Portland guitar shopping is quality-obsessed: hand-wired amps, boutique builders, used shops with honest grading, and a repair culture that treats setups as craft. The town supports an unusual number of specialty shops for its size — plan a crawl, not a stop. Rain outside, tone inside.
4.1 ★★★★☆ 887 reviews
Chain music store carrying guitars, basses, amps, and other instruments, plus lessons.
4.6 ★★★★★ 428 reviews
Music store specializing in used guitars, basses & drums plus gear & instrument repairs.
4.7 ★★★★★ 373 reviews
Part of a local chain founded in 1927, this shop offers sheet music, guitars & other instruments.
4.4 ★★★★☆ 342 reviews
Spot to buy, sell, or trade guitars, drums, mics, keyboards & amps, plus lessons & repairs.
4.9 ★★★★★ 271 reviews
Established shop offering (or renting) violins, violas & cellos, plus bows, repairs & restoration.
4.8 ★★★★★ 270 reviews
This musician-owned, community-minded guitar store sells instruments, amps, effects & accessories.
These shops buy and trade used gear: Guitar Center, Old Town Music, David Kerr Violin Shop, Thunder Road Guitars PDX, The 12th Fret, Rhythm Traders. Read our selling guide before you walk in — expect roughly 50–60% of resale value in cash, ~70% in trade credit, and bring the original case. The full national list lives in the sell-your-gear directory.
For lessons — yours or the kid's — these stores teach: Guitar Center, Portland Music Company - Division, Portland Music Company - Broadway, Rhythm Traders, Music & Arts, Portland Guitar Repair. Our lessons guide covers the $25–40 half-hour going rate, what age kids can start, and why the squeaky first months are normal — or browse the full lessons directory.
The vintage and rare-gear walls worth the trip: Guitar Center, Old Town Music, Portland Music Company - Division, Portland Music Company - Broadway, David Kerr Violin Shop, Thunder Road Guitars PDX. Our vintage buying guide covers what drives value, the fakes problem, and why reputable dealers earn their premium — and the vintage directory has the full state-by-state list.
I had a last minute performance and needed a string change and the action lowered on my Taylor acoustic. Shane was so kind, helpful, and got it all done the same day. I just sent in another Taylor for more detailed work and the quote was really reasonable. Would totally recommend their guitar repair shop!
Staff is super helpful, nice inventory of new and used instruments, mostly guitars. Got a sweet guitar strap used for 15 bucks this time, bought my last guitar here as well. Worth a visit!
The brand new guitar I got as a christmas present had a defective tuning peg. Brought it in here and they had us fixed up and back in working order in just a few minutes!! Excellent customer service, will definitely be returning for any future guitar needs
