Howren Music & Sound

I’ve used Howren to rent a violin, and to have my daughter’s flute reconditioned — twice.
I put the flute in over the summer to have it reconditioned for the next school year which started on 8/​24, Not only was it cleaned, but they supposedly reset some pads. Whoever did the cleaning/​repair also did not return the cleaning rod, so I had to go buy another. The band didn’t actually start playing their instruments until Sept., so she had probably only touched it 4 – 5 times since it had been reconditioned. One night, while practicing, the foot pedal just cracked and broke right where it fits into the other section. We took it to another repair shop that specializes in flutes, and was recommended by her band teacher. When the repair technician gave us the estimate it included not only repairing the broken piece, but they also said that they needed to reset some pads. I still had my receipt from where I had paid to have those same pads reset this summer. (The flute sat idle from July — Sept.) When I returned to pick up the flute, they informed me that the foot pedal was not the original foot pedal that was supposed to go with the flute — but a generic knock-​off. This may explain why it broke in the first place! This flute was given to my daughter from my niece, and I think she bought it used, so I don’t know if that is the foot pedal that has always been on it, or if something happened to it during one of those two times that I had it in the shop for reconditioning, but I’m definitely not happy about the fact that whoever tHowren’s repair technician is, he/​she did not do a good job resetting the pads because the same work should not have had to be redone after only 4 – 5 uses. I will not use them again for a flute repair. It also takes a long time for them to get repairs done. The other repair shop only had the flute for 1 week.

Russ Gordon, the owner of the store, is a wonderfully lively jazz pianist who makes a friend out of every customer. He is an App. Alumni. We chatted it up about my favorite teacher who he accompanied in a jazz group a while back. This was all within five minutes of coming into the place.
The store has mostly classical instruments, although there are a few drum sets and electric guitars. There is also a bilingual storeclerk to assist Spanish customers. He was actually playing flamenco music on an acoustic guitar when I arrived at the store.
I may go back to talk to Steve Gordon, a jazz drummer, to inquire about lessons. If you want to check him out, he plays with a trio at a bar named Sullivan’s in Charlotte. I would pick up instruments for my kids (if I had any) here, because it is a renowned music store amongst the Charlotte Meck School District.

These guys are located in the Park Road shopping center at Woodlawn, in the same area as Harris Teeter. Mostly it’s a friendly guitar store. The staff is super nice and outgoing, willing to answer any and all questions you might have about their shop and instruments in general.
They have one or two people who provide music lessons and they can also repair instruments as well. I’ve never gone in here and not seen a parent shuttling their kid in for lessons. It looks like they have a lot of long term, faithful clients.
My only complaint is they’re closed on Sundays. Notice the kid peeking in the window. Yeah, if I was 14 that would have been me too…