Rich Tone Music Reviews 

I’ve used Rich Tone Music “sell your gear” form once before, both time they have been very fair with their evaluations have honoured it when they have received the item.

The last time I sold a bass to them for cash/bank transfer, the money was in my account the day they received it.

This time I did a straight swap but had to put a deposit on the item I was exchanging for, they refunded the deposit the next day and have sent out the exchanged item.

I 100% recommend giving them a chance.

Super knowledgeable team that really take the time to help you understand instruments and amps so you can be confident you’re buying the right kit for you. Really easy trade-in process too.

Straight forward process to sell our guitars and amp, came back with a price that was very favourable. Called into the store and completed the sale quickly and received the price offered - very happy. Thanks Mark for your help.

Having used Rich tone for selling gear and also part ex, can say they make both process’ really easy and offer great prices

I've bought new and pre owned guitars, amps and accessories from Richtone Music and also sold gear to them and traded in gear as well. On the purchase side, I've always been very happy with the competitive pricing and the quality of the gear I have bought. On the selling side, I've always been offered decent prices. No hassell here, quotes given promptly either in store or via their 'sell my gear' platform. Yes they make a good profit on pre owned gear, but fair play to them, they are a small business, and pay up straight away, either by bank transfer or in cash. Private Ebay sales would provide a higher return, but this can be long winded. Great to see a 'bricks and mortar' well established business which seems to be thriving. The staff are brilliant in their friendliness. expertise and know how. Phil Tennant. Belper, Derbyshire.

The service I received was amazing, the guys couldn’t be friendlier and more helpful, and the prices offered were more than competitive, will happily be making Richtone my main music store, the selection and the staff make the 2 hour drive more than worth it.

Great shop, bought from, and sold to Rich Tone, highly recommended, have a look,

Rich tone are the number place for instruments with a terrific part exchange policy that is clear and fair. I've been busing instruments for 50 years and there's no store that comes close to what they offer in terms of expertise and stock.

Spot on every time I visit, the staff are always welcoming and make you feel at ease and ready to help you whatever you are there for.

A great music instrument store. Lots of staff and a great range of stock.

I wanted to sell 1 guitar and emailed Rich Tone with photos and description. I received a same day reply & felt it was a fair value & certainly higher than the competitors. I didn't want to trust a high value guitar to the fate of couriers so I decided to take the guitar to the Sheffield store myself & as I was making a trip I decided to take 3 guitars, 2 x amps & a range of guitar peripherals. I arrived unannounced and shortly after they opened on a Monday. I was warmly welcomed by Issac who helped me unload the car & it was no trouble to evaluate my gear & it was thoroughly checked. Now I had my expectations of value but have to also accept realistic trade values. I had a lot of gear & a valuation was provided which I accepted as it was fair & balanced. Now if Rich Tone decide to advertise it for more than they said well that is there choice as the items now belong to them. I also found the shop really well laid out & a great range of guitars. I was offered more on a trade in but I wanted to sell as I am downsizing. The shop staff are a great team. A big shout out to Issac & Rich as I mainly interacted with them, but equally a big shout out to the others that I had a brief interaction with as they were also pleasant. So would I recommend them?? Absolutely as my all round experience from start to finish was a great one. The knowledge they have between them is also very good so if your not sure then email or ring them.. Oh and all the ime tgat I was there (about 3 hours) everytime the phone rang it was being answered very promptly and courteously, unlike my experiencewith a competitor. I highly rate Rich Tone based on my own experience of the Sheffield store.

I have been looking for this model of Bass for years as it was my first Bass back in the 1970s. Unpacked it today and I am delighted with the condition for a fifty year old Bass. Very well packed. Only downside was the carrier Fedex. I paid extra for a Saturday delivery but they let me down. Not Rich Tones fault, but very annoying. Rich Tone have offered a carriage refund.

BUYER BEWARE!! I had the misfortune to buy a Yamaha FS3 guitar from Richtone. I bitterly regret it. It played very nicely in the shop. When I got it home I discovered that the nice action had been achieved by sanding the saddle down almost to the bridge meaning that next time the guitar needed any attention to the action It would require a very expensive neck reset! When I took the guitar in, the manager (who's name unfortunately I never discovered; his staff wouldn't tell me) agreed that this was true. However he said it was a second hand guitar (it cost me £575)!! and once I left the shop this was my problem. This company is an AUTHORISED TAYLOR DEALER (unbelievable I know, but true)!
The anonymous manager was quite agressive in his manner and point blank refused to take the guitar back unless I paid a 20 per cent "restocking fee". (In fairness he later reduced this to £75, which I paid just to get away from this horrible shop and its 'customer service').
Rather than customer service, the manager showed open contempt for his customers, conveying the opinion that many of them spent their time lying to him if they had a problem with their purchase. Unbelievable I know but true.
To compound my woes I had spent around £2000 on a Taylor from Richtone at the same time which I found had also had the low saddle shaving treatment (although not as extreme, but still much lower than Taylor's own lowest specified reference point of 1/16" minimum saddle height above the bridge). To be fair the action of this guitar was fine. When I asked for reassurance that this guitar had not had a neck reset, the manager told me his opinion that it most likely had not, despite me pointing out to him flakes of finish near the neck guitar body joint, which the manager said was 'putty' from when Taylor built it. I have owned many Taylors and have never seen this 'putty' before. I have no way of knowing without getting a professional Luthier to remove the neck; I certainly would not trust Richtone with doing this! Fortunately Taylor's neck resets are pretty straightforward so I decided to cross this bridge when I come to it (the guitar is beautiful, a high end 818e). When I got the guitar home I found that the 'putty' was actually varnish that had flaked when the neck was removed. In other words pretty strong evidence that the neck had indeed been removed at least once. The manager assured me twice that he had not carried out any work on the guitar and it was exactly as he had received it in part exchange. Is it plausible that he (a Taylor trained technician) had not noticed this. Apparently yes.
So in summary it cost me £75 to buy a horrible guitar (the yamaha) from this shop. Time will tell what condition the Taylor is in. I am relating this distressing experience exactly as it occurred today. My downfall was that I let my enthusiasm for the guitars and misplaced trust in the integrity of the manager and his shop (and indeed Taylor) prevent me from checking the guitars carefully, much as historically you had to check a second hand car in the seventies for flaking paint etc. (Oh, and watch out for the trick the manager does with the truss rod. He did it on both the guitars, leaving a little bit of relief on the neck so that he can then lower the action further to mollify the unsuspecting customer (me)! Again, I have no way of knowing if this was a coincidence or a deliberate ploy. I also do not know if other customers have had this terrible experience from this manager and this shop, but his remarks lead me to believe that, sadly, my experience of Richtone is fairly commonplace. I also have no way of knowing at which point or by whom the guitars had been set up in this manner.
I will be contacting Taylor UK to give them a copy of this review and ask them their opinion of my experience.
If you do decide to buy from Richtone, I would highly recommend buying online as then the manager will have a legal requirement to refund you without the 'restocking fee' he charged me if you have the same misfortune I had!

Annoying!!...one page of used instruments, then 85! Yes, eighty five pages of used stock already sold...wasted anhour going through them looking for something still available!! Jesus guys, get the sold stock deleted now!!!

I have been phoning for days but no-one EVER answers the phone,Ive left messages, requested call back and no-one replies. It’s impossible to contact them via phone - I’m shopping elsewhere now and won’t contact them again - Rubbish!!!

I requested a refund on July 30th, and as of August 7th, I still haven’t received the money. The refund was supposedly “processed” only several days later, and I have no confirmation or tracking of the transaction.

Customer support is very dry and vague—they provide no concrete information unless you constantly call them and push for answers. It feels like they only take action when you pressure them directly.

I paid promptly and cancelled promptly; they should refund promptly as well. Extremely disappointing experience.

This is what is wrong in 2025… and is a shame..

Hi Tony,



It’s a business choice. We sell everything we have easily in the UK and don’t need to ship outside currently,.



I’m sorry we can’t help



Best wishes



James Ferguson



richtonemusic

Recommended by my guitar tutor. I have been looking to buy an electric guitar since last November. Visted Rich Tone and had an intial look at the end of last year. Great choice and competitive prices. Having taken advice again from my guitar tutor I went to the store today hoping to play a few guitars from across manufacturers and price ranges. Visited today and having looked around and been a bit overwhelmed by the choice, especially the 2nd hand guitars, I spoke with a guy who was on the counter. I told him I had been advised to try a few guitars looking for my first electric. He pointed at an area where the 'budget guitars' were on display ( did I give off an air of 'budget') and said he was busy dealing with a box on the counter. I had a look where he had pointed and the area was truly budget ( I was hoping to try a Fender Player II and an Epiphone). He still seemed busy so I had another look around expecting him to come over when he had finished with 'the box'. He didn't. I took it as a measure of how interested Rich Tone were in having my money and after another 15 minutes I left. Maybe I should have persisted and gone back to the counter or caught another member of staff to help but by then my impression of Rich Tone had gone down the toilet and my confidence that they wanted to help me find the right guitar had faded. I appreciate that a 'no hassell' approach is best in sales like this but having asked for help I was hoping staff would not forget me.

Have just recently received this email for the third time purchasing different items:
Many thanks for your recent purchase
Unfortunately, due to a stock error, we have oversold this item.
We don’t have a date as to when we might have further stock available so have so have refunded you.

This is very disappointing to receive this after payment. The running of the webpage regarding stock clearly is not updated and to receive an automated reply and have to wait for a refund is an appalling way to run a business. Never had issues like this purchasing from GuitarGuitar and Anderton’s and I will stick to using them moving forward.

We will buy your guitar for £500 we sell it for £750
They did buy it for £500 but now for sale on their site for £899!!
Be HONEST at least folks when dealing with your customers or people will lose trust in your shop.