Steve’s Music Store

Amazing customer service from amazing staff! Please go here for all your musical needs!
These guys are here to cater & please!!!
Merci!

Located on Queen Street West, Steve’s Music Store has become one of the musical instrument staples that is part of the Toronto cultural scene. If you happen to be a young whipper snapper interested in buying your first instrument in hopes of making it into the music industry in hopes of achieving rock star cocaine fuelled dreams or learning the acoustic guitar to play the same old Bruno Mars song because 10,000 other people did it on Youtube, this is the place to go.
Pertaining to previous posts and complaints of employees working here behaving like d*ckheads, I definitely have witnessed that. Unfortunately, it is expected at a place like this or any other trendy establishment in the Queen Street area, but of course not to be tolerated as we of course expect the best and friendliest service possible and that’s why they only get 3 stars in my books: D
I bought a decent acoustic guitar from here a few years ago as I dreamed of rock stardom after watching a Michael Bolton live in concert DVD where these ladies in their 50s were in awe and throwing their panties at him. I said to myself… I want that… I want that for myself. Then I went off to Steven’s Music Store to buy my first guitar.

The only reason people know Steve’s is the sign and the convenient Queen W location. Selection is OK, but the guitar department is limited compared to The Arts or 12^th Fret. You never know what you’ll get with the staff, but often they are bratty, unhelpful, and not willing to let you try ‘top shelf’ items despite all their Try Anything signs.
Be prepared for a staff member to give you a 10 minute tutorial on a pedal you want to try, regardless of if you want/​need one. Want to try an item at a little louder volume because you need to test how it sounds at even a moderate level? Think again as someone will tell you turn it down. Not the best environment to buy a nice amp for example.
If you want quality service and product, go somewhere else. If you want convenience and know exactly what you want, sure, Steve’s works in that case.

Shop at any of the other dozen music stores in Toronto. Or better, just shop online.
Unfortunately Steve’s hasn’t changed much over the years. Too many of their staff are caught up in the bratty, rock-​star attitude to deign to actually give good, humble customer service.
One of the guitar techs couldn’t have been any less interested in helping me with my guitar setup, and when I went back to get him the ‘receptionist’ for the repair section refused to get him, saying he was ‘way too busy to talk to me.’ I was then forced to relay what I needed to talk to him about through the receptionist.
It strikes me that, given that just 3 minutes before I was talking to the guitar tech and he was completely uninterested in helping me at all, choosing instead to look at the ground when I spoke and generally act like a spoiled 14 year old, he was basically avoiding me entirely.
Oh, and that’s all after another guitar tech was so ‘turned off’ by one of my technical questions about setting up my guitar that he simply looked at me, made a sour face, and walked away. He’s just so busy and important, right? Sure is a tough job.
Called, complained to the manager. Got a very good response and I appreciate that.
But I won’t be back. Buy your gear online. This place doesn’t deserve to be in business, and we have a responsibility to put them out of business. So shop elsewhere and show them with your money.
Heck, maybe then the cadre of amateur rock stars they have working there would have more time to play on the big arena tours they’re obviously so surly about missing. After all, they’ve spent all their hard earned money on the clothes and toques to look the part.
Right, dudes?

steves music
what can be said, that anyone else hasn’t already said?
nothing!
fantastic service, great staff, huge selection, which keeps expanding and expanding.
they’re the only music store i know of that offers meet and greets for fans. now if thats just not amazing… i don’t even know.
the place to be to get great gear, and try out virtually everything in house.

Awesome shop! Have purchased several guitars here. Amazing selection!

Considering its reputation, I had a hard time understanding what the big deal was. Staff were dismissive and hard to find. Very cluttered and I felt I was inconveniencing the employee to ask to demo a guitar. It was busy and is usually packed, I would rather go some place a little more professional feeling.

Not only is Steve’s an institution for musicians — especially rock musicians in Toronto, it’s also a tourist spot along Queen St. W., and a hangout for wannabe rock stars too. Right across the street from the legendary Horseshoe Tavern, Steve’s helps to cement the fact that Toronto has a vibrant music culture and can hold its own when it comes to the larger North American music events held each year. I like how they have almost everything priced with a bold sign, reminiscent of Honest Ed’s hand lettered signs in that timeless manner because they know the place get swamped with gawkers and window shoppers. Long Live Steve’s!

Steve’s has a reputation as THE music store to go to, but I don’t get why. Every time I’ve been in there I’ve found the staff to be extremely surly and unhelpful. There is a large selection of instruments and music books, but they’re stacked on shelves so high that half of them are out of reach. Good luck getting a member of staff to get any down for you unless you’re absolutely committed to purchasing before browsing.

Super unimpressed with the store and head office to boot. Will never ever shop there again.
Basically, got stuck paying a rental fee for an item we had purchased after we tried to return it, and only at that point were we informed that they do not accept any returns.
I wrote two emails to head office, both of which have been ignored.
Here is the first outlining the details of my experience:
My husband recently made a purchase at the Toronto, Queen Street location of Steve’s Music store. He had been looking for a specific device for sometime, and was happy to have found something that the sales associate said would fit his requirements. FYI, it is the Fender Passport Mini that was purchased. Though my husband wasn’t quite sure it would fit the bill, there were no «non return» policies stated anywhere for that type of purchase, so since we were in the area we bought it.
Upon getting home and checking it out further, he realized it wouldn’t do the job, and that what he needed would be significantly more expensive.
Two days after the purchase, we returned with everything still in the box, completely unused, and with the receipt in hand. After explaining that we wanted a refund and the sales associate proceeding with the procedure for several minutes, he only then called the manager and we were told they did not do any returns.
We were totally shocked as NO WHERE does it state ANYTHING like this. The manager informed us it is listed somewhere on this website, which by the way, I still haven’t found. Obviously we hadn’t come on the website and checked if there were any hidden policies before making the purchase since we were at the physical store shopping.
The manager, Gerry, who was very fair and reasonable considering the ridiculousness of your apparent policy, informed us we could pay a 15% «rental fee» but get the rest of the money back.
Again, this would be TOTALLY fine and fair HAD THIS POLICY BEEN LISTED ON THE RECEIPT.
I get it. You need to protect yourself from people who use and abuse the system. But it’s outrageous to do so in such a slimy way, and not be able to really look at case-​by-​case, since that so clearly wasn’t the case with us.
Paying the rental fee isn’t a big deal. Karma takes care of that stuff. But it’s the principle behind all of this.
I’m extremely disappointed with your store, and since my husband is a musician in very prestigious music companies in both the USA and Canada, it is a shame you have lost his business.

I went here to buy a guitar stand for my friend since I was in the area. I looked around and couldn’t find it so I asked the service guy and he gave me an annoyed look and pointed up. He asked which one I wanted and I said the cheapest one and he got the stand I wanted. I didn’t know where to pay so when I asked he just pointed to the back without saying a word. Honestly, I’d rather go to Long & Mcquade. At least they don’t make me feel so dumb.

I am super impressed with the amount of gear they have in stock, along with the brands they carry. Staff is super friendly and are willing to help out and let you test out the equipment.

I went to Steve’s yesterday because I was frustrated with the acoustic guitar that I can’t play … and I wanted an ELECTRIC guitar that I can’t play ;)
All kidding aside, I’m a total grunge fiend and I want to learn how to play it!
Peter asked if I needed help within minutes of me walking into the store and he was AWESOME. So helpful and so knowledgeable… and he took his time to answer all of my (many) questions :)
I narrowed it down to either a Telecaster or Stratocaster.
I always had my heart set on a Telecaster because I love Jeff Buckley to the moon and back. and I felt like one day, I might be good enough to learn one of his songs!
Peter knew I didn’t know how to play well enough to try the guitars out, so he walked around the store and played any guitar I wanted to hear :) He explained to me the differences between all of the guitars and I learned more in that 45 minutes than I have in my entire life. That guy knows everything!
I ended up going with the Telecaster and he set it all up for me, tuned it and even carried it out to my car!
A+ service!
I will definitely be back!
Maybe I’ll even play him a song :)
Thanks again for the amazing service Steve’s!

Still a really cool place to drop in when you are in Toronto… but not the place it was years ago.
If you get a good sales associate (and you’re actually there to spend money) it’s a pretty good experience.
If you are just searching for your next purchase, you probably won’t be taken too seriously.
I also find it cramped compared to the wide open spaces that their competition has worked hard to create.
A good place to go, but who knows what you’re gonna get.

Never buy anything from these guys. They sold me a POS ibanez for $ 600 a POS you can most likely get on ebay for $ 100. horrible store policy and the fact that you have to go back and forth to get your purchase receipt. they made me wait for another guitar before that guitar for almost a year. absolutely unprofessional staff. i hate Steve’s music. the owner himself is an a-​hole too.
i might buy some stuff from L&M now IF i really need something fast but when you think about it’s always cheaper and more affordable to buy online and ebay.

Similar to Steves in Montréal. It’s an old building, very fragmented and a bunch of dudes who know a ton about gear but very little social skills! Haha. No big deal, they have good intentions and when you get talking to them you realize that they do know what they are talking about and are very helpful.
Prices are always good here.

I have to admit, I’m not a musician. (pause for gasp) so to be writing a review about a store who’s sole focus is to satisfy the musical orgasms, musically talented people crave, seems a bit far fetched for me… But alas, it’s not. You see, I go to this store with the sole purpose of finding something to make the BF happy. Whether it’s a music book or a few interesting picks or even a mandolin once, I’ve always found something unique.
A few months ago, I accidentally broke a guitar… it was an accident but alas, it has been weight heavy on me… so off I went to Steve’s music to find something that would make the BF equally as happy. What I found, was the banjo section. I knew he’d be impressed with a banjo… but I wasn’t keen on buying him one that was manufactured in China. I wanted a real american made, solid banjo. An incredibly helpful sales rep told me there was one he could ship to me from Montréal and I could have it in a week. I was impressed with the turn around and paid for it in full right then and there. I figured I would be back in a week to pick up this banjo and off I went…
WRONG.
I got a call personally from the sales rep who sold me the banjo with bad news. Someone in the MTL store mistakenly sold my banjo to someone else… and there wasn’t another one that I could get in the turn around i needed. I was devastated and a little pissed to be frank but the sales rep assured me he would fix this hiccup… and fixing it is what he did. He got an even better banjo (from the same great company) and it came with all of the fix’ins, bag, strap, picks, and a DVD. Well all better things come at a greater cost than originally anticipated… but the manager agreed to pay the difference. (a $ 200 difference I might add) and with that, I was able to bring home a newer, nicer banjo than I ever would have expected. And all because of a sales rep who just gave a shit.
I will continue to go to Steve’s Music moving forward for all of my BF’s musical needs as they went far above and beyond to fix what could have been a real crappy situation.

I have been to Steve’s in the past to pick up instruments and accessories in the past, but never for an instrument. Last weekend I went to pick out a new bass with a budget. It was really cool to see the selection they had — more than I had seen at any store before, with a wide range of styles and prices, from less than 200 to well in the thousands. Being on a budget, I had already done my research online and had a pretty good idea what I was going in to get, narrowed down to 2 – 3 different models.
After checking them out, I got staff (who was always around but never pushy, letting me check things out by myself as needed — a welcome quality when so many other shops get so pushy it’s uncomfortable to shop there) to help me out, they showed me that they had the basic model I wanted (settled on a LTD Viper bass, I just wanted something simple to play at home). Turns out they had a more deluxe model than the one I was looking for for only $ 10 more than I was looking to spend — ka-​ching!!!
Staff was very good at explaining the warranty, etc, so I felt confident in my purchase and the store I bought it from standing behind their product.
I would recommend this store to anyone looking for anything to make music happen!

After talking about it for nearly 3 years, I finally decided it was time to restring my guitar.
I popped into Steve’s to grab a new set of strings. Staff were plentiful and very helpful/​knowledgeable. Dude even gave me a youtube link I could watch if I needed a refresher video on restringing my acoustic.
I had to get the feck out before I left with a new guitar! They have a lot of guitars in there. (I had to keep reminding myself I’m not in high school anymore and I don’t have 6 hours a day to mess about playing 4 different guitars in my basement).
The cashier set up is ridiculous. There are two girls sitting behind a glass booth in the middle of the store. You have to go around and they write up this really old school looking carbon copy receipt. Considering I was spending $ 6.99 on a set of strings, I thought this was a complete time-​waster!

Steve’s in Toronto has some of the best staff that I’ve ever dealt with when it comes to music stores. I’ve been playing guitar for almost a decade and have visited my share of guitar shops, but this has to be the best one thus far. They give you freedom to look around, but should you need help, they’ll gladly service you and will probably teach you a few new things about new guitar models, bands or special events going on in store.
The last time I bought a guitar from Steve’s Toronto, I left with two new friends, and staff suggested bands (that ended up being awesome). This past week, I went in to research some 7 and 8 string guitars and once again met with incredibly helpful and supportive staff who were able to give me maintenance information and added a few new guitars on my list of equipment to try out. They seem to really want to find the right guitar for you, even when I said up front that I’m in no position to make a purchase at the moment. The jackass music staff you usually find in other music stores (like I found at Steve’s Montréal, or some smaller shops…) won’t be found here; the staff seem to check any egotistical aloofness at the door, and are actually really friendly!
As for the selection, obviously, it’s a huge store. What they don’t have on hand, you can order (usually with no obligation unless it’s some obscure item), and they let you try out anything you’re interested in. Great selection, and they always bring in new stuff to try out.
Most importantly for me though, being a female guitarist, I recommend this place wholeheartedly because of the staff’s inviting and respectful nature. The people here take you seriously without any need to «prove yourself worthy». No looks of disdain, no sarcasm, and no bullshit. I have had nothing but good experiences from the friendly and informed staff.
tl;dr: Awesome selection, staff and service.