It's business with the personal touch.

You'll find the Music Centre at 35-37 Tavistock Street in Bedford and on first appearances it looks like your average music retailer. Once inside its a different story, because what sets this store apart is the relaxed atmosphere you will experience. 

The Music Centre was established in 1986 and set itself up to support the local music community, even providing rehearsal space for local groups and arranging tuition for beginners. Yes, its business is selling guitars, drums and other musical gear, but they also recognised the business value in giving local customers a helping hand wherever possible.

When it comes to the purchase experience, the atmosphere is relaxed, something they set out to promote. By relaxed I don't mean you can't find anyone to serve or help you, quite the opposite. By relaxed I mean they'll happily let you browse and trial an instrument, but you won't have a sales person hovering over you, or trying to blind you with the latest technical spec, or trying to push off the excess stock models on you. The attitude is let the customer look, try and ask advice and opinion when wanted.

For the size of store it's amazing how much stock they actually carry - not everything can be put on display and if they haven't got it , they'll try and order it in for you as fast as is humanly possible. Their core stock consists of acoustic, classical electric and bass guitars complimented by a range of acoustic, electric and bass amplifiers and combos. They also stock a large choice of effects units, standard and electronic drum kits, plus a selection of audio software.

But what about prices I hear you ask? Plain fact - the prices are good and amongst the best. Practically everything is retailed a good percentage below list price with some very good deals on certain items. The website prices are even lower, but again the website (www.musiccentre.co.uk ) doesn't show every item they stock, so sometimes it's good to ring and ask.

Unlike many retailers the Music Centre also has its own service department, so if your guitar or amp needs a service or repair, it can most often be dealt with there at their premises -  so no sending away and having to wait ages to firstly find out what's wrong, get the quote, have the work done and then wait for it to be sent back. You take the guitar in, they'll try and see what the problem is there and then and give you an estimate for the repair, even telling you when to come and collect it.

So what is the verdict on this retailer? Well, its a place you can buy from with confidence, it has a wide range of choice, is amongst those retailers offering good value for money, has knowledgable and enthusiastic staff, but ultimately what sells this place to me is their relaxed approach that lets you look and try without feeling pressured to buy.