Stores We Love
The shops that keep String Warrior stocked — the places we trust with our money, our returns, and the occasional 2 a.m. impulse purchase, plus the people inside them who make it worth coming back.
Why this page exists
Gear is personal, and where you buy it matters almost as much as what you buy. The shops below are the ones the people who build String Warrior actually order from — the places that have earned our loyalty with fair prices, honest advice, and standing behind what they sell.
To be clear about what this is not: nobody paid to appear here, and a listing isn't an ad. These are simply the stores — and the individual people behind the counter — that we genuinely trust and keep going back to.
Sweetwater is the closest thing the gear world has to a one-stop shop: a staggering catalog that runs from first-guitar starter packs to boutique one-offs, every fretted instrument inspected and set up by a real tech before it ships, and — yes — the legendary bag of candy in the box. When you want selection without gambling on condition, this is the safe bet, and a lot of the instruments we cover in our gear guides come from exactly here.
What actually keeps us loyal, though, isn't the warehouse. It's the person on the other end of the phone.
Dave Cody
Half the reason I keep coming back is my rep, Dave Cody. He has gone above and beyond on returns, chased down deals, and tracked down exclusive gear I couldn't find anywhere else — always happy to help me out in any way he can. He's more than a salesperson; he's a genuinely caring person, and he is always appreciated.
Say hi to Dave →
True Tone Music is our closest shop — and the kind of place that makes “just popping in” a dangerous habit. The wall runs the full range, from the latest beginner Squier to custom builds and vintage instruments you'd have sworn only existed in your dreams, and it turns over often enough that it's never quite the same store twice.
What seals it is the service: knowledgeable, patient, and happy to put something in your hands whether you're buying your first guitar or hunting one very specific relic. If our gear guides or instrument pages leave you itching to play before you buy, this is the room we'd send you to.
Angel City Guitars is a destination. The showroom is one of the largest and most spectacular you'll ever set foot in, and every instrument on the wall earns its place — the highest-quality pieces from the most storied lineages, the kind of guitars you'd assumed only existed in other people's dreams.
It has that cigar-lounge feel: unhurried, welcoming, and built for lingering. Walk in and you're immediately at home, surrounded by the most amazing tone — about as close to a guitar enthusiast's idea of heaven as a retail floor gets. When you want to be inspired by what's actually possible, and hear the history behind it, spend an afternoon here and then dig into our gear guides.
Keep exploring
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