Author: Arlo Greywolf

As a musician in Sacramento, it can be a great place for veteran musicians and beginners alike. 

However, when I was starting out playing music I had some experiences with guitar shops that were not so great. Let’s just say they were not super kind experiences. First things first, as I discuss these shops, I’d like to make it clear that it’s not to promote or discourage future business for these shops. 

The first music shop that is my personal favorite is Kline Music at 2200 Sutterville Rd, Sacramento, CA 95818. 

First, they have really great selections for Fender guitars specifically Jackson guitars. They are super kind and have helpful assistants. Especially, when I bought my first Fender Mustang at a good price of $400, which is somewhat of a hard deal to come by. But as of recently, I have had some experiences with their new employers that left me honestly heartbroken. I understand that they are locally owned businesses and they don’t have the same privileges as chain stores like Guitar Center. 

One occasion when I was paying a visit inside the shop, I was playing a decent player series Fender Stratocaster and to top it all off I was playing at a low volume, like 3 on a practice amplifier. This tall gentleman approached me and told me that I needed to part ways from the guitar area due to me clogging up the store. Even though it wasn’t a busy day and there weren’t any guitar students inside. I was kicked out for just playing their instruments.

I still do not know what I did wrong, and I am actually old friends with one of the employees. It still baffles me. So Kline Music is a great one-stop shop music store, but when you want to know what you’re getting yourself into with purchasing an expensive guitar and would like to play it, make sure you make it quick and don’t bother asking to plug in an amplifier. 

Alright so the next guitar store I would like to critique is Guitar Workshop, and this one I won’t be so nice about. One day during my practice session on my guitar, my tremolo broke and needed to be fixed along with a simple set-up for my Kurt Cobain signature Fender Jaguar. Once called Kline Music and was informed that they do not work on electrics and only do wood repairs for acoustic guitars. So I decided to visit Guitar Workshop, located in the Sacramento area of 3248 on J Street. It is dead empty. 

I walk up to the counter and there is a man sitting up front and saying hello. I ask for help, but he ignores me and continues working on this other guitar. So I walk around the shop and browse. Then he finally asked me what I wanted, so I asked him how much it would cost for a set-up on my Fender Jaguar and a repair on the tremolo system and how long it would take. He tells me it’ll be around $300 and around 4 months in total for the set-up. I was in shock. I politely said, “Okay thank you very much for your time.” He gave me a discourteous look back and then I left. 

According to many reviews on Google, I am not the only one who came across this kind of behavior. Some reviews include: 

“Uninformed staff will typically oversell or recommend items you don’t need (No, I do not need a new Bartolini preamp, thanks for not listening though). Turnaround time is awful. Don’t ask any basic questions, there’s always passive-aggressive responses. Even if you ask for a price, they will give you a spiel before telling you.”

To leave this article on a brighter note, probably one of the best music shops ever, in existence, maybe even in the whole county, I am proud to say is Watermelon Music Located on 1970 Lake Blvd suite #1 in Davis. And let me tell you this, they are genuinely the kindest people I have ever met. 

They were so nice to me, once they even did a free restring on my electric and they were all like “Dude don’t worry about it.” Everyone in the music store is not only so kind but also super knowledgeable, approachable, and relatable. They want to know what you look for in an instrument. They offer some great offers on some Fenders, Yamahas, Paul Reed Smith’s, and many rare kinds of guitars. The store also always has events happening and I was even fortunate enough to play a gig there with my band, Seawater, once. It was one of the best performances we had in a long time. 

However if you don’t live near Davis and don’t think it is worth the drive all the way over. I humbly recommend “Music Go Round” at 9163 E Stockton Blvd #310, Elk Grove. I’ll tell you about my smooth experience there. Once I was at a jam session with a buddy of mine and the drumset skin on the kick drum batter head side ripped from the Jammage. So we drove to Music Go Round and right away the guys there were really cool about the tone of each layer in the skin of the drums. They were really diverse when it came to talking about music genres. Metal is one of the genres we spent nearly an hour talking about. It was a fun visit and my buddy got a good deal with the new drum skin so it was a smooth transaction. 

In conclusion, this review wasn’t to bash any of the businesses mentioned, it was to spread the word. I recommend sticking to the ones that are a must-visit. I hope this article was helpful and I hope it doesn’t offend anyone that likes these stores. Thanks for reading!

Starting my senior year at C.K. McClatchy High School has been nothing but fun, engaging, and full of commitment and stability. 

However, for some kids who enrolled this year, it has been a bit difficult to adjust to the new rules. This year I have seen it become way stricter and sadly more complicated than it needs to be. From the Bathroom policy, Inhumane expectations, and effects on the well-being of students, here I will announce what to expect. 

Like most High Schools we all are familiar with the policies for being late during the first bell or period, but it has gotten to be more impossible to roll with it with the rules. Schools nowadays seem to not understand the true reasons why children can’t make days on time, being from neighborhoods far away from the school, transportation issues, or even household issues. It can all affect the way we get to school. 

Now, as a new part of the policy in the system, the school requires “Tardy” kids to visit the side of the school and be cited a red pass and to wait in the auditorium for the remainder of the period. This is to make sure they are not intrusive towards classes in session, but in my opinion, this seems to be the most backward way to approach the issue and fails in making children more prepared for next time. 

Furthermore, we look at the Issue with the bathroom policy. According to vinmec.com, “Doctors recommend emptying the bladder often, about every three hours. But we all know there are circumstances in which it is not possible to do this often. While delaying urinating for an hour or two won’t pose any threat to your health, you can harm your body by holding it in for too long or forming a habit.” So when you have to wait for the 10-minute policy or can’t make a quick stop to the bathroom due to kids hot boxing it in the stalls, it becomes an inconvenience. 

Especially from my perspective of having to hold it for long periods of the day, and still not being able to exit to relieve my duties. When my educators ask me “Why couldn’t you go during the

passing period?” I get a wave of frustration and the urge to just use the classroom sink as a urinal. 

I can understand what they have to do in order to keep their jobs, follow the rules, and be nothing but a lever in the system of the district. But if they want to educate us about real-world differences, reflections, and morality. Then why does my bladder have to be inflamed just to go to the same set of inhumane conditions and rules? 

In addition, we have just gotten out of a pandemic. And the fact the male gendered bathroom has no soap to clean our hands? That clearly explains why most kids are getting sick all of a sudden, and thus the absences are peaking higher in numbers. 

I have had many great experiences with this school. I was always passionate about getting good grades and getting work done, but I just never felt good about the conditions and rules they make us have to follow. And overall, it’s just unnecessary to keep this going. Moreover, in my opinion the school is right about the cell phone policy, and millions of other people would agree with me. 

School is a place where everyone should be doing something. It is more or less an industrial workplace of progress and testing. And I agree that the issue of kids and their cell phones causes a disruption with staying on task and paying attention, but I think we can do better when it comes to making kids understand why it is important and respectful to keep your phone off during a lecture. I feel at this point the school has given up on trying to make kids pay attention and keep their cell phones off. I don’t think taking someone’s personal property sets a good example of why phones are bad to have at school. 

Returning to the bathrooms and the condition of the school, according to California Code, Education Code – EDC § 35292.5 “Every restroom shall at all times be maintained and cleaned regularly, fully operational and stocked at all times with toilet paper, soap, and paper towels or functional hand dryers.” And yet every morning I arrive at McClatchy, the school’s bathrooms are nothing but disgusting, they’re never functional, and the scarcity of soap for washing hands continues. Schools (Especially with how many kids go to McClatchy) need to be a safe, clean and a humane environment for our children and their future. 

In addition, this year I have seen that along with there being no soap in the bathrooms, the faucets are also not operational. It won’t release water and the mechanism for the faucet itself is broken. Now I personally do not believe that some devious acts of sophomore “tomfoolery” was involved but more or less the actual facility itself. It didn’t look like it was smashed or the pipe was ripped off but maybe something that has to do with the water system in the school. 

I want to also look at the psyche of the modern day hard working student at C.K. Mcclatchy. 

First things first, High school is not an easy part of life to begin with, but schoolwork can be very intense sometimes. More or less inconvenient and not educational. As a senior, I recall my sophomore year being the most troubling for my mental health due to my overwhelming amount of work I had to finish to move on, and having the fear of becoming a super senior. 

So as a student here it shouldn’t have to be hard to work in Art or any kind of electives, but the math teachers at the school honestly are not great with dealing with kids. I recall when I was in a math class and seeing mine and others’ grades plummet even though I was trying my hardest, I just didn’t seem to make any progress. 

To that, I think homework is just outdated and something to make kids feel better about themselves in math should be more priority for the school. Making tons of homework for kids to do is not how development for a human being’s brain works. Not being able to fulfill outside-of-school hobbies, family, work or even achieving big stepping stones in life is a common issue for kids nowadays. Perhaps it’s the reason why most kids take summer school and flunk the classes because of how useless and hopeless it can feel to work on nothing but homework and studying. 

In conclusion, I don’t want people who read this article to feel this school is a lost cause. C.K. McClatchy High School is one of the best schools in the whole city in my opinion and it’ll always have its flaws. Like every other school in the district. I want this to be a message for kids to speak up, and not have to deal with the same regulations, and I want parents, teenagers and faculty to read up and to understand what to expect. 

To leave this on a good note, I have had the funniest and most memorable times here and before I graduate this year I want to improve this school to make it better than last year and the years before. I don’t want kids to have to deal with the same thing over and over again. The system of education is already a 300 year old, outdated system and it is up to us as a community to change it and make better decisions for our children’s development in becoming an outstanding citizen. 

Final word: To any students reading this article and are just as annoyed with children vaping in the bathrooms and not having clean stalls to do business in, I humbly recommended sneaking into the bathroom near the math hall. It is the faculty bathroom to the right of the first hallway near the entrance. It has soap, and a functional faucet so come visit it if you can.