Brobst Violin Shop

I have been coming here since I was 5 years old, and now 14 years later I can honestly say I don’t think I can ever go anywhere else.
The Brobst family is a family I feel so comfortable with. They have come to many of my recitals, and have supported me immensely with my musical endeavors. I don’t know of many shops that are willing to create that bond with someone.
I do not trust anyone else with my violin, and I love how every time I go in to have even the smallest amount of work done, they treat my violin like a million dollars and always leave so clean.
I will always recommend this fabulous shop to anyone who is in need of even the smallest repair or the largest one!

I came here yesterday upon the advice of my new music instructor. It’s been years since I’ve played the violin and really wanted to get back into it. I’m 27 now and felt a little nervous about starting it up again so late in life. But then I met people who started it up in their late 30’s and even later, so honestly, WHO CARES how old you are!
Anyway, I didn’t want to outright buy just any violin. I was advised to rent one first. So I walked into Brobst Music Store and was immediately helped by this wonderful woman. She was extremely knowledgeable about music and the violin. She spent her time in showing me the different models and played them each for me so I can compare the different sounds. She then let me go into the studio to play them myself. She was very patient with me and answered all of my questions. I ended up renting a beautiful German violin. I absolutely love their rental/​purchase policy. It’s very simple and transparent. The monthly rental cost of $ 24 applies towards the purchase price, should you choose to purchase it later, AND you can always upgrade to an even nice violin. Best part about that is that the full value of your current violin is applied towards the upgrade. This is perfect because I am seriously considering upgrading at some point to a nicer violin (my current violin costs around $ 1200, so it’s comforting to know that I won’t be losing any of that value).
I also upgraded my strings for a one time fee of $ 33. The new thicker strings give me that deeper sound versus those strings on student quality violins, which I am not a fan of.
Overall, this is a fantastic place for beginners and experienced musicians. I am beyond happy and can’t wait to come back!

The man at the desk today was kind and knowledgable. He helped me exchange my spouse’s rental viola for a nicer model. We are very pleased with their rent-​to-​own program, which is much better than the rental program offered by

I have been coming here for six years and trust the people at Brobst with my violin over other people that I have visited in the northern Virginia area. They always know what is needed to help maintain my violin and for the most part customer service is amazing. Some of the times that I have gone, the people their have not been as friendly however other times I have gone and they have been more than cheerful and pleasant — everyone is allowed a bad day and the most important thing is that they do amazing work no matter what and have the highest care towards the instruments. The instruments there are beautiful and of the highest quality — I purchased my violin four years ago and I still love it. It is obvious the amount of care and effort they put into the instruments.

They are truly the place to go to purchase a violin, have repairs done, or to have questions answered. I am new to violins but wanted one with excellent tone quality. The were so very patient and brought out some beautiful instruments. I finally purchased the one that sounded best to me and it was an excellent buy. Even if you are just starting having the right instrument can make all the difference. They were recommended by my violin teacher and he has been playing professionally for over 40 years. In today’s world of internet look them up and then go there. It is well worth your time.

I was sent to this store by my son’s violin teacher to check into having a bridge refit done. When I took the violin out of the case and handed it to the man, you would have thought I had handed him a dirty diaper. The level of condescension and disdain was amazing to witness. As I stood there while he proceeded to tell me everything wrong with the piece of trash violin that I had dared to bring into his shop, the old man that worked there walked by and paused just long enough to give a snort of laughter and then walked away shaking his head.
I stood there and let him go through his speech on their prices and products and then took my violin back and walked out of the store.
I then took it to another violin shop because guess what, there is more than one violin shop in the DC, Virginia, Maryland area and they were a pleasure to work with and were happy to work on my little violin.
If you play in the National Symphony Orchestra and need the air of snobbery while spending lots of your hard earned money, then this is the place for you. However, if you are just trying to expose your child to the joys of music or are playing for pleasure, then I implore you to look elsewhere so that your love of music will not be tarnished by these music curmudgeons.

I too am a fledgling cellist, but at 41. It has been a 20+ year dream to play the cello, and I purchased one 10 years ago while living overseas and never got around to lessons or getting the strings on — until this past year.
I went to the store in need of new strings. After 10 years of non-​use, the strings sounded tinny and scratchy — though I guess that could have been just me… but my teacher and I decided new strings were in order and with her recommendation, I found myself at Brobst Violin Shop.
I could not have been more pleased with my experience. I had no clue what I was doing — just what I needed to have done with my cello. The shop is currently undergoing renovation to enlarge their space. While waiting for my turn, a violinist was getting some work done on his violin and then tried out another violin. The music was beautiful! I too am on Suzuki Book 1 (and «Twinkle, Twinkle») and was impressed listening to the results of decades of practice.
Mr. (Gerald) Brobst was the one helping out the violinist, and he very pleasant and apologized for my wait. I told him I was in no hurry and happy to listen to the music. When it was my turn, I told him what I needed and the strings that I was to change to. He queried if I wanted to spend that much money, and we discussed options. In the end, I still went with the original ones I requested, but it was nice to know he was not just trying to sell me a pair of strings. It was a thoughtful process.
After he strung the cello, he tweaked other things — markings for where the strings should go on the nut and then balanced the strings for better sound. Sorry there’s probably different terminology to represent better what he did, but that was how I best understood what he explained to me. Then he played my cello to test out the strings, and those strings sounded amazing. And he says he’s not a cellist, but a violinist. Well, you could have fooled me. Then because I spent a fair amount of change on strings, especially compared to the cost of the cello, I asked his advice about cellos in general. He talked to me as if he had all the time in the world, and even played another cello for me so that I could hear the difference (even accounting for strings).
I had a wonderful experience at this establishment on 11÷30÷12. I knew I was a beginner-​cellist. Even the questions and statements I made show I really don’t know what I’m talking about yet. The violinist who was the customer knew I was a beginner. Mr. Brobst knew I was a beginner. But never once, did I feel or was I made to feel like I was anything other than a peer.
As I left, I introduced myself so that perhaps the next time I visit, he’ll remember me… because there is no doubt of where I’ll go for my cello needs.

Worst place ever! Do not go here, they are the most ridiculous people to work with!!! No help at all.

I have been coming here for my cello-​ing needs for probably 15 years.
I love the family — the owner and his wife are just great.
I have had so many good experiences with this shop. I bought (well my dad bought) a student cello here for me in 2000 which was just a great cello. I still play it today. I have bought a couple of bows, strings, and had bows rehaired so many times. The prices have gone up a little over the years, but compare well in the area. I believe it’s $ 50 bucks for a cello bow rehair now.
They do a string special — i’m not sure what time of the year, but I always seem to get there when they do it. Buy one string, normal price, get a second for a buck.
One experience that stands out for me was a time one of my friends was in the market for a new cello. It felt like the scene out of harry potter where he tried all of the wands. they asked him what his price range was. He replied $ 50 thousand, which was way above my personal range, so very exciting for me! They took us to a room, brought us a few bows, and started bringing cellos. We sampled for about two hours. I think my friend wound up purchasing at a different store when he found the perfect cello, but I will never forget that. They treated us very thoughtfully and I loved it.

I have had 2 experiences with Brobst Violin Shop on separate occasions with different employees. First experience was repairing a violin. After looking over the violin, David suggested a few minor repairs were and they were agreed upon. The instrument was ready when promised and charged the estimated cost without any additional repairs needed. On a return visit with the new owner of said violin, an 11 year old girl accompanied me to Brobst to select a bow. Sharon came out front, asked how she could help and immediately took the violin out of its case. She proceeded to grab a bow and play for a couple of minutes. Sharon asked what price range we were looking for and gathered several bows and tested them. Sharon then led us to a room to try out each bow and determine which best suited the young player in both comfort and sound. Looking at how the violin was being held she suggested a better chin rest and a shoulder rest to suite her body frame. This is when the young girl felt comfortable with the violin as it became her own. After checking in on us a few times and bringing additional bows to test a decision was narrowed down. Sharon played the violin with the bows in contention for purchase and gave her recommendations and a purchase was made. Although the shop was busy we in no way felt rushed or abandoned. Kudos to Brobst for making a young girl feel important and special.

I am relatively new to the area, and have just starting trying to find a place to take my viola to be repaired. The first time I went to Brobst, it was only because I was looking for locations near my home in Alexandria. I don’t remember why, but I do remember being ambivalent about the service and thinking I should go elsewhere the next time I needed repairs.
I should have listened to myself because this time the service left a lot to be desired. When I entered the shop, there were a few people waiting to be helped, and I realized it was because the lady, I believe the matriarch of the family owned business, was so friendly she engaged each customer before me in nearly 20 minute conversations. Luckily, another man, dark hair, probably in his 40s came out and said «Who’s next?».
I quickly discovered why he normally isn’t the one helping with customer service.
I asked for a few repairs, which were completely quickly, but no attention was put toward asking if I was happy with the work that had been done (for example, he didn’t ask me if I was happy with the sound post readjustment until AFTER I had paid and said thank you).
I felt, unlike the service the other customers were getting with the woman who was almost TOO friendly, he wanted me out of there as quickly as possible. I also purchased a few music books, a shoulder rest, and a dampit. For the items that were behind the counter, he would get and then slam down on the counter with a brusque «here you go». It was quite bizarre. One of the items had to be retrieved from the back, and upon discovering this, the man let out a huge «this is such a hassle» sigh.
I’m very sorry that I inconvenienced their shop by patronizing it, and in the future I definitely don’t plan on going to pay for their overpriced service and products.
If you are looking for strings, sheet music, and basically any other product, go elsewhere or buy online at shops like
. I guarantee the prices are much better without the crappy customer service.

I don’t really know what to compare this to, as I am a fledgling cellist (read: I squawk out «Twinkle Twinkle Little Star» at this point) and the last time I was in a non-​electric music store was decades ago when my mom dragged me kicking and screaming to sign me up for some lame music lesson or other.
The place was pretty busy. I was hot around the collar as I was clearly out of my element and had no game plan to stand around looking cool. I felt like if I made a sudden move, strings would pop in my face and years of hand-​crafted beauty would come crashing down around me.
I finally got some help; the guy signed me up and sent me out with a cello, a case and a wave of his hand. This unnerved the shit out of me as I didn’t even know how to carry it, much less play it.
The service was sparse and intimidating; perhaps my sales meistro assumed that I had some experience because, seriously, what kind of weirdo takes cello lessons in her 30s? Excuse me sir, I do.