and new items.

After I got home and settled down I checked the prices and was pleasantly surprised that all of the items were the same price as what I saw online! I didn’t feel ripped off like I was expecting too by over paying for any of the gear.

I will definitely be going back for more shredding supplies in the future!

Great selector of new and use equipment. Like the collection of bass guitars.

I've recently moved close to Santa cruz and needed some stuff for my guitar. There are few great music stores in Santa Cruz but I came to starving musicians. They are in downtown SC and parking is easy.
They have a great selection of instruments, specially electric guitars. The staff are friendly and very knowledgeable. Prices are also fair. Definitely recommend this place.

Been coming here since I was a kid and they were on ocean street, bought and sold several instruments through them, and it's always been a positive experience. The employees are more than willing to help you find what you need and are very encouraging to beginners. Plus there's always funky instruments in there that are fun to mess around with. This store just has a great vibe.

The store is so awesome. The ambiance is killer and the selection of music is great too. I got to see some classic games and even so modern vinyl records too! I hope to come back to pick up some stuff! Oh and the staff are just friendly as can be!

With a wide range of experience each employee brings their own taste and opinions which are great for learning more about the products they have and also how to be a better musician. I miss the old location that seemed larger and had more unusual and odd stuff, but the service is excellent and when I am in a bind they always seem to be able to get me out of it.

They are following COVID protocols by limiting the number of people in the store at a time and ensuring mask adherence for patrons. I got what I needed right away and didn't have to wait. Overall a good and safe experience.

Always a good place to come to frequently, loads of new stuff and nice staff.

Asked to test a tube amp head, they power it on and hand me an instrument cable. Minutes pass by with no sound and I realize they didn't hook up a speaker to take the load from the output transformer of the amp. R.I.P. to that amp

10/10 would come again

One stop shop is becoming a SC icon and cornerstone of this interactive musicman conscious uprising we are taking part in currently.

Great place excellent service. Very friendly and knowledgeable staff. Great location with free parking. Excellent store policies. Only guitar store I know of that encourages you to try out the equipment before purchasing. Specialize in used gear.

Cool shop really nice folks running the place and pretty good selection of guitars

Moved from their old location to downtown santa Cruz. It's my favorite music store in the area. They are reasonably priced and have a good selection on most things. They are a lot cheaper than other places and also sell used instruments which I really like. The staff is really knowledgeable and helpful.

This is the greatest music store. Although most guitars are lower end,they also have the Lowest prices for a few high end guitars.There are real pearls to be found by a buyer who knows their Gibson,Fender ,and Taylor guitars.There won't be many of them,but I got lucky with each one of those names.The staff couldn't be more helpful. What a fun place to visit ,if you enjoy playing guitar music.

Best music place in town, nice vibe, no hard sell, huge selection of instruments.

My friend brought his guitar in for new strings, and because he has poor eyesight, he asked for assistance in restringing. Though there were quite a few customers needing assistance, my friend was told they'd have it done within about 40 minutes. We browsed a few other stores and came back in 30 minutes, delighted to discover his guitar was ready -- for about $30.