Contemporary Music Store

I ran into this store on the last day of my 21st bday trip. I walked in and instantly saw the Casio CZ-101, which I have been hunting for quite a bit of time. The store itself is small, but offers quite of bit of stuff, and does consignment instruments, which is great for the local community to recycle sound. The nice gentlemen in there was very patient with me, he saw me debating on the purchase for a bit and even nudged me to get it to treat myself for my bday. So glad I went in here, will be coming back!

The proprietor of the store is a very odd, cold, impatient guy. I felt a very strange vibe from the moment I walked into the store. He obviously doesn't want anyone to be there. He didn't greet me when I walked in, and when I touched a guitar (not knowing there were any regulations for touching musical instruments in the time of Covid), he warned me he would call the police.

After apologizing profusely (I was genuinely shocked by his bark), trying to get him to refocus on providing information about the guitar I wanted to buy, I touched the neck of the guitar again and he went ballistic - yelling and telling me to leave the store and never come back. He said he was calling the police on my way out - even after I said I would pay cash and leave immediately. No sale. No warmth or assistance. Please get some help.

I've enjoyed my experiences at this music store and with Ed, the owner. He was very helpful in helping me decide on an overdrive vs distortion pedal (I opted for overdrive), and is always friendly and kind when I've gone in for little things (strings, capo, etc.). As I can tell he's a knowledgeable guitar-player himself, which is meaningful to me, as a guitarist. Sometime in the future I'm going to bring in my Hollowbody Electric Gretsch to see if Ed can set it up a little better, and I look forward to it hopefully staying better in tune! Hoorah for small, independent instrument stores!

Contemporary Music is the BEST place to go in southern Vermont for instruments and everything related - including advice. Ed Lopata is a wisdom figure (he can get ANYTHING you want).and also a wonderful musician (ask to listen to his CD).and also a gem of a human being.

I was thinking of getting rid of my old guitar and replacing it but the owner of this store, Ed, did such a good restoration job on my old one that I didn't need to. Highly recommended. Not many towns the size of Brattleboro can boast a music store of this caliber.

Ed is incredibly knowledgeable and on top of that, just a nice guy. I'm jumping back into stringed instruments after many years -- I played violin in my teens -- and always wanted to play either guitar or ukelele. This summer I bought a concert uke from Amazon, figuring if I didn't like it I wouldn't feel like I'd spent too much money. I loved it, but with a couple of months of playing I knew I wanted better sound than a sub-$100 laminate uke was going to give me.

I stopped in this afternoon for the first time and was really impressed with the selection. Ed helped me find and try out different ukeleles until I found one just right, an Alvarez tenor that my hand fits much more comfortably. I'm super happy with my experience and I highly recommend coming here to purchase your first uke!

Wonderful experience at this small but complete music store. The owner is friendly and knowledgeable. He even let our son record himself in the store when we were in a pinch today. Thank you so, so much!

Excellent service! After sitting in a closet for 10 years, my bass needed some serious servicing. I left it with Ed and he had it back to me the next day looking like new and sounding better than ever, with its bent neck and fret problems fixed. Charges were very reasonable and I am completely satisfied. Thank you.

I went in to this shop today because my guitar wasn't playing correctly. Even though I didn't buy my guitar at this shop, the owner was incredible helpful and answered all of my questions. He knew the exact sound I was looking for and recommended some great products to get that sound. I left the store feeling completely satisfied, and can't wait to go back and buy a loop pedal. Overall a great experience.

I was visiting Brattleboro today and found this quaint little guitar shop, I proceeded upstairs and as I walked in the door the gentleman (maybe owner) stated if I wanted to play one of the guitars he would take it off the wall for me, not completely unusual so I said to myself "no problem". I proceeded to look at the guitars and found a few I had interest in, one being a Seagull.

I had budgeted approximately $1500 and decided if I found the right guitar I was ready to purchase. During this time my cell rang and it happened to be my mother, she was recently placed in assisted living and wanted to share some info with me, before I was able to finish the first sentence, he's very sternly and coldly stated for me to step outside if I was going to use my phone.

I was flabbergasted to say the least, not a soul in the store besides he and I. The sad part is I had a pocket full of cash and was ready to purchase the guitar (assuming I was happy with how it played). I would personally never entertain purchasing from this store, extremely cold in asking me to step out of the room. I have been a business owner for the past 33 years, this isn't how you communicate with potential customers.