CK Violins

If you have ANY questions about orchestral strings, Nicholas has the answers. He’s very friendly and knowledgeable and if he can’t help you, then there’s probably no one on the island that can.
His new shop in the Waikiki Landmark is gorgeous. So much so that I never even considered his shop when buying my first violin because I thought I wouldn’t be able to afford it.
His prices are very reasonable, but don’t go in expecting to get anything for less than $ 500. He takes pride in all the instruments he carries, which include a few that are made for his shop. I had previously owned a violin that was from another local shop and Nicholas was generous enough to give me about 80% of what it was worth toward my trade, which was SUPER generous. I wasn’t even planning on leaving the shop with a new violin, but after he told me how much he’d give me, I didn’t have to think too much about it.
Parking is surprisingly easy and not too expensive at $ 1 per hour in the landmark. It’s prepaid so make sure you know how long you’re going to take.
One thing to really remember is that he’s only open for 24 hours a WEEK. Monday through Saturday 1p to 5p, but you can always call to schedule an appointment. The strict hours would usually turn me off, but for the quality of service you receive, I’m willing to find time.
Overall, Nicholas will definitely be my go to man for servicing my violin and I would highly recommend him to any string player regardless of playing level.

I was traveling with an ensemble from California and needed a cello in Honolulu for a week. Not only did Nicholas Zou provide a beautiful cello with no hassle at all at an incredibly reasonable price, but he even made a special appointment to come in on Sunday so I could return the cello before we had to catch our plane. Nicholas is knowledgeable and reliable and obviously in business out of a love for music more than money. As a visitor to the islands, my contact with Nicholas was my first experience of Aloha spirit, and a wonderful welcome. If you need to rent a violin or cello, definitely go to CK Violins.

We had a great experience when we went in to rent a violin for our daughter. Nicholas was great, he was very attentive and answered all of our questions. The prices were great also. We decided to buy instead of rent because of the great deal. Also when our daughter improves and wants to upgrade we get full value of what we paid towards the next violin. I highly recommend CK violins, you will not be disappointed.

You can imagine taking more than 60 people from Oakland, CA to perform is a real hassle. Because of luggage fee, we contacted Hawaii Symphony to recommend a place where we could rent cellos. The Symphony staff person recommended CK Violins. Mr. Zou was very knowledgable and courteous to us. Our cello instructor said that the cellos we rented were better than her own personal instrument. Mr. Zou made special arragements for us, he purposely return to the store early in the morning so we would not miss our flight.
The high quality of the instrument, the excellent customer service and the knowlege of Mr. Zou makes this the ideal place to rent or purchase your instrument.

The owner set up my son with a decent ½ size violin for him to play in his school’s orchestra. Unfortunately, after about a year and a half of private lessons from another man, he grew tired of playing because his private teacher wouldn’t let him learn any new pieces unless his bow hold, fingering, posture and everything was perfect. So, for weeks, he played one piece over and over and over until the desire to play was finally flattened out of him. Folks, I saw Isaac Stern make love to his violin in Davies Hall in San Francisco years ago, and, being 3 rows from the front, I can tell you, all these things were not perfect, but the sound was lovely. Perhaps all this perfection would not be a problem for a child prodigy, but for my active, easily bored, elementary school son, it was quite a motivation killer. (Now he’s taking piano from a fun, encouraging «Let’s move right along» teacher, and loving every second of it).
So, my wife took the violin to CK Violin’s new digs on Kalakaua (they used to be on Ward Ave. across from Sports Authority) hoping to sell it back to the owner. I had read a review on Unilocal and thought we could do that. The owner clarified that no, he doesn’t buy back violins unless you’re trading your old one in for another. So, I guess we’ll go to Craigslist or something; I’m always a bit nervous about having strangers come to our home, though. But really, CK Violins is a nice store, and I really did like the owner, so I would recommend buying your violin or other string instrument from this place. So, my son is not going to be the next Joshua Bell after all! Perhaps he’s the next Arthur Rubinstein or Van Cliburn or… maybe he’ll just be himself. Ah! That’s the ticket!

If you have ANY question regarding the violin, this is the place to find all your answers. Nicholas is friendly and knowledge about violins. He helped me with all my violin needs. They even hold lessons right there in the shop, if you’re interested.
$ 20/​month rental violin (minimum 3 months)
And you can sell any violin you buy there and he will buy it back for the same price you bought it for…(or something like that since violins appreciate in price).
Unilocal 365 Challenge #224/​365