Employees are super chill and knowledgeable. Fixed up my guitar flawlessly for a reasonable price and quickly considering how busy they are. They also have a really unique stock of new and used gear. Shop local

Ricky Bright and his staff have created more than a music store. The Upper Bout certainly has a broad, eclectic and high-quality inventory of instruments and gear, but thats only the beginning. They care about local music and the people who play it. Theyve created a social space for musicians and maintain a laid-back vibe that you dont get at most retail music stores. I sometimes go there just to kill time and they never make me feel anything but welcome.The Upper bout also cares about honesty, ethical sales practices and doing the right thing. They absolutely care about building a relationship and winning the trust of a long term customer rather than making a quick sale. There are so many examples I could use, but one in particular says it all:I purchased a used amplifier a year ago. It was (and is) awesome. It was a consignment sale and I purchased it as is. Shortly after, I found a problem with the reverb circuit. I brought it back in expecting to pay for a rather expensive repair. Ricky confirmed the problem and then did the unthinkable. He told me to send it to a local tech for repairs and charge it to the Upper Bout! He said the issue was something they should have caught before putting the amp on the floor for sale and that was the right thing to do. He had absolutely no obligation to do that. The repair wasnt cheap, and Im certain UB made no money (or probably lost a little) in the whole deal. But they took care of the customer. The amp is awesome now and Ill never forget being taken care of so well.Go there! Hang out! You wont regret it. Theyll make you feel welcome if you buy a pack of strings, or a Les Paul Custom, or nothing at all. The Upper Bout is the best.

Amazing store! Knowledgeable and friendly staff with AMAZING guitars available to play.Thank you for an awesome experience

The guys are great and 99.9% of the time they got what Im looking for.

Great Staff of knowledgeable professionals. Comfortable and welcoming environment. Boutique vibe.

Ben was very knowledgeable and kind and not pushy. Love my first guitar.

Great selection of instruments. Very helpful staff. Great and fair prices

Another great experience at the Upperbout!

The Upper Bout has been the perfect store for all of my guitar needs and wants, and I couldnt be any happier with my many experiences there so far. Located so conveniently in Champaign, the store is better than any I know of around and I actively seek out coming here. The employees are knowledgable and kind, the environment is inviting and clean, and it is always a blast to be in the store, even if Im just there to play!

Ive played professionally for 25 years, and highly recommend this shop. Support local business!

Killer vibe, great selection

Nice selection of high end gear with knowledgeable staff

Great atmosphere and collection of awesome gear! Always friendly and helpful staff! Best guitar shop around

Talk about a needle in a haystack!!! I bought my first guitar sight unseen from The Upper Bout last week and all I can say is WOW! Very responsive to emails and Ricky went above and beyond. Not only did they answer all my questions but helped me in figuring out what would be path as I head down my journey into the guitar world. Highly recommend and I know they have gained a customer for life and look forward to picking up whatever is next in my collection from them.

I like this guitar shop. Place looks good, has a good feel. Lots of places to sit down and play or talk about music or local and world affairs. I am taking lessons from Caleb and really enjoy it.The staff here have all been very friendly and helpful. I will make purchases here as need comes up in the future and would recommend others to give this shop a try. They are all real people. This place has a pleasant family atmosphere.

Love this place! Very knowledgeable and reasonable prices! Very happy with my Epiphone Explorer. They have also set up an acoustic-electric bass that I bought secondhand, and it sounds perfect after having been neglected for years.

Brand new to the guitar world. They made me feel very at ease. Will definitely be using them for all my guitar needs from now on!

Everyone here is knowledgeable and friendly, and they have the best selection of quality product in town. Ive bought guitars, gear, and had repair work done here and only had great experiences with Ricky, Andrew, and the rest of the staff. Champaign is lucky to have this place.

One of the coolest if not THEE coolest music store I have ever been in! The 3 guys that were working, I believe it was Noah, Ben and Andrew were all 3 exceptional!!

These guys are really professional and actually know their product in and out. This isnt a guitar center people.I walk in and they greet me by name, a smile, and take care of me immediately. I have been coming here for years and dont intend on going anywhere else for as long as Im in the area.

Students get 10% discount!

I am taking an intro guitar class at UIUC and needed to get my guitar restrung, and a new case. Happened to come to this place by chance, but found these people to be super nice and helpful. The store is really cool looking too. Would definitely recommend this place to friends and will come back myself the next time I need help with my instrument.

Theres a great reason these fine folks have nearly an average 5 star review. Super friendly, the owner is awesome, and two of the employees that Ive meant are super cool. Good selection of new and used gear. Its not easy to find big name brands that arent just budget in a mom and pops kinda shop, but the Upper Bout has plenty of US made guitars, along with more affordable over seas gear.Its not the cheapest to have work done there, but you pay for what you get. You owe it to yourself to drop in a say hi. Not a bad thing to say about the place. Definitely going to shop there when Im in Champaign.

The best place for all your guitar needs in Central Illinois. Ricky is a super knowledge guy and loves to help everyone with their guitar needs. If I need something looked at I dont go anywhere else!

Super friendly people there. Felt welcome to try the guitars and many of them are hand crafted and high quality. We went here to buy bass but only three were in the inventory. Overall very pleasant experience.

I took my prized Martin HD-28 to The Upper Bout just to have the action lowered. Andrew immediately noticed the top had suffered from dry air and told me he could re-humidify it, give the guitar a good cleaning, treat the fingerboard, put on some good quality strings, and also set the action. I was surprised to get a call a day and a half later that is was ready! It looks like a brand new guitar and plays like an absolute dream. I cant recommend The Upper Bout enough if you truly care about your instrument.

TOP NOTCH customer service. Recently, I stopped in to have my guitar looked over before heading into studio the next day. It was a Friday night and just an hour before the store closed. Ricky spent two hours setting up my guitar and making some adjustments while keeping a friendly conversation with me as he worked.Ricky and his staff have always treated me with kindness and respect and their attention to detail is unmatched in the CU area. Highly recommended!

Drove a long way to check this place out. Glad I did.

Love these guys Andy, Ben and Ricky are all great but the best is Gonzo and his furry little face. These guys are great with helping my beginner learn the strings so to speak.

Only place I would trust working on my guitars. Great experience every time

I have bought a guitar and equipment with them and I have taken one of my guitars for repairs. They offer excellent service and they know guitars really well.

Upper Bout is great! It has a lively, chillax vibe and the staff really are excited about guitars and music and customer service.

Very cool atmosphere with a knowledgeable staff. A good place for an experienced guitarist to look at many different styles of guitars for comparison.

Very nice store for guitar players. Not a lot of options for bass players. Store is very clean and the store has a very classy look and vibe. Very nice selection of effects pedals. I will go there again. I would like to have seen more high end 5 string basses. But, I think everyone should stop by.

Everyone working here is not only extremely friendly, but also very knowledgable about both the merchandise they sell and habits they promote. However, my music knowledge and guitar expertise would be generously labeled basic. The best thing about The Upper Bout is that even though they are experts at their work, they cater their explanations and recommendations to each customer as the musician (or lack thereof) that they are. It is clear that this business goal is not simply to be profitable, but to promote music in the hearts of its community. Great experience, thank you very much.

Best place for guitar and bass repair and maintenance that Ive ever been to. Friendly and knowledgeable staff who are always helpful, best guitar selection around.

Awesome place and very helpful!

Brought in a broken guitar hoping to fix it. They were quoting me 4 times the value of a new guitar to fix it and kept pushing me to just buy a new one. I ended up leaving and getting the guitar replaced elsewhere

I would absolutely give more stars if I could...this place is amazing! Every employee there is quite knowledgeable and they know how to make a newbie feel welcome. It is so great to have such a wonderful local store!

The moment I walked into The Upper Bouts door, I knew I was in a 1st class guitar shop. I was initially impressed by the fantastic space, smiling staff faces and a lot of guitars. I was greeted immediately with a smile and was given undivided attention. (This has never happened to me once at any of the other local guitar stores since I started playing guitar in 1970 ). It was like I was their best customer...and I just wondered in there after driving by their new store, beautifully lighted, the night before.I brought in my early 80s Burny Les Paul to have it checked out. Ricky, the owner, tweaked my baby from one end to the other on the spot. It plays much better now and I think I am going to take some lessons from them to improve my technique.Ricky is, obviously, very passionate about every detail of his business and customer service. Take my word for it...The Upper Bout is a great guitar store. Do yourself a favor and drop in and check out their goods.

Ricky Bright and his gang will take care of you. You wont be disappointed if you shop here. Ive spent thousands of dollars at the Upper Bout, and plan on spending more. Ive been playing for 50 years. They have quality instruments and quality people.

The Upper Bout offers very competitive pricing for their quality services. Their employees are courteous, helpful, and definitely knowledgeable. Oh, and the store is incredibly clean and beautifully laid out. After receiving an immaculate setup for my acoustic, I will definitely be back to possibly purchase my next electric.

I am always looking for a music store with a great atmosphere and a friendly, knowledgable staff. For all of you who want the person working on your guitar to care for it as much as you do, this is the place to go. After stopping in the other stores in town I chose The Upper Bout to work on my prized Gibson J-45. Ricky and all the staff I met were informative, welcoming, and excited to have my business. Needless to say, my instrument looks outstanding and plays better than ever before. Furthermore, I anticipate all of my guitars will be in the hands of The Upper Bout in the near future!

Cozy shop, friendly and knowledgeable staff, and great gear! They are also a Mesa Boogie authorized dealer, so if youre in the market for any of their equipment definitely go check out the Upper Bout. Other boutique amps and some cool pedals are available as well. They also offer lessons, instrument setup and repairs/servicing. One of my favorite places over all in Champaign.

Really neato place.

In my experience, music shop staff are usually condescending and unfriendly. You get the opposite at this shop. Knowledgeable and courteous would be the best way to describe them.The store itself is clean, great guitar selection. Basses, not so much.Anytime Im in the area I like to stop by and will eventually buy something. Highly recommended.

Great place

Good place to buy guitar stuff in a convenient location.Its kind of expensive, I paid $25 for two sets of strings when I go through them like crazy. This being the only place I buy strings nowadays I am now scared to break one!They have loads of guitars and amps to try out, as well as mandolins, banjos and other stringed instruments, makes it a great place to learn about instruments.I will purchase my next guitar here for sure.

Be forewarned! If you are anything but an accomplished or professional guitar player they may not have the time of day for you! They WILL talk down to you, and make broad assumptions of you. Without asking me any further questions, because I said I traveled a lot, had a sentimental instrument that I didnt want to see damaged and didnt presently have a place to store it: the assumptions changed to me being homeless and I couldnt be pushed out of the store fast enough. Even when I asked about a simple $15 item. Oh and lets not forget the whole the salesman is talking down to me, he grabbing expensive guitars off the wall just playing them instead of listening to my questions. Nice job Upper Bout 😭

These guys are awesome. Theyll spend the time to talk to every customer, regardless of whether theyre buying a pack of picks or a high end guitar. Just be careful or youll find yourself heading home with a new instrument!

Mid to high end guitar store with high end staff.Really helpful staff here.They help solve problems rather than just sell you gear.Be sure to say hi to Gonzo!

The staff at the Upper Bout are both professional and personable. I have bought the last 3 guitars there. There are lots of beautiful high end guitars.

By far, wide, and corner to corner of Champaign-Urbana, these are the guys I have trusted in years past, and I will continue to turn to for all my guitar needs. Suck at playing? The lessons are beneficial. Need a new instrument, amp, or other accessory? These guys. Need some insight or knowledge about that axe youre curious about or where to begin? Start to finish, youll leave this place happy.

Excellent selection of guitars and the staff is always happy to help.

I put a guitar here on consignment that had a synth pickup and they straight up lost the synth. When I came in to pick up my stuff they just shrugged their shoulders like “so what?”

Wonderful store, super helpful people/owners. The classes/teachers are nice, and very efficient.

Awesome addition to CU! The staff were a great help with our daughter getting her ukulele. Lessons available as well!

A great store for the beginner, the hobbyist and the professional. Everyone is treated equally & with great respect. Ricky, Brian & Andrew love to share their devotion to all things guitar & bass with all who come through their doors. In addition to a sterling front line, the store also has a terrific quality line of introductory instruments for the beginner and those just looking to inexpensively expand their guitar sounds. They also feature a lot of quality used instruments. Besides a full line of great guitar brands, the Upper Bout features a full & varied selection of all kinds of guitar accessories such as, strings, straps, cases, capos, etc. They also do set-ups and repairs.It is a beautifully designed store that is comfortable and welcoming. The UB also supports live music by featuring both local & touring acts in their gorgeous space. The UB staff goes to great lengths to keep their shop clean and shiny which only enhances the experience.The Upper Bout is a terrific addition to the local music retail scene.

This is a top shelf shop with high end products, very knowledgeable staff, and great service. Updated, two years later...still awesome staff, knowledge and friendly.

Very fun and cool environment. Staff are very helpful and knowledgeable and they don’t try to pressure you into buying something like other guitar stores I have been to.

I take lessons from one of the instructors on site and any time I have rookie guitar player questions about guitars or amps the employees and shop owner are more than willing to answer my questions and chat. Very nice and relaxed atmosphere with high quality products.

Beautiful store, super friendly staff. I brought my hopelessly misaligned bridge (on a Fender Jaguar) to them and they quickly adjusted it and did not charge, as a courtesy. Ill be going back!

I so enjoy this store.Kudos to everyone that works there.A treat for me to walk in every time.Rodman Rail will play acoustic July 17th at 7:30pm.Please join us.....Peace

These guys are the best! Sweet guitars along with knowledgeable and helpful staff is a win-win for me.

Ive visited The Upper Bout several times since it opened, and have had nothing but positive experiences there. The (currently only) two people working there are highly knowledgeable about guitars and gear, and are there to just talk shop with you or to discuss the guitars they have available at any time. Ricky, the owner, made a conscious effort to get to know me the first time I came in, and was able to recall things I had discussed with him in following visits. Him and Brian know what guitars I have my eyes on and are always telling me about the newest arrivals.On to their inventory. Its pretty extensive, especially in comparison with the other local shops. There are mainly Gibson instruments, but also a healthy mix of Fender, Ibanez, Epiphone, and others. The prices are what really surprised me. All of the tags on the instruments are comparable to, and in some cases, lower than you would find online, and this is not the norm with local shops. Ricky even indicated willingness to negotiate price lower, and said he would beat online prices. Im confident that this is the case. This makes an incredible combination of factors that makes this place the shop to visit when you are in the market for a guitar or gear. You get the advantage of having a hands-on test of the actual instrument you might buy, and the confidence that youll get a better deal than you can get online.I highly recommend that you visit this shop. I think youll be glad you did.

High quality instruments and great personal service. Thanks Andrew!

High end guitars at highly competitive prices. unbelievable selection! Gibson Bluebirds, top Les Pauls, G&L, Taylor, Martin, PRS, more

Always a nice place to visit. Great inventory and many good conversations about music and playing guitars.

Staff Is Always Super Groovy; Know How To Be Helpful And Make A Customer Feel Welcome Without Being Pushy - They Also Have Comfy Lounge Equipment To Park Your Keister While Fiddlin With Thee Instrumentals! - Great Place!

Guitar store with mid to high end guitars and amps for electrics and acoustic guitars.Knowledgeable and eager staff to solve your questions or problems and a tech staff for guitar repairs or pup installation.

Such an amazing place with the most helpful, caring staff. Thank you for everything you do!

Excellent service. Excellent selection. Knowledgeable staff.

Very helpful with getting a old guitar setup for my son.

Great inventory, great service, and friendly people!

Relaxing atmosphere, high end gear, and friendly employees.

Ive purchased four guitars, two amplifiers, a few pedals, and accessories here. The Upper Bout has an outstanding, personable & knowledgeable staff, and growing inventory of quality instruments and amplifiers—one of the best shops in the Midwest!

A true guitarists guitar shop. Knowledgeable staff and a nice range from mid-grade to higher end instruments.

Great shop... probably the nicest Ive been in. Carries Gibson, Epiphone, Fender, Takamine, Orange amps, Jet City amps, JHS pedals, MXR pedals, Ernie Ball strings, and some other brands Im forgetting at the moment. Its nice to find a place that actually cares about their product and their customer... they definitely give you a hands-on experience that big box music stores cant match. The guitars are well set up and in tune (which is shocking in this day and age), theres plenty of space for jamming and trying things out, and the staff will spend the time to actually get to know you and what you want out of your music. Im more of an electric player myself, but it was really cool to see and play the Gibson acoustic J-35 and J-45 guitars they had in the store. I ended up buying the MXR Phase 90 custom shop script pedal, after playing it through a mid-70s silverface Fender Twin Reverb amp that they had on consignment. It was a great experience, to say the least.

Trust me. This is the place to go. Enough said.

Excellent selection of high end gear

They help me with WHATEVER my situation is from picks to string to a whole new guitar the have got you covered

Great guitar shop, period.

Best Guitar Shop in town!

How a guitar shop should be.

Awesome shop!!

One fine geetar store, son.