Hammond Ashley Violins

I'm new to strings and came in looking for some information for my son. The staff were incredibly helpful and kind.

Great location, and excellent customer service. Nice large showroom with an assortment of instruments for sale.

Great customer service experience here. Originally bought a violin for my family from here. After we had purchased an instrument, about 3 months later we found issues with the instrument that annoyed us more and more. When we took it in, we explained that after playing it longer, we became more unhappy with the violin than when we originally purchased it.

We were getting ready to eat the "guaranteed trade in cost". To my pleasant surprise, Bryce offered 100% credit of our purchase even though we had used the instrument daily for the last 3 months. This allowed us to explore replacement violins that didn't have the same problems we had experienced. One of their team members also spent time playing their more advanced repertoire on the violins to help us narrow down what it sounds like as a listener. I appreciate their support of us, their customers, and their readiness to make sure we take home and keep a violin we are happy with. They are a class act.

Bryce was so helpful trying to identify a mystery bass, and I live across country! I don't know who these days would take the time to help like that. Their customers are really lucky to get service from people like that, that's five star customer service in my book. Thanks Bryce!

Great shopping experience, wish they had more $6,000+ violins available but the selection was good enough! 5 grand and below has tons of selection.

Worth the drive to Issaquah for string instrument rentals! Hammond Ashley has been around for awhile and while they carry a full range of stringed instruments, they do particularly well with cello and string bass. As a cellist, I appreciate the focus an when I needed a half-sized instrument for my daughter, they had quite a selection. While some stores may carry mass-produced instruments, the ones I tried here were a notch above, and after trying 3 instruments, it was difficult to pick one as all three had good qualities. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable and the store was spacious and well set up for trying out instruments. Highly recommended!

The instruments here are absolutely beautiful! I love how they give you some time and private space to figure out the violin quality and sound. Some of the cases were beat up, but that's what I get for renting a used violin! Thank you for the good work!

I took in my 3/4 size bass as the end pin was loose and worn where steel met wood. They fixed it while I waited and the repair was surprisingly affordable. I have had no further issues with it - they did a good job. They also were very nice folks very friendly and very open about what they would do and how much it would cost.

Hammond Ashley is lovely local instrument shop. The manager and luthiers are very knowledgeable and generous with their time when it comes to sharing info on instrument repair options and the history of an instrument. My family and I have gotten a handful of violins from them over the years that served us very well in our musical studies!

I'm really impressed with the service I received here. After years (decades) of not playing, my violin was in less than top condition (bridge warped, E string buzzing, etc) so dropped it off for a complete "tune-up." I was given a nice loaner violin, which I enjoyed playing while the work was done. Both the luthier and the person re-hairing my bow were very communicative and explained everything that they recommended having done but totally left it up to me to decide what I wanted. Anyway, I just picked up my violin today, and I don't think it has ever sounded so good! It truly sings now and the tone is smoother than ever. Worth every penny!

Great staff, very accommodating and timely in responses. Beautiful instruments available here, and plenty of knowledgeable folks to help get you the perfect fit! Certainly recommend for instrument purchase.

I live an hour away and called before coming to simply be told they have too many violins and weren't purchasing and that it was $150 to have the violin appraised. Truly horrible customer service. Why could that have been told to me over the telephone? Thank you for wasting a Saturday afternoon. I wish I was more apart of the music world because i would not hesitate to tarnish this business's name. Shameful. Common courtesy is clearly a lost art.

I went in recently to have my viola bridge worked on (it was a bit warped) and my bow re-haired. The staff were really helpful. It took about a week for both the bridge to be fixed and the bow re-hair finished, and they did an excellent job! I also rented a violin. Viola is my main instrument but I've been wanting to play a bit of violin as well so I rented one. It's a good quality instrument! I had been to their old location in Des Moines years ago, it was nice to finally visit them again in Issaquah.

Brought a viola back for the buyback program. They were efficient: still had my info after 13 years and I received my check within a couple weeks. I also asked them to look at my violin from 1970 and although they weren't interested in passing it along, Bryce gave me some really thorough and interesting details about it. Pleasant and knowledgeable.

I have a 150-year-old family heirloom violin that was in need of new strings and resetting the sound post/bridge. I'd taken it to a couple other places and was told these repairs would be time consuming and expensive. Instead, I took it to Hammond Ashley on a Friday evening about an hour before they closed and they were able to change the strings and fix it up right then -- it took about 35 minutes!

The price was significantly lower than what I was quoted elsewhere. Not to mention they were incredibly nice and respectful of my instrument -- it isn't worth a lot, but it has sentimental value to me. Thanks for the great service. I will be back!

We rented both my kids violins from Hammond Ashley and both instruments were of great quality, the kids enjoyed learning with ease, and the customer service is superb!

I bought my daughter's cello at Hammond Ashley and she is very pleased with it. When she was having problems with her bow, Bryce was willing to do an exchange or a repair, because they take responsibility for the instruments and bows they sell to their customers. We decided to go ahead with the repair and they did a great job. Fantastic shop and customer service at Hammond Ashley and Bryce is great to work with.

After I retired six years ago I decided, at 62, to follow a dream of learning to play the violin. I visited a number of good violin shops in Western Washington but had my most welcoming and interactive experience at Hammond Ashley. I met Bryce, who I later learned was the general manager of Hammond Ashley, and he was very knowledgeable about violins and the needs of adult students like me.

He asked me a number of questions and spent time educating me. That first day, I ended up renting a violin and took it home to begin experimenting with it. In time, I started lessons and really began to enjoy this wonderful instrument. I stoped by the shop a few months later and told Bryce that I wanted to invest in a nice violin. Once again, he didn't rush me into a purchase.

He showed me 5 violins in the shop that were in the $1K - $2K range that I was willing to spend. He continued to teach me about the qualities and features of different manufacturers and countries of origin. I did not buy a violin that day, but started a process of looking for "my violin". I spent another month on the Internet looking at the different woods and options like chin rests, tuning pegs, and other accessories.

I visited the shop a number of times to check in with Bryce to see what new violins were available. I also decided that it would be a better long term musical and financial investment to spend more to get the best quality violin I could afford since I was doing well in my lessons. Bryce told me that $5,000 was a good price point for a high quality violin.

I agreed and asked him to let me know when a German violin came available. A few weeks later he called to invite me to check out a newly arrived German violin. I showed up the next day and it was perfect! A beautiful Heinrich Holste blonde violin made in 1927. It was in excellent condition and had a new bridge installed by Hammond Ashley's lead luthier Scott Marshall.

I played a few notes and it played well and sounded beautiful. Bryce also had printouts of the historical research he had done on Heinrich Holste and his shop in Germany. This violin was not a shop violin made by apprentices and multiple luthiers, it was one of the last ones Holste completely and totally made himself when he was at the height of his art.

I was so impressed. I made my big purchase that day with the reassured feeling that I was doing the right thing and had been helped by Bryce and other members of the Hammond Ashley staff to make a good investment in myself and my quest to learn to play the violin. My violin teacher was also impressed. She owns a VERY expensive French violin and made the comment that I was not only very well taken care of by Bryce in the whole process, but that I had also received a unique and high quality instrument for the money I spent.

Every time I take my violin out of the case to practice, I enjoy how nice it looks, how well it plays and enjoy a deep pride of ownership in the fine instrument that Bryce found for me.

Always have a fantastic experience here. They treat us like family, and from what I can tell, the same is true for others. It always seems busy, but they are patient and I never feel overlooked.

Came here in need of a new bow for my violin. My current bow needed to be rehaired and the grip replaced. I wasn't sure if it would be cheaper to fix what I have or just get a new one. The young lady working there calculated the price for me and it would be best just to get a new one. She was very emotionless and unexcited. Like she was dreading her job and wanted to go home.

She was able to answer my questions, so it's not like she isn't knowledge, but she wasn't very happy. I absolutely loved the wide array of instruments. I've never seen a room full of just basses! I would recommend this place for if you want to buy a nice, decent instrument. Those crappy beginner violins will do for your kids first few years of learning, but there will be a point where they need something better. This is the place to go to pick one out that is just right!

We were renting a violin for more than a year from Hammond Ashely. When our son confirmed that he wanted to pursue learning the violin, we talked to Bryce, the owner. We were very specific to what kind of violin we wanted. Bryce was extremely patient with us and though we got to the store probably half an hour before closing, he didn't rush us.

He extended the closing time for us and allowed us to take our time in selecting the "perfect" violin for our son. He was very thorough and answered every one of our questions. He also allowed us to take home the instrument and try it out before committing to purchasing it. Our younger son has also shown an interest in learning the violin. We will definitely be going back to Hammond Ashley down the road. The customer service doesn't get better than this, their selection of violins is extensive and the prices are reasonable.

I started as a rental customer of Hammond Ashley. Bryce and staff are very knowledgable when it comes to renting or buying an instrument and take the time to help you chose the one that is right for you. They were very patient when I decided to transition from a rental to owning. They made sure I was getting the best quality instrument for my price range, sound preference and long term goals. They've remained committed to the quality of the instrument even after the sale to insure I am completely satisfied. I shopped for a year when I decided to purchase, looked at quite a few other shops and kept going back to Bryce and team due to all of the above.