Seriously. There is no where else quite like it. This is a temple, a museum of synthesizers, drum machines, and all things electronica. Sam is probably among the top techs in the world right now and his crew is spot on. Just go.

I was in awe as soon as I stepped foot through the door. Soooooo many synth, keyboards, organs, etc.!! I had a very vague idea of what I was looking for and Sam’s staff worked with me for over 2 hours plugging in different units for me to play until I found one that I liked. Really dedicated an knowledgeable staff. Looking forward to a 2nd visit!

Very friendly, and knowledgeable staff. Outstanding selection of new and vintage equipment.

Wasted twenty minutes driving here just to have find someplace else to spend thousands of dollars all over not having a mask :/ its hard enough trying to convince people to not just use guitar center or sweetwater without baseless mandates

This place is absolutely synthesiser heaven. There is so much history in the musical Instruments available here.

I reached out to Three Wave/Sam looking for a specific synth thats been sold out everywhere (thanks COVID lol). Sam got me that synth at a really good price and delivered to my door in 2 days. It was a super easy process. I cant wait to stop by the store. Thanks for everything, Sam!

Always enjoy visiting Sam and his shop full of vintage and new synth gear. You can find just about anything here. Theres even a CS-80 in the repair area.

I went to the Paramus Guitar Center to check out a synthesizer they had in stock and called ahead of time to make sure that it was on the shelf and available to try out and play before I committed to buy. Unfortunately after driving a half an hour in a snow storm in rush hour traffic and got to the store, no one could find the power cord for the display model. At this point I was very frustrated because of the lack of care coming from the sales associates after all that i had already gone through. This instrument was on sale and I was tempted to purchase it, but I really did not want to commit to buy this instrument without first testing it out and making sure that it was what I really wanted.I spoke to the manager who apologized to me for this inconvenience and that corporate would not allow them to buy replacement power cords for clearance items. To me that still is not a good enough excuse for a retailer who markets their store as a place where customers can try before they buy. I traveled all the way to this store in a snow storm because I was told I could try out an instrument they had in stock and I was met with nothing but excuses and apologies.After all I went through I was still determined to find this synth so instead of going in circles with Guitar Center, I called their local small business competitor Three Wave Music in Hawthorne NJ. To my surprise and delight Sam at Three Wave Music had the exact model on his shelf WITH THE POWER CORD because his business values TRUE GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE. I went to Three Wave Music and Sam had already setup the floor model for me before I even arrived (GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE). I played the keyboard and walked out with it within 30 minutes. Guitar Center blew a perfectly good opportunity to have my business but Im glad I gave it to the small business instead.

A great place to find new and vintage synthesizers. This place is like a museum. They also have a plenty of Eurorack modules for sale.

Friendly, knowledgeable staff. HUGE variety of gear, will let you test anything and hang out.

Paradise for synth lovers

I have been a frequent customer of Three Wave Music for YEARS, since 2010! I love this place!!!!!! The Owner Sam is like a good friend of mine. Highly Highly recommend.

Great selection of gear. Definitely worth a visit (especially if you are in NYC and have the pleasure of shopping at Armens).About ~1 hr trip from Port Authority (depending on traffic). Nice to see such specialized/dedicated stores.Prices are a little variable. I had the assumption the overhead of operating a little out of the loop in NJ would be a little lower, and would in turn translate to the customer - not necessarily the case.

This is worth a trip from anywhere. Fly in to Newark airport and rent a car and its worth it. The shop is incredible. You will be amazed but what they have in multiples. The owner is very knowledgeable and kind. I say that because other places with lesser inventory generally have grouchy staff. I remembered his original store in Soho from many years ago and hes still delivering an incredible calibre of rare (but fairly priced) instruments. Also a really large offering of individual modules. I highly recommend visitng!

Three Wave is just absolutely incredible, there’s no other word to describe it. I had first visited the store 4 years ago, before I had really gotten into synths/electronic music, and was solely playing guitar. I was still absolutely blown away by how much history, as far as vintage synths, drum machines, organs, that I’d only seen in books or had heard about. I ended up leaving with a Roland JU-06 that day. This past Saturday, I took the 15 minute trip there with my sister (who’s not a musician at all). I had gotten into the world of synths, analog, digital, mono, poly, modular, semi modular, and drum machines, and had been tirelessly learning new things about my Moog Grandmother, Mother-32, DFAM, Korg Minilogue, OP-1, was in the process of building a modular synth, and as soon as we got there, that feeling of magic hit again. My sister walked around in awe, as I a looked at modules with the young guy working behind the counter(I thought he was maybe Sam’s son?) Anyhow, not only was he incredibly helpful, friendly, knowledgeable, but he encouraged me to try any module I was interested in, showed me how a modular synth I was interested in worked..I ended up leaving with 2 Make Noise Modules, a Make Noise 0-Coast desktop modular synth, a blank hp plate for my skiff, and a couple packs of Make Noise hot pink patch cables(I love those hot pink cables..lol) . My sister and I got home from dinner afterwards, and he had thrown in a ton of different stickers in my bag, Moog, Endorphin.es, Make Noise, a bunch. I have not had such an incredible experience at a shop (especially high end music gear shop) that was that incredible in so long, I honestly cannot remember. Friendly, Helpful, they take time to answer any questions, don’t rush you, make you feel unwelcome, or judge you, thinking you’re not gonna buy something, quite the opposite. Their prices on new equipment are comparable with any well priced large music equipment dealer(I buy a lot of equipment from Sweetwater, and Three Wave’s prices are the same), and I would even go further, saying that their prices on vintage pieces (at least some popular pieces like the Juno or the Roland TR-808, which I asked the prices of, were not shocking in the least, as they were cheaper than a few places online that I’ve seen them sell ). If you are interested in any time of equipment, new or vintage, that is used in electronic, hip hop, production, are into building modular, or just wanna see some incredible music equipment history, there is no better place that I know of. I will be heading back this coming weekend to pick up a new module (their modular selection is absolutely unreal, and the companies they carry are all listed on the site, along with all kinds of cases, cables, power sources..) and hopefully will get to spend some more time trying out some new modules that I’m interested in. Three Wave has definitely become my #1 go to place for all things synth. There aren’t enough great adjectives to describe this amazing place. Definitely make the trip if you’re interested in checking it out. You will not be disappointed.

Sam (and company) were lovely and knowledgeable! Came to try out some keyboards and walked out with a new one. Ill be back to consign some things shortly

Largest vintage keyboard store in the world? Sam and son are kind and the best in the biz.

Fantastic collection of synths and modular equipment. Everything from old to new out and viewable. I cant imagine youd go home unhappy.

Unique store with a lot of awesome instruments from the past. Mostly classic synthesizers and drum machines I have purchased many electronic instruments from there such as my planet phat and Juno very warm and welcoming place.

4 years ago I took 2 Ensoniq KT 76 keyboards to Sam and he made one great keyboard for me and at a reasonable price. VERY SATISFIED.

Synth heaven! The largest collection of vintage synthesizers I’ve ever seen. The owner is fantastic and friendly. He has a wide range of knowledge with all the products he carries.

First time ever there and felt welcomed .Literally synth heaven !

Sam (the owner) is very knowledgeable about his products and always friendly. He carries products new and vintage that the majority of surrounding businesses do not.

I have bought, sold and have gotten repairs here before. Sam is a great guy. I cant vouch for bad experiences. But I can say, dont sell anything to them. They are a store so understand they will offer 200$ for something and sell it for 900$. I sold them a very cheesy junk organ to them and they took 200$ but end it up trying to sell it for 1000$..its not worth it...they told me it wasnt worth anything but then someone went in there and they told him it was rare Rare doesnt mean its worth high prices. Vintage gear sales has gotten way out of hand these days. Just sell it for what its really worth!! I can say however, I have had free repairs by them and they have given me good deals on sell backs, so i cant complain

One of the rare shops where you can get almost any kind of synthesizers - vintage, newest models, modular. You can get there buy NJ train and ask owner to meet you there and have a ride to shop and back to train station.

Do you love synthesizers and keyboards? If so, this is heaven.

Heaven on earth. My go to place to buy top quality synthesizers and other equipment without waiting or paying for shipping. Everything from original minimoogs, MS-20s, and TB-303s to new stuff like the 0-Coast, Dreadbox, Volcas, you name it. Prices are highly competitive. High quality repair work done here too. Selection is somewhere between laughably complete and insane, if it makes sounds old people hate its sold here.

Very cool place for analog people

Three Wave Music is worth a trip to check out the vast collection of synths. Sam, the proprietor, is a nice guy and will gladly let you try out many of the machines.Unfortunately, I have had more than one bad experience leaving my synths with Sam for repair. Out of 6 keyboards I left with him only 2 were fully repaired. A Chroma Polaris came back worse than I left it (albeit with a replaced membrane panel, but with worse problems overall) and a PolySix went unrepaired for reasons unclear. Still had to pay around $500 for both.The real reason I am writing this review is when the Prophet 600 I left with Sam came home with me unfixed, I discovered that 6 CEM Curtis chips had been removed from the unit and the screen and sequencer was rendered useless. No wonder he offered to buy it from me ($50) every time I called. I immediately called Sam and he pleaded ignorance. To his credit, when I finally went in to pick up the next round of synths for repair I brought the 600 with me to show him and after some pleading he replaced the chips (although since they came from a little plastic box full of them, I suspect they were not my original Curtis chips).Sam did a good job with my Farfisa Compact and an ARP Omni. Not so good with an Acetone combo organ, Chroma Polaris, Korg Polysix, and Prophet 600. Poor communication, high prices, shady practices, and apparent incompetence makes me urge you not to leave your equipment behind at Three Wave Music. Sorry Sam.

I have to agree with the other review after leaving my synth for repair its been about 4 months and still not fixed no communication what so ever... Im fed up at this point Im going to go pick up my synth and bring it somewhere else.

Heaven for synth lovers.

Great keyboard place!

Synth heaven

Sam is the best!!!

Insane place