Warbler Records & Goods

Pretty good selection. Prices are very reasonable. Employees know their stuff, are friendly, and will answer your questions. They also do some repair work and sell turntables, speakers, and receivers. Best place in town for vinyl.

Kurt made an effort to reach out to me and he is currently looking into a better sticker system. I look forward to coming into the store again next time I’m in Santa Barbara

Hands down THEE BEST record store in Santa Barbara! Great selection of new and used records. Friendly and knowledgable staff.
P. S. Kurt, thank you for the Elias Hulk recommendation. This record SLAYS!!!

Amazing record store, coupled with a solid owner. Fair and reasonable prices, on a wide selection of genres, to boot on used and new records. The jazz, rock, blues, and reggae selections are always well stocked with a variety of labels and presses to choose from.
Based on my experience, I would highly recommend this store to anyone interested in record players and vinyl. Also, it really helps to be able to listen to the used records, which you can do at this store on the common area record player. What a great, and helpful, idea!

Dropped off my turntable at warbler and was absolutely amazed on the quality of the work that was put into making my turntable work tip top! I will definitely come back! Great workmanship and at a very affordable price!
Not to mention the customer service! 5 stars all the way! This place rocks!

great obscure record, tape and cd collection… and very reasonably priced… thanks kurt for turning me on to tim maia… brazil’s 70 funk god!

Always a great place to find that obscure record that you didn’t know you wanted. The quality of the used items here is always really high. The prices are a bit higher, but it’s definitely worth it for what you can find. I’ve found some really rare Ethiopian LPs here alongside 7“s from a friend’s band. Definitely an eclectic selection that’s worth checking out.

Cool shop just off of state st. It’s a smaller shop, but the selection was overall pretty solid. My tastes are all over the place but I was able to pick up some rare finds: a miles davis Lp, Isis LP (metal) and Eazy-E’s first LP! Solid prices, great selection of new/​used and covers all the needed genres. Highly recommended.

One of the finest record stores I’ve ever been to. I make a point to come here anytime I drive up from LA. A great mix of newer pressings, older good quality vinyl and surprising budget vinyl as well. Definitely check out the recent arrivals as they have some great stuff hiding in there.

Excellent selection of vinyls at fair rates. Everything was organized and easy to navigate. The dollar bin even has some great classics at a steal. When we walked in the owner was playing some sexy French music I had never heard (& just had to buy the vinyl) Can sample the music which makes the hunt a treasure chest to discover new music. The owner was totally sweet & helpful. This will be a stop of mine whenever passing through SB.

I’m really… fucking… irritated and even a little hurt because I’m kind of a sensitive girl.
Imagine this scenario. You need/​want something and so you call a store to ask for it. Now would you find it appropriate if say you were calling Nordstrom for a coat and as the salesperson was walking by a customer with it, when you had inquired of it first, they sold it to the person who inquired about it after you. Actually, I used to work in retail, that sort of treatment is not acceptable, the customer on the phone is just as important as the person on the sales floor, period. Same should go with any retail establishment. Why is the customer that was lucky enough to have the day off and make it into the store more important than the one that had to call from their work where they are committed to being for a few more hours? Should that customer be punished because they had to work? And who’s to say that the person on the phone isn’t already an established customer that’s been shopping at your establishment since moving to the area (like oh I don’t know… Me maybe?).
That doesn’t matter here. If you call for something and somebody else sees it, guess who gets it? Even though you were «first» in line.
Perhaps it would have been better had this store had a hold function on their phone with some nice muzak playing and then that way I wouldn’t have been able to listen to the whole conversation as the item I wanted, the last one they had in the store, was yanked out from under me.
I called this morning for a 10″ vinyl copy of The Garden by Rush, I had my credit card in hand in case they wouldn’t just hold it for me. Warbler is the ONLY store in my area that had this item available and when I called they had one copy left. Well whoever was in the store saw it and decided he wanted it (obviously this person isn’t even a Rush fan or else he would have known that the single was dropping today), while I was on the line waiting to purchase it. I could hear the whole conversation with the other customer. I was crushed.
Yeah, I’m taking things a little personal. Yeah, I know I sound a little butthurt. Yeah, the person working at the store has the right to sell to whoever he wants to. But now because of his actions I will be spending my Friday night driving down to Los Angeles, from Santa Barbara so that I can get the special edition of the song from my wedding day. Thanks, Warbler.
I don’t care any longer how «cool» or «nice» this store is when douchebag moves like that are pulled.
Sincerely,
A Local Customer That You’ve Just Lost for Good

Five-​stars because it’s a rare thing to find a record shop with staff who are personable, unpretentious, helpful and friendly. Also rare to find one with a listening station. Haha.

Put a bird on it!
I was driving around this neighborhood, looking for a parking space so I could buy a cup of coffee for the last leg of my drive home, when I happened to come across this gem of a place. It was quite serendipitous that ended up parking RIGHT IN FRONT of Warbler Records & Goods. I took a quick peak at their window front and vowed to check this place out after picking up my cup of coffee.
Well, needless to say, the coffee shop was closed. But, this just meant more time to check out what goodies this place holds.
This place is great! It’s exactly the sort of boutique you would find in Echo Park or Silver Lake, or any other creative hive.
It’s interesting that they sell records (a very good collection) mixed with other things such as vintage posters of flora, cool journals, quirky books, letterpress sorts of stationary, tees, plates, and more! It’s the sort of place that makes my heart go giddy-​up!
It was the plates with trees on them that really caught my eye. I went inside, perused their collection of treasures and thought, «Oh, I don’t need more plates.» So I left. But then seconds later, I was back again purchasing four lovely plates with trees on them!
The customer service is friendly. If you want help, they are happy to do so.
What I also like about this place is that the workers aren’t hovering over you, asking if you need anything. They do ask how you’re doing, but that’s all. That’s enough to me keep from running away. :)
I was so surprised to find such a fun and indie kind of place in tourist-​driven Santa Barbara. I guess it helps that Warbler isn’t on State St. but just a few streets north of it, really close to the Presidio, where it’s quieter.
I really like this place. I look forward to going back soon.

My name is Ryan W, and I am the girlfriend of a record collector.
Don’t get me wrong; I love music myself. But there’s a difference between «purchasing and enjoying music» and «collecting records.»
While I’m happy to look through the new releases in a music store, maybe flip through the dollar bin if I’m feeling bored and poor, even throw on some headphones and listen to some rare deep cut that I’ll never hear again — my boyfriend is the kind of person who will involuntarily descend into a hypnotic trance once he enters a record store, emerging only after every disc-​like object in the vicinity has been touched and evaluated, and his wallet has been emptied.
Stores like Warbler make it much easier for me to look like a supportive (enabling?) girlfriend while he goes through the stacks. Because Warbler not only sells records, but goods!
They’re interesting goods too, like hand towels screen-​printed with quirky graphics, lightbulbs embedded in pieces of wood, cool cacti, and other ladyhipster bait that I enjoy touching and evaluating myself.
I still left with the satisfaction of having kept all my cash money, but I must say, my boyfriend left with some really cool stuff. Stuff that I will get to listen to. And this is why the boyfriend-​enabling shall continue, with the help of places like Warbler. Thanks, Warbler!

The hippy guy that sold me my new record player is the ish!
I’ve been meaning to buy me a record player for the last few months… The guy who helped me out made my purchase easy and threw in a free record with my purchase. Warbler Records offers knowledgeable service at good prices. I’m not too familiar with many record stores, but they’ve even got reggae and Hawaiian albums.
I think I’ve found my new hobby — and it has a lot to do with stores like this.

Again another record store that I was disappointed by in SB.
It isn’t the collection and variety that matters, especially when the condition of the records are so poor.
Many are missing the original inside sleeves and many are priced too high for the condition of the outer covers.
They had Sticky Fingers (my fav Stones record) with the special zippered cover for $ 15. I would have gladly bought this but upon closer inspection the cover was horribly dented all over and the inside sleeve (once again missing) was replaced by the generic brown paper type which was actually ripped too. Very unacceptable.

Didn’t find any Beatles stuff…

Even if when you think vinyl, you think cheap flooring, you should stop by here.
This is the friendliest, most helpful store ever. I came in here to buy a present for my D.J. brother, and despite not knowing anything about what I was looking for, they were super-​sweet and patient.
I’ll definitely come back, for the «Goods» part of the name… hip notecards and knicknacks that would make good gifts, except you’d probably chicken out and keep them before you could get the wrapping paper on.

Finally got to visit Warbler Records in SB and was really impressed. Their selection is truly loving: good stuff from drone/​experimental to indie to punk to classic rock to psych with fair prices on used vinyl, including collectibles, and a tasteful selection of new vinyl. These are people who appreciate good stuff from any genre. And they are super-​nice and knowledgeable to boot. They also have other cool stuff in the front like jewelry, handmade gifts and TURNTABLES – new and used.
They said there is more stuff rolling out every week, so I’m definitely going back!

Finally, a cool vinyl shop in town, and it’s almost redundant to say cool vinyl because vinyl shops in this town are… practically nonexistent.
They’re located where the old Frameworks was before it burned down, at the corner of Santa Barbara St. and de la Guerra. It’s simply and tastefully decorated, as to be expected from the nice Portland couple who own the place, and who built the tables and display shelves themselves.
There’s something to be found for every musical taste, and it’s a haven for any vinyl lover who’s felt lonely in the great chasm of music offerings in this town, and best of all: it’s reasonably priced.
I got a 5 record box set of 10″ Lemon Jelly (HELLO!!) singles for $ 28. And you know what? I don’t even own a turntable, it was that good of a bargain. I’ll just have to play them elsewhere!
It’s just opened, so the décor is still a little sparse. Don’t let that mislead you into thinking the collections are sparse — they’ve got over 10,000 records in storage, just waiting to come out.