Meet The Owner: Tommy Colletti

Tommy Colletti

Contact Tommy

If you have a question, comment or concern, Tommy wants to hear from you! Email him directly at: tommy@themusiczoo.com

About Tommy

Tommy Colletti is a native New Yorker who grew up during the rock and roll heyday of the 1970s and '80s. As anyone who has heard Tommy plug into an amp will tell you, he has done his homework on the guitar and is a bona fide player. Tommy can shred. Playing in a successful local New York band in the early '80s Tommy developed a reputation for being an exciting young guitarist, but also a guitar collector and gearhead. Back then, he was already the "go-to" guy for guitarists in the community when they needed to find just the right guitar. Tommy recalls, "I’d say, 'Let me find you one, you want a Les Paul? I’ll find you a good one … no excuses.'" Opening The Music Zoo in 1994 was a natural progression of this role. Tommy got some friends together, hung all his own guitars on the wall for sale and opened the store with nothing more than consigned instruments and a dozen packs of strings.

Today, Tommy still maintains all the community relationships that sustained The Music Zoo in those early days, but also has to find time to do bigger things like travel to Scottsdale, Arizona to discuss details of the next run of Music Zoo-exclusive Fender® and Charvel® guitars, or down to Nashville to pick out Mahogany and Maple tonewoods to be used on Gibson Custom Shop Les Pauls for The Music Zoo's customers. The Music Zoo has enjoyed great success and tremendous growth in the last 15 years and, according to Tommy, it's about making a personal connection.

"Buying a guitar for most is a big purchase, and I believe the customer really needs to feel they’ve found the right place," Tommy says. "It’s not just about a great price; it’s talking to someone who gives a damn. We constantly hear, 'I’m so glad I found you.' It’s a friendship and a business relationship; it’s beyond the service. It’s still having someone you can contact for any reason. That to me is worth a lot."

Music & More

Listen to music by Tommy and learn more at: www.tommycolletti.com

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