SHAR Music

I've purchased strings from Shar for years, and I've always been able to count on receiving the right items at reasonable prices. I experienced a minor issue with a recent order, but Shar's customer service was responsive and courteous, quickly rectifying the issue.

To update this post, Shar had a lawyer serve me with a cease and desist letter due to my review. Everything below is a truthful statement of my personal experiences with Shar. Having personally witnessed too many practices at Shar I do not agree with, I will be ending my 17 year relationship with them. I have had only bad expierences with the bow tech and repair shop.

Nearly every rehair has failed and required a second rehair. I had the varnish on my cello extensively touched up and within months the varnish began melting off of my cello staining everything it touched. Unfortunately the damage could not be repaired by the luthier. Based on this I would not reccomend seeking rehairs or other repairs through Shar on anything above a student level instrument. Shar reached out to me and to discuss the issues however the couldn't admit their fault or resolve the issue.

My bows have been permanently damaged by the bow tech and my cello has irreparable varnish damage. On top of all of this I have had a terrible time communicating with customer service, to the point where they no longer respond to my emails.

The best place for violins, cellos and bowed instruments and accessories. The have several large cabinets full of all kinds of sheet music and instructional books for all levels of ability, from beginner to master. And the staff are professional, courteous and friendly. For my violin needs I go nowhere else.

You can read the whole story that goes with my 3 star rating (possibly 4 depending on how you look at it). In summary, I've been playing the violin for 11 years now and have bought numerous items from Shar, and was over the moon pleased with the products! I guess I had higher expectations than what was presented to me when I decided to use them for some luthier work in September 2021.

In summary, I'd buy products from Shar any day, I'm not 100% sure I'd use trust their luthier services if I was on a time crunch. I took my bow in to be rehaired and for a sound post adjustment. When I arrived I went to the front desk and wasn't even acknowledged for the first five minutes. Once I was noticed, the employees was very kind. The luthier, John Perrett seemed knowledgeable and adjusted my sound post just fine.

As expected, it would take a couple of days to rehair my bow. I worked out with Mr. Perrett, that my bow would be shipped to us since I was only in Ann Arbor for a day. This day was a Thursday and I was told I'd get a call when the bow was ready to be Shipped out. The next Wednesday I got a call and was pleased to hear that they were going to ship the bow out the next day.

I requested on the phone call that they text us a tracking number. A week later I still had received no tracking number as requested, so I called. The clerk at the front desk was very helpful and informed me of my tracking number. The only thing was, according to the tracking number, the package was being sent out the same day I called. This was disappointing to me, they called us a week before stating they were shipping the bow to me, and only now was it actually being sent. The tracking number was very accurate and the bow did arrive on the date listed by FedEx. The bow was haired very nicely and sounds great!

I placed an order for violin on September 17th when product showed "In Stock" on website and still shows "In Stock" today, but my order status showing backordered and was never delivered. They are not even responding to calls, and going to voice mails. I am not sure what to do. Guys, please just be careful!

If you have a violin of any significant, DO NOT have any work done at Shar and go to a reputable luthier. I had a small problem fixed on my valuable instrument recently, and upon entering my concerns about the state and care of the instrument in the process of the repair were completely disregarded. The violin's bridge came back to me damaged, and I am having to get a new one made, as well as having the initial repair redone elsewhere.

For those of us who's instrument is their livelihood, not having our opinions valued as the instrument's owner and player is extremely unsettling, not to mention when there is actual damage when it is done.

What a wonderful shop. The staff is so knowledgeable and welcoming. They support and encourage the students in all ways. They even sized my daughter and made sure she had a great tuned instrument.

Went with my mom to purchase a new viola, and turn in my rental. Such a great experience, both Quinn and Lindsay were so helpful and worked with our budget. 10/10 would recommend!

I ordered my beginner violin three weeks ago and received it within two weeks, as the customer representative told me. The violin, Prelude, is of great quality and produces a delightful sound. I highly recommend this place to shop for stringed instruments, from beginner to professional. The staff are very friendly and professional and the instruments are of excellent quality.

DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY! I tried to order a book of violin music from this company months and months ago. I got an email that it was back ordered so I bought it off Amazon and canceled my order (or so I thought). I have now attempted to cancel the order multiple times, both by email and by talking to a sales person and I am STILL getting emails about this backordered book that I don't even need and haven't in well over six months. It's one thing to be a smaller independent business that doesn't have the infrastructure of a larger online presence, but this incompetence is bordering on harassment

I have never had an in-person experience with Shar music, because all I have ever done was order from them through their phone customer service. My daughter has played the viola for years and this is the 2nd time I've purchased an one from them. Their customer service has always been top notch! The first time I ordered one a very nice lady helped me on the phone and got me all set up and even gave me the option for a used instrument which was priced less than a the new one.

We purchased the whole outfit with the bow & case. She outgrew her viola this year, so I needed to buy a new one. I called Shar and spoke to Philip. He was super helpful too and was great about a mishap with the shipping. If you are looking for a great deal on instruments, please connect with SHAR! I've never been to their physical showroom and not sure if things are different there, but their phone customer service was spectacular and we have always been happy with their instruments. My daughter hasn't yet grown into the largest viola, so we will definitely be ordering from them in the future. Thank you!

I am giving a 1 star rating because I cant give a zero. I ordered a violin for my son and was promised a 7 day delivery. I was so excited on the 7th day to recieve the violin. No violin was recieved instead an email stating their were none in stock. I placed roughly 10 phone calls to see what else could be done. Never spoke with a person. So 2 weeks after I ordered. I had no violin and no customer service. I canceled my order.

This review is for the online store. I ordered a back ordered item that they charged me for even though there was no estimate for when or if it would be available. I contacted them by phone and email multiple times trying to cancel, but they will not refund my money. Internet scam. Do not use! Sheet Music Plus is much better.

Oh my goodness. Some of these reviews are really awful. I didn't have a bad experience in fact I never have. I went there to buy a violin for my daughter and they were so awesome. We had so many problems. My daughter forgot her chin rest, Tuner, and rosin in the rental violin case. They found it almost immediately. We bought the wrong bow and he gave us the more expensive one for the same price. They were so understanding.

I have been using Sharmusic for 5 years, since my friends recommended me. Even if the trade-in policy does not apply to switching instrument, it was good until I traded-in early 2017. Then, they evaluated 2.5 year old violin almost full price. After paying $50 fee, then we could upgrade with better quality violin. Now they said that the trade-in policy was updated.

They evaluated the old violin only half. Probably, the policy (https://www.sharmusic.com/pages/services/trade-in-policy/) said that the depreciation fee may apply for the serious damage. But, they may apply even before inspection based on the age. If anyone consider the new violin purchase with trade-in in the future, they had better know that the policy changed between 2017 and now. It is not attractive any more.

This business appears to be struggling. 1. They are quick to take your money but not so quick to issue a refund or a trade-in, or to even communicate with you. The Shar employee I work with has not yet confirmed, after 3+ weeks, if the violin I returned has been received (FedEx indicates that it has been received). I still don't know when I will get credit issued back. 2.

How the employees coordinate among themselves is a mini-mystery as well. You speak to one and ask for a trials on bows, weeks pass, and there are no bows. You contact them, or they say they will contact you, and there are still no bows, weeks and weeks later. I would not trust a company with such poor out-going communication. Whatever is happening internally, is going to result in this business dying out. They invested in a website but that is just not sufficient when you need to maintain a relationship with your customers. Please, look elsewhere for your music needs.

**INSTRUMENT RENTER BEWARE ** I would not recommend renting an instrument through this business. We rented a double bass for our daughter from Shar and eventually concluded our rental due to issues we were having with instrument and having to drive from Ferndale to Ann Arbor for service. We mutually ended the contract two months ago and yet continue to be billed every month.

This morning my wife called the store after the transaction posted to our account. We were told that it would take at least 3-4 days for them return our funds as it will take that long to get the needed approvals and to process it through thier accounting department.

Don't buy your Eudoxa strings here. I am a 30-year customer & teacher. I bought G&D strings ($58) in July to put on a Baroque violin. The violin was for sale and left the state. I did too. I ended up putting the strings on in early September & both were dead (false) strings. I emailed after hours; no answer for a week. So I called today & the answer was "you have 30 days to put them on and call us back, sorry". No exceptions, clearly, even though I asked. I won't buy strings here now any more.

SHAR Music is amazing! Super friendly staff and an incredible assortment of string instruments of the violin family all the way from beginners to professionals. My daughter who has been playing violin for years was curious about learning to play Cello. Our visit to SHAR solidified her resolve. SHAR also has a full workshop for instrument repair, offers lessons and sells a wide assortment of music.

I placed a $1k+ order for a cello for my daughter on Shar and confirmed multiple times with them it would ship out the same day, on a Friday. It was critical that it arrive quickly because we were moving a week later. After talking to their customer service people, I opted not to pay $83 for expedited shipping because they told me that regular shipping from Michigan to new York City would be 4-5 days, meaning it would arrive before the end of the next week before our move.

On Monday I started up a chat session with their customer service because I had not received a tracking #. I was informed that it was because it did not ship out. Rather than offer me free expedited shipping due to an error on their part, they quoted me $100 for expedited shipping, and inexplicable $13 increase. On top of that, the average response time in the chat window was several minuted, so it took me 35 minutes of a chat session for them to basically tell me tough sh-t, we screwed up but you have to pay to fix it. I am willing to revisit this review if Shar makes an attempt to correct the situation.

I have a very bad experience with SHAR. I ordered a music book and was told it was not shipped out due to out of stock after waiting for about two weeks. I then placed an order in Amazon & was not aware that the seller was SHAR again. I paid $26 two-day shipping charge because our music teacher was leaving the country in a few days and he needed the book to copy down the bowing. However, it got messed up again; the book was not delivered as scheduled (according to Amazon, it should be delivered on Friday); instead, it was shipped out the next Monday after I sent a complaint email.

If I knew the package would be delivered after our music teacher's leaving, I would not bother to pay $26 additional shipping charge. Moreover, because of their mistakes, I will need to pay additional shipping charge to mail the book to our music teacher. I requested for a refund of shipping charge but did not get a response back.

Awful administration! I ordered a music sheet with CD, they sent me a music sheet without CD. I called them, they told me to return it while they sent a replacement. They sent another music sheet WITHOUT CD. OK, so I thought they must not have one with CD. And I returned the music sheet, via fedex. 4 months later they emailed me saying that I owe them money for not returning the item. I gave them the fedex tracking number with proof that it has been delivered, back 4 months ago. Let's see if they the audacity to bill me again.

I love SHAR! They have the most competitive (often lowest prices) on standard string materials, music, and accessories. Incredible selection of instruments in a wide range of prices. As a professional musician, I've had my instrument repaired here and was very satisfied with the repair work. Subscribe to their email list for additional discounts and pop-up emails regarding special sales!

All of the negative reviews that I've seen on Yelp seem ridiculous and I would caution others to dismiss them. I've ordered with SHAR for the past 15 years with confidence. Their customer reps are friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable.

I ordered a violin on a credit card, and the transaction was approved. I come to find 3 months later, they never actually ran the card and now want me to pay up after they said I did. These people them go on to say that the instrument must be I perfect condition to give back and I must pay a fee. This company is completely unprofessional and I highly recommend going elsewhere.

They sold me a $200 violin and after getting it looked at by local shops; it isn't worth more than 125$. Rip off, con artists, and rude. Avoid buying from them online at any cost.

I am renting a cello from Shar for my wife. We received the cello and the bridge is not set up properly. I called and asked for a replacement and they sent a bridge blank and did not offer to cover the cost of a luthier setting the cello up all over again. Even though we had just received the cello.

I recent stepped into Shar Music's showroom during a visit to Michigan. I've been mail ordering from them since I was 10 years old. I can still remember when I was at Interlochen and they would take my phone orders, mail me the products, and THEN bill my parents' residence. No e-commerce in the 1980s. I hadn't been in the store since 1990 and it was a nice surprise.

I live in Hawaii now (yeah, the sound of the world's smallest violin playing) and I miss having access to Shar Music where the salespeople could speak my language. I've purchased two violins, dozens of cakes of rosin (I drop them too much), a case, tons of strings, sheet music, and numerous accessories. After not playing for 20 years the chat feature was helpful in me choosing new strings that would survive the high humidity in Hawaii. I've always been satisfied with their service and will continue to use them.

I think the main problem with Shar is that they are the only game in town in terms of classical music services. So their customer service suffers. There are a few folks who actually want to help you, but sometimes you feel like you are being tolerated by musicians who can't make it as professionals and so are inflicting their loss-of-talent-emotion on us lowly customers.

Still they are the only game in town, so we have to endure it. Maybe someone out there can start an alternative that has a web service you can trust. That being said, you will find what you need there (and if not they will order it for you). Does anyone else feel that Shar needs a shot in the arm?

Shar's Strings Suck! I purchased a set of cello strings by mail order from Shar and the strings were false. Shar is known for purchasing strings in large quantities so there is no telling how old the strings are that you will receive. Beware Shar's 30 day return policy. It is inflexible. They will do nothing for you except steal your money if you don't return the strings within that time frame regardless of when you actually put them on the instrument. I will never do business with Shar again and I advise that you do the same. A better bet is Southwest Strings.

For forty-something years, Shar Products has served the national music community by selling and repairing stringed instruments. Their catalog lists contemporary and fine instruments, instrument accessories, strings, sheet music, and music records/CD/DVDs. You can order any product by internet or mail. If you live close to the store, you can visit the shop and try out their instruments and talk to their experts.

On a recent visit to Ann Arbor, I stopped by the store to try out some violins. I was surprised at the size of the store and the number of instruments they have on hand. Conveniently, they have several practice rooms where you can try out the instruments. They also sell instrument cases and bags. Again, the number and variety were considerable. As far as repairs go, Shar repaired my sister's cello a few years ago.

The workmanship was excellent. The repairs were done on time. So overall, my sister was very satisfied. If you live locally to the store, Shar is a great place to check out instruments and supplies. The location is also convenient for quality repairs. If you live far away, Shar is a great source for strings, accessories, and sheet music. I have always been happy with the products I've bought from Shar and the service I've received.