Firehouse Guitars and Music

** This review is just on the WeeJam Music Class for Kids **
We just attended our first Wee Jam class and it was so much fun! It is for kids ages 0 – 5, which at first I was nervous about, but it was fine. Parent involvement is needed, so if you think you are going to go and just watch, you are wrong. The class is on Saturdays before the store opens, and you need to per-​register. It is an 8 week class that is about $ 130 for one kid and $ 200 for 2. The teacher gets everyone to sing songs, play instruments, and dance. My kids loved the drums and the songs. They made us all have a dance party and my little guy was rocking out to «We will Rock You» by Queen. It is nice that it is not all kiddy songs. They also were showing the kids how to keep a rhythm with drum sticks. I highly recommend this class to anyone with little rock stars!

Part I: I had been playing for about 5 months and was shopping for my first acoustic. I was really nervous as I went from store to store, strumming away at my beginner songs, poorly at that. Even when the sales people left me alone I just had a bad «vide» about those stores for lack of a better term.
My last stop that weekend was Firehouse. I walked in and the store was empty except for one employee (Dave) who was doing a setup on an electric next to the sales counter. He looked up when I walked in and said «Welcome! Let me know if you need anything. If there’s anything on the walls that you can’t reach I’ll get the ladder. Oh, here’s a pick,» and proceeds to reach into his pocket and place pick on the counter. Then he was back to working on the guitar. I felt instantly at ease and about half as nervous. I strummed away for about an hour and a lot of guitars and really, really liked a used Martin DC-​1E, but couldn’t afford it. Anyway, great experience and I knew I’d be going back — good vibe.
Part II: A couple of months later I resumed shopping for an acoustic, spending several weekends visiting guitar stores in the greater Atlanta area. Same story for the most part: feeling nervous, feeling a bad vibe at the store. Ended up back at Firehouse — good vibe, nice Dave, a few more patrons this time who also seemed calmed (hypnotized?) by the place. I spent a couple of uninterrupted hours trying just about everything, including the used Martin I liked before. Finally I work up the courage to ask Dave if its price was flexible. «What were you thinking?» he asked. I picked a number that is about 25% off the listed used price, figuring we could work from there. But no need — BOOM — done and done! What? He said they had had that guitar for 6 months with many lookers, but no buyers. The owner had a minimum amount he was willing to accept and I had nailed it. Sure, it could be a line, but I believe it, and the price was definitely an excellent deal based on my research. Warm and fuzzies all around!
Overall I’m happy to go back to Firehouse and pay a few bucks more for strings and accessories then I otherwise would if I ordered them online because they did good by me and I like the people.