Bellevue American Music

Johnny is extremely knowledgable and a pleasant guy to buy from. There was no pressure when I walked in the store and he always gave good advice to help me, not to make the sale. To top it off, the place has some really special guitars you won’t find anywhere else.

Much to their credit, after my review in 2012, the owner of Bellevue American Music has reached out to me with a sincere apology. I have not been back, but I will consider returning in the future. I should add, I have since heard a lot of good things about Bellevue American Music. It seems my poor experience was an anomaly.

This is Stephanie’s husband. I’ve been dealing with American Music Bellevue, which btw still has a two original «lead» guys and owner. They are great business. I’ve bought thousands of dollars of gear from them and they have tried to price match and give personal service to me since the 90’s. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to anyone. They have recently moved into some very cool Boutique areas as well. Nothing like touching and feeling the gear before you buy!

Went into this store to get drumsticks… the guy there was super-​nice… showed me where they were… he noticed my blank look, and then I confessed that they are for my budding five-​year old son, and he was all smiles and helped me select the right size for Felix. $ 3.62 including tax… I really thought they’d be three times as much.
I appreciated being treated well and the great prices. We’ve bought a junior drum set for Felix which is supposed to be good except for the included cymbals; I’m sure I can go back to this store to get reasonable advice and not get ripped off (I know I’m not buying Zildjian As anytime soon LOL).

I have experienced some of the most rude customer service in my life from the guitar and amp accessories department at this location. I stood there waiting for 15 to 20 minutes while the employee bragged to a bunch of «bellevue» type men in their 40’s and 50’s about how awesome he was. And they were kissing his ass like no tomorrow. After not being acknowledged and totally ignored by this ass of an expert: I left and will never return. You lost a good sale that day and my business forever. And I was a good customer having purchased an expensive guitar; and expensive amp; and many accessories from that shop in the past. I dealt with the same employee years ago and ended up leaving with a bad taste in my mouth. I was hoping he didnt work their anymore. Oh well. I have better gear placed to drop my hard earned cash at. And I tend to drop a pretty decent amount every year. Your loss dipshits.

Johnny in the guitar section is really good at doing set-​ups. He’s patient with me when I ask newbie questions and happy to take the time to explain things and show me, for example, the difference between a speaker cord and a guitar cord. He is also good with kids buying their first instrument. He’s also a player and knows what works. The store as a whole has so much stuff in it that you can’t really take it all in at once.

I’ve shopped in some of the finest music stores in the San Francisco Bay Area during the last 40 years. On my trip to Washington, I decided to visit Bellevue American Music. This was the best music store I’ve ever been to. Wide selection of musical instruments and great prices! Staff is very experienced and friendly too. I would recommend this store to any musician or consumer interested in buying an instrument.

Great store. They are super helpful with customers and the products are of good quality. The owner is also a very nice guy and fun to chat with.

These guys are great. The ONLY reason I can’t rate them 5 out of 5 is that I will occasionally be shopping for something they don’t have BUT, if they do have it I shop there exclusively now. The staff is knowledgeable and friendly. They remember my name (big plus). They make you feel welcome and their prices can’t be beaten. On service, knowledge, and overall experience a definite 5. Beef up that inventory just a little and it’s a 5 out of 5 for sure. Highly recommended!

Was treated really well and shown what I wanted in an unhurried and pleasant manner. No hard sell and they kept within the budget I stated while showing me several options. Gee was the guy who showed me around and super professional and was a wealth of knowledge for a ‘newbie’ like me! A really pleasant experience! I’ll be back.

I’ve had plenty of guitar shop experiences where the guys there make me feel stupid for asking a question or misunderstanding why something with my rig or my guitar is doing something a certain way.
Not here.
I brought in my guitar to have the intonation checked and buy new pickups, but it turned out that it seriously needed to be set up properly. Johnny didn’t scoff at me, ignore me, roll his eyes, act like he wanted me to just leave, or do anything I’ve come to expect from guitar store types. He bumped me to the front of the line, cleaned my guitar and got everything set up and corrected, and now it plays like a different instrument! (And looks great, to boot!) I might even be able to save the money on new pickups after all.
I did have an almost-​bad experience in the larger room where a younger guy was helping my wife and I find her a piano lesson book: he recommended a very expensive, but widely acclaimed, computer program. I mentioned that I wanted to teach her out of a book instead, but he kept pushing the program in our faces, offering little more insight than, «This one’s better than any book!» When I finally refused outright, he stormed off in a huff, and I was very annoyed.
We weren’t finding what we wanted, but I still poked around for another 15 minutes or so, and that’s when we met Reese. He engaged us in a very polite conversation and when we mentioned to him our intentions for being there, he recommended the same program, but actually showed us videos of the program and talked us through how it works. We decided that the program was indeed the best option for us and we ended up purchasing it, and Reese even threw in a couple of free guitar picks for me. I’ve been back many times since then and I’ve never seen that young guy again.
This store is always going to be my first stop when I need something new or something fixed!

I have bought several guitars from BAM — Johnny Devol is a great resource and has been a fixture of the Seattle music scene for as long as I can remember. Johnny is very knowledgeable and is not your typical Guitar Center type of salesman. Johnny is just as happy to sit and share his vast knowledge of guitars even if you’re just trying to figure out what you want. And, I would much rather support a local independent retailer than a big hegemony like Guitar Center.

Wow these guys are jerks!
My husband & I just stopped in on a lazy Saturday, apparently dressed down too much to warrant any help (we couldn’t possibly be there to buy anything with our poor people clothing).
So no help, dirty looks, and then I (know nothing of guitars) ask the older greasy black haired guy what a certain guitar was. He kind of laughed like «you don’t know?» «That’s a slide guitar.» And… I don’t know what that is, so I didn’t get an answer really, except I should know since he says, «It’s pretty basic.» Made me feel like an ass! And I’m a customer! What kind of customer service is that?!
I had to go out to the car before I started CRYING in the store I was made to feel so dumb in front of people.
This Bellevue music store lives up to the rich snobby stereotype Bellevue gets. I will never go there again.

This is my favorite of the larger music stores. Staff is extremely helpful. I have bought equipment/​accessories there, as well as rented equipment there, and I think they are top-​notch all around. Examples — rented some powered speakers for an event, and they gave me the best price, plus knocked off a few more bucks! Bought strings, and while there price was very competitive, they gave me an additional discount as I was renting the speakers! They have now expanded and so they have a dedicated guitar section.