Rafael Carrabba Violins

A genius. Rafael Carrabba's insight and intuition, patience and friendly demeanor, expertise and finesse, make him unique in the violin trade. The Pacific Northwest's absolute go-to violin shop, especially for cellists! This shop is not only the finest in the region, but one of the most renowned in the world. Rafael Carrabba and his team are at the forefront of the violin/viola/cello restoration, repair, adjustment, appraisal, and bow rehair/repair business.

Highly recommended. RDM (I have been a loyal client of Rafael's for the better part of 20 years now, having purchased instruments from him, consigned instruments and bows with his shop, had lots and lots of work done there over the years, and completed two big cello restoration projects. He is fair and reasonable, and you cannot put a price on the quality of the work he performs. It is special, bespoke, unique, and enduringly brilliant.)

Rafael Carrabba is one of the finest restorers/luthiers that I have had the privilege to meet and work with. He is kind, honest, generous, and insightful and his whole team cares so deeply about their work. I am so grateful that shops like his exist in this world!

They are all so nice, honest, and caring. Rafael gave us great advice on selling our violin and Nafisa took us on a fun tour of the shop. The smell of coffee, wood, and lacquer was so pleasant. We definitely took a bag of coffee home!

They were very warm and the staff were all willing to let me try out all their exhibition instruments.

My son brought his cello here and they really helped him out a lot. Amazing service from knowledgeable, personable, and friendly folks. His cello left sounding better than it ever has before. Thank you Windsor and thank you Rafael Carrabba Violins, we will be back.

I like their service, and he does a really good fixing violins

Rehair bow, new bridge for my viola. Adjustments on sound post. Instrument appraisal for insurance purposes.

We went here earlier this year to ask about installing posture pegs for my son's cello. It took some time before we were attended to, but given that they were busy and short-staffed, that was okay. We asked if we could try out some cellos and asked if it was okay for my son to do a compare and contrast. There was a rack of cellos sitting out in a hall way and the lady gave us a bow and let us try out the cellos.

We were left alone entirely, even though we came in and out of the back room, several times to change cellos. It was somewhat surprising to us to be left alone without even an offer to help, especially now that the store had cleared out. Rafael came by and brought out another two cellos for us to try out of a vault. From the price and the fact that they were stored in a vault, I surmise that these were better cellos. Rafael then got onto a conference call in his office and again we were left by ourselves.

No one to ask questions of, to guide us, to teach us about the instruments. While I appreciate not having sales pressure, this leaned heavily towards neglect. Finally after no attention, except for the opportunity to try fancier cellos, we came out of the room and reminded the lady why we had originally come in - the posture pegs. She gave us an estimate to install and said that she would have to call to find out when she could get them in.

She took down my name and number. Never heard back! I am not sure if this is just being busy, an extreme hands-off manner, oversight, elitism in some veil or just a mismatch between my need for more guidance and their approach to customer service, but my experience was at best mediocre.

Excellent luthiers. Professor Thomas advised me on work to be done & Windsor worked on my cello with great care. Kind bunch of people. Made sure I was happy with the work done. Best quality.

Excellent experience at Rafael Carrabba. My husband needed a new violin and bow, and found exactly what he was looking for here- a violin with a lovely, rich sound in excellent condition and a bow that suited him perfectly. That in addition to high quality work, top notch service, and willingness to work in our budget. Rafael Carrabba and his staff exceeded our expectations and are highly recommended.

Raphael Carraba is so genuine he listens to whatever the needs are of my son and his viola. We have tried other places and believe me they didn't work, so when I heard about Mr. Carraba I was a little skeptical but he put all my fears to rest and showed us that there are people out here in the world that care about people and his staff are top notch they are all really nice and polite. Nafesa is one of the kindest people that we have had the pleasure of getting to know and we have been coming for at least 3 to 4 years now.

There are other shops out there but if you are looking for people that are going to listen to what your needs are when it comes to instruments and try to work with you on meeting those needs as well as treat you with respect when you come in and go out of the shop this is the place to be. Thank you Raphael and your staff for always always going above and beyond.

WOW! Unbelievable! I was ready to ditch my violin and find something else. My violin was dead, hard to play with no personality, much less sweetness. Very uneven with upper G string notes just unplayable. I really have had a hard time not just assuming that the fault was all my lack of ability. So finally I brought the violin to Rafael and he did a major overhaul of the instrument in only a few days.

I played it this morning having brought it home last night. OMG I absolutely can't believe the difference! It is now like a Rolls Royce! So sweet. The tone is gorgeous all over and easier to play. I am ecstatic about Rafael's work on my violin! To think I might have sold it and bought a lesser instrument without trying the makeover. Thank you Rafael!

I know my violin is left in good hands, here. The polishing is done well - until the violin is glistening under the light, giving off a beautiful brown-orange glow; beautiful sounds and a beautiful appearance. Rosin needs? A good selection of various rosins. Any of which could make the hairs of your bow happy; easy on the rosin. Parking can be tricky for those unaccustomed to street and parallel parking.

What is nice about the location is that it is conveniently next to Top Pot (doughnuts) and Molly Moon's (ice cream). Feeling some sweets after/before arriving? The location has you covered. Appraisal doesn't take too long. About 10 minutes. The cost was $75. Afterward, an email can be sent - detailing the value of the instrument - and a hard copy will be sent via post.

These fine gentlemen and one sweet one woman were very pleasant and helpful. They did the work I needed done quickly and it was very affordable. I played a violin that was hand-crafted by one of their luthiers, Kurt Jones, and and was stunning! I highly recommend this shop! They also flattered me with their interest in my band, which shows that they have a genuine curiosity about new music and new musicians.that is a good sign in instrument builders and luthiers! Thank's Carrabba Rafael!