Amati Violin Shop

Quick and excellent service for a repair of the tailpiece of my cello! They replaced the piece in about 10 min, and even gave me 60% off the cost of the new piece for handing in the old one.

Very knowlegeable people, skilled repair staff, very nice selection of instruments ranging from student-grade to professional level. Excellent service provided to professionals, students and amateurs alike.

Best place to take my 150 year old cello for a tune up in the southern half of the United States. Chicago, NY, Berkeley and the Amati shop. I've been coming back for 30 years.

I've had the same bow for 26 years. The hair had started falling out. So I took it here to be re-haired. The worker (owner?) told me that it would be more expensive to re-hair it than the bow was worth, then offered to sell me a much better bow for the same price, saying it would play much better. I took him up on his offer, and he was right! It's taking a little getting used to, but I'm really enjoying the new bow. He could've just re-haired my cheap bow, and pocketed the money. I really appreciate his honesty.

Bought a violin and a bow in the shop last Saturday. Very good quality. Peter was very patient with us.

10/10. Amati is the go to spot for any instrumental needs, problems, questions or concerns. This place has provided me with 3 bows and 2 violins with no problems what so ever. They definitely care about their customers and are here to help you with whatever it is you are looking for. I would definitely recommend Amati.

We've been renting from Amati for two years now- love the quality of then violins and repairs and customer service!

Drove one hour into Rice village for friendly, knowledgeable and receptive service. Found an excellent upgrade for a cello exchange and adjustments were made based on my son's ear. Would definitely recommend to family and friends. As an inexperienced parent of a musician I felt like the service was genuine and honest.

In my experience this shop will be nice and helpful if you belong to either or both of these 2 groups: 1. professional symphony orchestra members; 2. Wealthy people. If you are just an ordinary person looking for an instrument for your son or daughter and you don't make more than $250,000 a year, they don't care about you at all. Filled with haughty, arrogant and rude employees.

Very helpful with my daughter's violin rental. Violin seemed really nice compared to Lisle one I have rented in past years. In all fairness, I don't know much about violins, but the service was great and was referred by her violin teacher.

I only take my instruments to Amati. Peter Shaw is honest, professional, knowledgeable, and so patient. No matter how busy they are, which is all the time, he would always take the time to answer all the questions. Highly recommend!

Peter is kind and generous with his time and expertise, and he hours solid folks. We're on our third violin for my daughter, and each upgrade process has been a fun session of working through quality instruments to find something special that's just right. And next time maybe it'll be my fiddle that gets upgraded.

Fantastic shop. Sometime these types of shops can be intimidating due to the prestige/high quality, etc. but this shop was very welcoming and super helpful. As an amateur player, playing for pleasure only, they were very accommodating of my lack of knowledge/skill. Got new strings and a new bow and I've only just now gotten around to putting them down, to write this review.

I never thought my violin could sound so warm and rich. I even got a few tips on my technique, leads for good local instructors, and some advice on visiting Cremona, Italy! I'm originally from Northern California, where I would exclusively go to Ifshin's for my violin needs, and while I will always love that shop too, I have to admit, I think I like Amati even more.

Three weeks into kindergarten, my son broke his cello. I was horrified, sure that I was looking at thousands of dollars in repairs. The gentleman here was so reassuring about getting it fixed, and it was within the $50 insurance deductible. When another cello was dropped several years later, with the grotesque crunch indicative of a broken neck, once again Amati kindly repaired the instrument and even delivered it back to school. (Again with the small deductible) I have found the staff here to be gracious and patient with not just my questions, but also those of my young musicians.

Nice shop. Went there for an appraisal. Didn't realize there was parking in the back until after I drove around for a while and parked on the street. Honest appraisal. Guy was nice and quick. I recommend this for appraisals as I don't have experience there otherwise. Instruments looked pretty though.

Great service, fair pricing, high-quality instruments, and good service. Ultimately a good experience in and out!

Very careless. Went to get my instrument cleaned and they put in some random bridge they had laying around - they almost lost mine! Had to go back and ask what happened to my bridge which I had made recently in NY. This was last year- maybe they're less careless now, but still very disappointed.

I have been a customer at Amati for about 17 years. It is a really fun shop to look around in, with violins hanging everywhere. They have always taken good care of me. We currently own two violins, a viola and a cello plus bows and cases that were all purchased from Amati. I agree with Melody S- Dan's comment doesn't make much sense to me. I send new students here.

They are simply the best, particularly if you are fairly serious about your instrument. We have gone from several rent-to-own instruments to upgrades that should see our kids through college. I cannot imagine more knowledgeable or patient professionals than those at Amati. That said, if your child simply plans to play for a year or two and wants dozens of mass-produced violins to choose from, this may not be the best place for you.

If you want instruments that grow in size and quality as you or your child's musicality improves, you cannot be in better hands. For the serious musician, you've definitely found your home shop in the Houston area for violins, violas and cellos, not to mention amazing luthiers.

Some interesting one-star reviews here ("rude snobs" and "treated me as though I were second class, " with second class appearing in 2 reviews!). People who use these terms generally broadcast their lives as a collection of caviar-snorting, validation-craving, legs-on-the-beach-with-a-yacht-in-the-background-on-Facebook party scenes. Since these are the types of people who feel entitled to first dibs on the Titanic's lifeboats -- who only take up a classical instrument for the associated niche status -- I didn't put much stock in these reviews when I decided to come back to this shop for some basic cello tune-ups.

I had straight-up left my cello in a case for 18 years, so it's not like I'm some perfect musician. I would call their raised eyebrows on seeing the condition of my instrument well deserved. You can tell they are proud of their work here, and serious about classical stringed instruments. I don't think it was second class treatment. I thought it was great that my old bow was "not that old.only 100 years or so." When I came back after the repairs, they were more than friendly and chatted about old bows, instruments, and proper care tips.

You know who actually made his customers feel second class? Mr Miyagi. And I can't think of any other fictional karate instructor I would rather trust with my instrument. So.if anything.maybe they should be ruder to people who walk into a violin shop and expect the red carpet. Wax on.wax off.

Rude Snobs. My partner & I went in for our first time since I was a kid & we too were treated like second-class customers. We felt like we were looked down upon, as if they assumed we were poor & couldn't afford anything in their raggedy, dank shop. (I mean, we're shopping for a violin.they should think about that for a minute.) We were the ONLY people there & we were treated by a fat man as if we were bothering them. Sir, you open a business to make business happen; Customers are the reason you are even there. Judging by the fact there are more negative reviews than good ones, I don't think you're missing anything by passing up the Amati Violin shop experience.

Go to Amati with a faculty from the Shepherd School or people who know the staff well. Otherwise, your instrument and bow is at risk!