Randolin Music Store and Guitar Repair

When I moved to Vermont from Costa Rica I needed a guitar. When I met Nowa (the owner of Randolin) he spoke to me in Spanish, which I found he learned in Valencia, Spain during his training as a luthier. I bought a guitar from him although eventually I found my soul-instrument(s) in percussion, so I have purchased guiro, guira, maracas and bongos from him. That said, the focus of Randolin is mostly on sale, repair and creation of string instruments. The space is wonderful, you go through the workshop where he does all the work, and then is a retail space with guitars, mandolins, violins, etc, including some instruments built by him. The surroundings are very beautiful, with neighboring gardens from a Buddhist Center and a trail. Coming into Randolin Music Store reminded me of when my guitar teacher helped me buy my first guitar from a luthier in Costa Rica -- as soon as he came into the workshop of the luthier and saw all the wood, working space and guitars he said: this is paradise for me!

I always enjoy good instruments, and I found a nice collection here. I found a better mandolin at a better price than anywhere else in the Burlington area. Not a huge selection, but certainly worth the trip. Very knowledgeable owner, does many repairs, and is very familiar with all his inventory.

In a bizarre world overflowing with self-entitled persons determined
to spew poison everywhere, some things never change and one of those is the service and selection of instruments and great advice
at Nowa Crosbys Randolin. Owner managed instrument stores are increasingly hard to find these days as well as high quality luthier services. Thanks for years of incredible guitar work.
Happy New Year. CW Enosburg Falls VT

Great experience, knowledgeable and thorough staff. Instrument selection is small but superb quality. I was impressed with some of the vintage restorations (having checked them out on their website first). This place is for the discerning musician/consumer - it's not guitar center! I walked in with a budget and left with a really unique baritone acoustic guitar.

Ive been coming here for a few years now whenever i have issues with my guitar because i know that im in good hands. Theres not one place around id rather go. Nowa the owner has always been fair and accommodating to my needs and even caring as I came in upset one time and without any indication he asked me if I was doing all right and he lent me an ear.. he is a truly good man and a fair business owner. I recommend this place all the time to anyone who is in need of any kind of repair to their instrument or if they're looking to maybe purchase a new instrument. There is often a selection of instruments you would not find elsewhere in your average guitar shop as well. If you're reading this you have found yourself an honest review from an honest man about an honest business. I am satisfied and grateful every single time I leave Randolin!

A sweet small store. Lots of high quality instruments from ukuleles and mandolins to guitars, custom instruments, and unusual finds. The owner is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. I was able to drop off a banjo for repair and bought chord books for my ukulele and mandolin. Highly recommend this shop for everything from strings, repairs and quality instruments.

I recommend Randolin Music. This is a great place to bring your guitar or other string instruments for repairs or modifications. The owner is very knowledgeable and charges fair prices. I have purchased instruments, songbooks, and strings here as well and I've always gotten a good deal!

Nowa always does excellent repair work with my musical gear. He installed a new bridge and pickup on my upright bass and it is playing and sounding fantastic. He's set up at least 8 of my guitars and basses and he's fixed a bass that multiple different musical repair shops said was "unfixable" by replacing the truss rod and reattaching the neck. He also put together a broken necked guitar I have and it looks and plays fabulously. He is a great guy and very skilled at his cradles vhe is efficient and often will fix guitars for me same day on the spot. His store if fun with great inventory and I've also bought great instruments from him as well.

Randolin Music now has an expanded shop and showroom that I found both friendly and fun. I could sit on the couch in the showroom and try out any instrument I wanted. The mix of new and vintage instruments gave me the opportunity to compare instruments across both quality and price range. And it was a pleasure to have my questions about any stringed instrument answered quickly and understandably by an expert Luther. I will be visiting often.

Awesome music shop. Such a great collection of string instruments and such wonderful service. Great vibe. The way a music shop should feel. Thanks for being in town and for taking my guitar for a quick fix when I dropped in.

I'm a professional musician in the Burlington area. I play in 6 projects in Burlington and I'm the guitar instructor at the Burlington Music Dojo. I have taught at Advance Music, Rock Camp, and many of the Youth Programs at 242 Main while I was the assistant manager there. I've also had my instruments serviced by most of the local luthiers (it's good to know who's good).

On one hand, we are very lucky to have as many good options in Burlington as we do, but when students and band-mates ask me who to send their instruments to my first recommendation has always been Nowa at Randolin.

Here are some of my instruments that have been repaired by Nowa:

Solid Body electrics (bolt on, neck thru, 6 string, 7 string, 8 string)
Steel String Acoustics (six string, 12 string)
Ukulele
Stand up Bass

Here are some of the specific repairs he's done:

Fret work
Bridge resets
Pickup wirings
Fingerboard re-glues
Acoustic instrument pickup installs

Here are some talking points about my customer service experiences with Nowa:

1) When asked specifically for a quote, he's always produced one and come close to staying within said quote.

2) His breadth of knowledge and credentials allow him to do a wider range of repairs than other luthiers in the area.

3) He has always treated me and my repairs like a priority (when I've asked him to stay within a deadline). I understand this is difficult to do with a repair que as large as his.

4) He has stood by his work, sometimes beyond the 6 month warranty. Any time one of his repairs hasn't held up he's made it right.

5) Because let's face it, money matters, he has always had the most reasonable invoices of any of the luthiers I've done business with.

Again, we have many good luthiers in the Burlington Area. Nowa is always my first pick.

I started playing music about 4 or 5 years ago, and since then I have bought several instruments from Nowa. The instruments were always in great condition, but not only that Nowa was very helpful and supportive of me as I learned. Just recently, he built me a custom classical banjo and I am in love with it! I can't recommend Randolin Music enough to anyone who has an interest in vintage instruments or someone just looking for quality products.

Excellent service thanks Randy for installing spikes on my banjo as I walked in. Couldn't find a spot in Qc to do the job as good.

Also, he have a big choice of vintage/new guitars, banjos and acoustic instruments.

I'll be back!

Trying to make sure this is seen. Bought defective harmonicas. They refused return cash and no store credit.
I know they can return these to company. Lame excuse about being used. How would we know they were defective if we didn't use them. Bad Service read more reviews not the only one.

Despite it being the only instrument store in the area, it was fairly priced. Burlington's shops and stores are inflated in comparison to more affluent towns and cities, but this place was surprisingly reasonable for what i needed.

Excuse unedited grammar

Very courteous, friendly, and helpful. A wealth of information, in a cool, low-pressure, atmosphere. They know what they're doing, and are not a fly-by-night business.

Perfect little stop. Great ambience! All I needed was strings but was tempted to buy much more ! Great quality store.

Lovely little place with a very helpful and kind owner. Almost any instrument questions can be answered here.

Beautiful little music shop. Great place to Christmas shop

Great local music shop with lots of vintage instruments.