Music Maker

I think Waltons has got some serious competition here.
I’ve been to this place a few times and dealt with a number of different people, to get things like a keyboard, an amp, cables, a Korg monotron, among other bits and bobs… and they were always great to deal with. Usually, my experience going to music stories is that they treat you like an intrusion, and their explanation of their products is usually mumbled, disinterested, and I usually come out of these shops feeling like i’m a bit thick because i didn’t speak to them using all of the correct terms.
MusicMaker felt different. I felt as if they were happy and interested to explain various things that they sold, and were happy to give me a discount if i bought more than one item. Also, they won’t try to sell you something if they feel you don’t need it. It’s a decent balance.
I’ll definitely be back when i’m thinking of making my next musical purchase.

The staff are all quite cool and will drop everything they’re doing to make conversation about Rory Gallagher.
The acoustic guitar section is funny because you’ll usually find a few people all playing different songs at once, drowning each other out.
But this is probably where I would come to buy a guitar or whatever else

This is a lovely place. Nice selection of equipment. Worth a wee look. staff are nice. Go on. What are you waiting for?

Such cool staff members and very helpful too! Picked up a music stand as a gift for my other half who plays guitar. The staff members led me upstairs to speak with another fella who didn’t try to upsell me. He chose the most practical and reasonably priced type of stand for me — a collapsable one that comes with a travel bag — all for 15 euro!
I arrived at a later hour and I have to say I kinda wanted to hang out with these fellas! Super friendly dudes!
There are three shops on this street that meet the musician’s needs. This one happens to be the coolest!
Rock on!

Staff crank up their own music on the stereo when you want to try out a guitar, makes you just leave. Not a great shop. It used to be when Fran and Geoff were there, they were able to do setups and work, now Some Neck Guitars is the only place.

I’ve come to this shop on many occasions but I have to admit, in the last year or so, I’ve tried to avoid it if I can. It’s alright… Just alright…
Firstly, don’t go here if you expect to be treated with any real degree of respect. You won’t see sight nor sound of an employee until that moment when you walk over to the till and present your money. I’m serious, if you don’t know what you’re looking for e.g. you’re on the market for a new guitar etc. don’t come here. You’ll be left waiting… I’ve now resorted to only coming here if I know exactly what it is I want and can only get it from here. Their advice is more like nitpicking at times. Seriously, when I go to shop around for new instruments or equipment, I want to hear your opinion on what the best buy is. I don’t want your opinion on my opinions, they’re irrelevant when it comes to the end sale!
Secondly, it’s loud in there… Now, I’ve been a musician since I was stemcell and I appreciate that hearing the same tune over and over again can be a bit taxing. However, if you work in a music shop, get over it! You’re going to have those twats on their lunchbreak from secondary school coming in and butchering that song of which most guitarists can’t speak of without sighing extremely loudly and arrogantly… As such, their tactic of waging sonic war on anyone who enters the shop doesn’t exactly encourage you to stick around and try out the various guitars.
Thirdly, when you do get around to paying, expect your wallet to be bruised, battered and broken afterwards. As many commenters have said already, this place isn’t exactly a place to go for bargains.
My advice, only come here if you’ve got earplugs and have already made your decision on what you’d like to get. My best experiences there have been when I’ve walked in, asked if they had what I wanted in stock, paid for it and walked back out.

«Will you be in my band?»
«Eh?»
“Will you be my backing band when I play liv? e”
«Ummm, okaaaaay… I don’t own an instrument though»
«Well, what do you think you’d like to play?»
«I like those boxes that you sit on and bang like a drum… a cajon drum»
«Cool»
So, two weeks later, I find myself in Music Maker playing musical chairs on these instruments, bouncing from one to the other, giving an experiemental drumroll on each, before deciding on The One.
The price is e129, so I ask — «is that the best you can do?», to which he smiles and knocks the 9 euro off. Savage.
So I am now the proud owner of a cajon which I need to figure out how to play.
Great selection in their shop, their drum shop is downstairs and has a sign for «The Drumgeon».
Cute.
(And cheaper than Walton’s.)

I’ve been in here probably a dozen times. Sometimes I’m just killing time and a few times I’ve been seriously looking for a new guitar or bass. Without fail, every single time, no one says a word to me. In fact, only once of those dozen times did I even speak to an employee and I had to look around and find one to ask a question. Frankly they don’t seem very interested in actively selling guitars.
Another problem is the prices. 850 Euro for a Mexican-​made Fender Jazz bass? Seriously? That’s frankly outrageous and it seems to be a fairly consistent theme for everything in the store. It’s all overpriced.
As a couple other people noted, they often have the music playing super loud in the showroom. While I understand it sucks to have to sit there and listen to the army of 12 year olds playing the same stupid Metallica riff trying to impress their girlfriends who could care less and just want to leave, frankly I don’t have much sympathy for it. I worked in a guitar shop and it just comes with the territory. Not to mention that when serious musicians come in looking to try out a guitar that they are serious about buying, they need to hear how it sounds. Most of the time you can’t hear a thing except the music the guy at the counter is blasting, trying to prove to everyone there that his taste is better than yours.
So turn the music down, bring your prices down, and stop talking to your buddies who think it’s cool to hang out with you in a guitar shop and talk to a freakin’ customer for once.

One of my many New Year’s Resolutions was to get back to playing guitar. Because my guitar hasn’t been tuned in about a year and sounds a bit like a cat being strangled I headed into town to get a little tuning device. Music Maker was the first music shop I came across and they did have what I was looking for. The staff definitely seem to take their jobs seriously, they know their guitars and could recommend a good tuner and explain how it worked as well. Thankfully I didn’t have a lot of money on me, because I fell in love with a beautiful black Fender Acoustic guitar… and it sounded great too! Anyhow, I left the store with just the tuner, so yay for me.

Honestly, I’ve never been any good with guitars. Beyond the occasional dramatic strum (and a wicked open E-​chord blues riff), my experience with stringed instruments extends to buying strings and accessories for the guitarists (or, bassists) in my life… but every time I climb those steps to Music Maker, I feel like I’m about to step on stage.
Music Maker has worked hard to stand out from its venerable music shop neighbours along exchequer street as the centre of Dublin’s music scene, and it shows. The vibe here is one of expressive adjectives: essential, indispensable, vital –this is three floors (and more) of serious music worship. Every available wall space is papered with band flyers, music lessons, upcoming shows and more. Every floor is just as packed; from the cacaphonous basement drummers den to the amp forest on the ground floor, to the second level’s guitar room and mixing boards.
Beyond a huge selection of instruments and studio-​quality accessories, there’s an invisible welcome mat out at all times for music lovers of all walks; from amateur mandolin pluckers to bands with radio singles. Trawl the store’s myspace page for insider updates on secret shows, or stop in and eaves drop on the regular chatter happening on every floor.

Music Maker is a bit of a Rock Musicians mecca. I have made trips up here since I was listening to bad pop-​punk bands and Tony Hawk was my idol as a wee lad. They always had the coolest/​weirdest guitars here: In the shape of flowers, lightning bolts and even one made out of an oil can.
Downstairs in the basement is a plethora of drum kits, djembes and cymbals. Not to mention it was once the home of my first Pearl Export. It’s a little expensive considering the low prices of internet music shops, but the expertise of the staff is priceless.

For the serious musician, those who are dedicated enough to grow their hair down to their knees and persistent enough in their training to realise that Stairway to Heaven is not the pinnacle of a guitarists’ career, there is Music Maker.
The shop is situated in an old building on exchequer St where you really get the feeling it has always been there (and indeed they have been there for a long time), but you never really see the building, all you see is an array of Amps, guitars, drums, keyboards yada yada yada… the selection is huge and the quality normally very high. I speak mostly about the guitars — for that is what I know, but the guys will always give you time and advice if they think you genuinely want to buy — as opposed to wander in and play the really expensive stuff just so that you can say «Oh yeah, I was playing a Takamine the other day man — totally overrated!» (they’re not by the way!
So, grow your hair, stop eating (to get that crazed genius look), start nipping at a bottle of Jack in public and go to Music Maker… they’ll totally take you seriously then!

Oh dear, this is a noisy place. It seems the staff play their own music very loud over the radio in order to discourage the spotty, long haired teenagers from ripping out yet another cacophonous version of Stairway to Heaven… it only makes it worse.
The ground floor is for all the electric guitars and accessories. Upstairs is for the acoustic guitars and the electronics, downstairs is for the drummers… that is a very noisy place indeed. The acoustic guitar area is a nice oasis of silence usually however sometimes the spotty teenagers realise they can get more girls if they try their hand at a little Damien Rice (or that one quiet Metalica song.) and the peace is most definitely disturbed.
Their range is good, however it has a warehouse feel and the equipment can get knocked around a bit. So make sure what you buy is in good nick and always play what you are buying before you pay… if they say they will get «a fresh one» from the storeroom, play it before you buy it. no two instruments are the same!
The staff are nice and will leave you alone if you are just going for a little browse. They are helpful to a point but never on the button with their answers to a question… which can be frustrating.
Bring ear plugs for the noise.

An essential stop-​off for musicians in Dublin. Guitars on the ground floor, drums downstairs, technology upstairs — the latter boasts a particularly knowledgeable staff. Strong Fender presence on the guitar floor. The noticeboard outside is probably the best place for a ‘musicians wanted’ advert in the city.