Cleveland Violins

I left my violin at Cleveland Violins for almost 3 weeks so they had time to do some touch ups on the corners and edges, cleaning, etc. Well they cleaned it (which doesn’t take very long at all). But they didn’t do the touch ups — even though it was on the work order. They told me that if I wanted the touch ups done I should have left my violin in the shop for a few weeks — which I did do! Just frustrating. Very unprofessional way of handling a mistake — blaming the customer.
The other thing that frustrates me about Cleveland Violins is that they never bother to call the customer when they finish a job (bow rehair, cleaning, etc). Instead in my 4 – 5 experiences I have always had to call them to check on the status — only to find out they completed the work several days earlier.

I amble along Lothringerstrasse in Vienna, Austria, looking for a violin maker, when I stumble on a clean, open shop on the corner. Inside, the white walls are neatly lined with violins, violas, celli, and double basses; yet, there is still enough room for three tiny blonde cherubs to frolic about, never coming close to destroying any of the fine, stringed instrument.
EXCEPT! I’m on Mayfield. In The Cleve, and I’m in a beautiful music shop, devoted to the entire string section. Whoa. There’s a young guy manning the counter, a woman upstairs setting out violas, and in the front window, a dude is building an instrument from scratch. By hand. With just the light from the April sun. On Mayfield. In The Cleve.
I wander in, looking, plucking, utterly astounded. What a find. I wait for the guy at the counter to finish with his customer, then start peppering him with questions. How long has this place been here? What’s the story with all the beautiful instruments? Should I go with a German or a French bow? Do these lederhosen make my ass look big? On and on I drone, waiting for him to throw up his hands in surrender. He keeps answering, politely, with a touch of wit, and I’m just melting. THIS is the place, folks. All I really need is a double bass case, so he heads into the dark recesses of the basement and returns with TWO used cases. «The new padded ones are two hundred, the new unpadded are a hundred. You can have whichever one of these suits you for sixty.» I coulda kissed him, but I’m pretty sure at least one of us is heterosexual.
They offer new and rental, accessories, sheet music and a great heaping helping of civilized shop-​keeping. Cue the tympani! Prices range from modest to ohmylivinggodmywifewillkillme.
They have another shop in Medina, by appointment only, so I’ll toss a review on that one soon. (This used to be Goronok String Instruments, at a prior location.) Deduct one star for understaffing and a bit of a mess in the showroom, but hey. Just how many great string places are there within an hour’s drive? Counting this one, uh… One.