Doug Armitage, Nederland. Brightwood Music is a full-service retail music store in Nederland, Colorado. The store sells, buys and repairs all types of musical instruments and accessories. They also sell PA systems, amplifiers and specialize in recommending, as well as installing, pick up systems in a variety of acoustic instruments.

Through their expertise, they’ve generated a lot of positive word of mouth. In fact, many of their customers, who are professional touring musicians, have recommended Brightwood Music across the nation for their services since they ship instruments all over the country and stock a plethora of unique and hard-to-find repair supplies. The team at Brightwood Music is also dedicated to local school programs, partnering with educators and students alike in many ways. Through their knowledgeable service, good product value and music lessons, they hope to provide better understanding and enjoyment of their products.

It’s worth bearing in mind though that over the years you’ll end up using hundreds if not thousands of sets of acoustic guitar strings, as unfortunately, they don’t last forever, although some last a LOT longer than others (I’m looking at you D’Addario and Elixir), so if you buy a set of strings that you don’t actually like, it’s not the end of the world as you can just whip them off and throw a new set on really easily.

Brightwood Music offers string recycling. We can change your strings, recycle the old ones and put a brand new set on. With a string change, you will also have an evaluation done on your instrument to make sure it’s playing right.

I’ve highlighted a few signs that your acoustic guitar strings need changing.

The guitar won’t stay in tune for very long

There is a lot of rust or discolouration on the string

The string seems to be unravelling

The tone sounds flat and the strings don’t resonate as much as they do when new

You haven’t changed them. Ever!

Brightwood Music is located at 20 E. Lakeview Drive, Unit 109 in Nederland. Stop in Wednesday through Sunday to find out more. Or give us a call at 303-258-8863.

(Originally published in the January 7, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)