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Palen Music Center
4.9 ★★★★★ 619 Google reviews · Guitar & music store in Columbia, Missouri
Friendly, knowledgeable shop for acoustic guitars, basses, keyboards and drums or lessons.
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
- Lessons lessons come up in reviews and the store's own info — call about openings, instruments taught, and rates before the first visit
- Instrument rentals rentals mentioned — the usual route for band & orchestra season; ask about rent-to-own credit
- Today see hours ·
- Phone (573) 256-5555
- Website palenmusic.com
Hours
| Monday | 10 AM–7 PM |
| Tuesday | 10 AM–7 PM |
| Wednesday | 10 AM–7 PM |
| Thursday | 10 AM–7 PM |
| Friday | 10 AM–7 PM |
| Saturday | 10 AM–6 PM |
| Sunday | Closed |
What's on the wall
“Over the past couple of years we’ve purchased a viola, a percussion set, and this Christmas they helped me quickly find the perfect beginner electric guitar and amp for my son.”
“Over the past couple of years we’ve purchased a viola, a percussion set, and this Christmas they helped me quickly find the perfect beginner electric guitar and amp for my son.”
“A more than fair trade in price on a gently used metal machine, got me just $100 away from this green Rock beast.”
“Shout out to Diego and the shop’s guitar tech for helping me out with the guitar and the purchase, they really made it a special experience.”
“Yesterday (1/21) I went to Palen Music to pick up my almost 50 yr Ukulele I had earlier dropped off to have a string (original) reattached.”
“We started our search for a keyboard with a website but going into a real store, having my wife play and hear the keyboard sold us.”
Brands they deal
“If Palen Music didn’t encourage that type of environment, I wouldn’t have ended up buying a Gibson Murphy Lab R8.”
“Kyle was very helpful and patient assisting me with my purchase if a Taylor guitar.”
“I ended up buying my son his dream guitar(an Ibanez,) after multiple weeks of trying ones out - he was ecstatic and I was pleased to support this store.”
What players say again and again
“A more than fair trade in price on a gently used metal machine, got me just $100 away from this green Rock beast.”
“I was in and out with exactly what I needed, and that’s always been my experience here — knowledgeable, approachable, and genuinely helpful.”
“Over the past couple of years we’ve purchased a viola, a percussion set, and this Christmas they helped me quickly find the perfect beginner electric guitar and amp for my son.”
From the reviews
Brandon and the staff and Palen music went above and beyond to help get my son into a transition instrument he felt excited about and could be successful with. The instrument request came at the end of the year when inventory is low and they took on extra work to make sure we were satisfied.
Yesterday (1/21) I went to Palen Music to pick up my almost 50 yr Ukulele I had earlier dropped off to have a string (original) reattached. Not broken, just loose from the tuning knob and a few cracks repaired. Mike, the ‘reconstruction artist’ there did a fantastic job, making it look brand new.
I stopped in to Palen Music Center this morning looking for a new electric guitar. I was greeted by a salesman named Brendan W. He wasn’t pushy or “trying to make a sale.” Very laid back and guided me to the section of guitars I was looking for. He was very informative and helpful.
I just picked my ole ‘78 tele from Palen a few days ago after being PLEK’d and swapping the pickups for a new set of Lollars. I took the tele to a gig Friday night with the intention of playing it the 1st set but was so impressed with the improvement of it I ended up playing the entire night on it.
Lessons at Palen Music Center
Reviews and the store's own info mention lessons at Palen Music Center. 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 and rentals on hand for exactly this reason.
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