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Evolution Music
4.6 ★★★★★ 226 Google reviews · Guitar & music store in Chicago, Illinois
Used guitar store and instructor, specializing in acoustic and electric guitars, along with amps.
Plan your visit
- Repairs & setups a repair bench comes up in reviews and the store's own info — call ahead for turnaround, since good techs run a queue
- Buys & trades used gear they buy, trade, or consign used instruments — bring the case and any original parts, and expect trade credit to beat the cash offer
- Lessons lessons come up in reviews and the store's own info — call about openings, instruments taught, and rates before the first visit
- Today see hours ·
- Phone (872) 206-2485
- Website evolutionmusicstore.com
Hours
| Monday | 11 AM–7 PM |
| Tuesday | 11 AM–7 PM |
| Wednesday | 11 AM–7 PM |
| Thursday | 11 AM–7 PM |
| Friday | 11 AM–7 PM |
| Saturday | 11 AM–7 PM |
| Sunday | 12–5 PM |
What's on the wall
“I visited Evolution Music in September looking to buy my first electric guitar to learn with.”
“Got my bass fixed up here and it’s the best it has sounded in years and for a fraction of the price of anywhere else I’ve found in the city!”
“It is rare to find someone so dedicated to providing a high level of personalized support.”
“always come here whenever i need new drum heads or cymbals or strings, wonderfully friendly staff and always got a breathtaking selection of cool gear”
Brands they deal
What players say again and again
“Michelle was very knowledgeable and helped me find exactly what I was looking for and we had a great conversation to boot.”
“always come here whenever i need new drum heads or cymbals or strings, wonderfully friendly staff and always got a breathtaking selection of cool gear”
“A great place to find affordable used gear and off the wall items!”
“Michelle was very patient and helpful with me being a complete beginner.”
From the reviews
#1 music store in the city. Nowhere else I go when I need a minor piece of drum equipment to repair or replace something that most major brand stores wouldn't have or would overcharge for, or a new snare or cymbal that's already been loved.
They fixed my daughter's guitar and they were nice.They took care of me with no problems and got my guitar back polished and fixed
Cool shop with a good selection of gear for the hobbyist or beginner. Found parts for my daughter's electric guitar build.
While they turned out at the time not to have the relatively niche synth instrument I was looking for in stock, the speed with which the staff member returned my call (the only store that day to do so), and their enthusiasm & thoroughness in not only looking for it, but proactively volunteering information about its…
Selling or trading gear at Evolution Music
Evolution Music comes up for buying and trading used gear — confirmed on their own site. Two things make the trip go better. First, bring the whole package: the case or gig bag, the original tremolo arm or bridge parts, the paperwork if you have it — a complete rig is worth real money more than a bare instrument, and it saves the back-and-forth of "can you bring the case in?" Second, know that trade credit almost always beats the cash offer, usually by a healthy margin — if you're upgrading anyway, price your old gear as a trade against the new one before you take cash. Either way, expect the offer to be below what the gear sells for on the wall; the gap is the store's margin for setup, warranty, and sitting on it until the right buyer walks in.
Lessons at Evolution Music
Reviews and the store's own info mention lessons at Evolution Music. If you're signing up a beginner (or restarting yourself), a quick call ahead answers the three things that matter: which instruments they teach, whether the schedule has openings at the time you actually need, and what a first lesson costs. There's no wrong first guitar — a good teacher will happily work with whatever you walk in with, and a shop that teaches usually keeps affordable starter instruments on hand for exactly this reason.
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