Hornucopia

Lionel did an excellent job on my trombone slide. Thank you.

Amazing place, I could browse in here for a couple hours. Excellent service. Prices are reasonable too. I bought a flute for my daughter here, and two trumpets for my son. They support what they sell and are very knowledgeable. Check them out you won’t be disappointed

A wonderful sax technician, Larry. We repaired a sax and flute there. Very good! We also did a professional sax cleaning for mainence.

I just took a look at my trumpet sitting in my closet that I bought at Hornucopia about 15 years ago, and wondered if they were still around. Glad to see they are. I bought a rather rare Conn Vocabell trumpet and played a few years then put it down. I was happy to find the trumpet at Hornucopia. It was the same as I had when I was a child. Sandy was very knowledgeable about the trumpet, and having came across a few on Ebay I can definitely say she gave me a great deal. This trumpet was in excellent condition for a depression era instrument and the price was about the same as others of lesser quality. She also said that she would buy it back anytime for the price I paid as long as I didn’t do any modifications on it. (Not sure I can let go of it though.)To me that is a very generous policy. Definitely a quality establishment. If you’re into music this is a very interesting place to go just to check out the rare instruments.

I absolutely love this place.
It is full of amazing horns.
Sandy is fantastic, delightful person, excellent knowledge (always learn from her) and spot on pricing, very fair and honest. This is an opinion I have heard from one after another person.
Lionel is the best. repairs are A+++++ You get what you pay for.
I would suggest you go nowhere else.
One of a kind store. Thank you guys.

Sandy is great. I stopped by and talked to her about an alto saxophone I’m thinking of selling. She was super helpful and knowledgeable about the instrument. The shop itself is beautiful and has a ton of instruments in glass cabinets. The three people ahead of me in line were all buying trumpets for their kids.
Pro Tip: Don’t take pics of the instruments.
Thanks for your advice Sandy!

I’ve been buying and selling from Hornucopia for about 15 years. I purchased my current trumpet (Bach Strad) there in 1998. Sandy is extremely knowledgable and very honest. She knows her prices, and only sells quality instruments. Her repair folks are first rate as well. If you’re a horn player and have some time to kill, stop in and try out some instruments. That’s what I did and ended up buying one.

Sandy is amazing! My wife and I went in to see what my King Super 20 Tenor Sax might be worth and she spent at least a half-​hour telling us about the horn, exactly what could be done to get it back to perfect state (I played it in high school in the 70’s in a rock band and it got a bit knocked-​up).
And the store is like a timeline of great instruments… has to be better than most museums! If you love horns this is a MUST SEE!!! Thank you, Sandy, for the time you spent with us and creating such a place for the love of brass!

I’ve been there 3 times. First two times are for repairing a Yamaha 6335s trumpet and the last time was came over for information regarding french horns. Based on my limited experiences, I like this store. There are many interesting Brass instruments in their display cabinets. I can’t comment much on the price. The repair job was very nice! So all my future repairs will be on them. Their charge rate is similar to others but with better craftsman than the other nice repair person who is only several minutes from me.
The lady that always in the shop is very nice and knowledgeable. I got a huge amount of information on french horns even though I might still like to take the risk of getting an ugly horn and bring to them to fix.
Finally this is a trust able store to go to. It should be one of the top repair shop in the bay area.

My son’s trumpet teacher strongly recommended that we take his horn here for repair – so we did. We got good service, work done promptly, etc. – very happy.
The trumpet players in band told me what a special place Hornucopia is, and recommended I take my son to see it. Wow! What a place. Display cases everywhere, crammed full of instruments for sale (some of historic instruments) and for display. When I asked the clerk to show my music students some of her interesting instruments, she gladly walked us around and told us about some of the horns and why they were special. It was fascinating, and she was clearly VERY knowledgeable about them!!!

The store is chock full of very nice used instruments. I went to look at trumpets, and they have a large case of Vincent Bach Stradivarius trumpets with various options from the earliest Mount Vernon, NY, years, to recent production. There were also many models from many other manufacturers.
It is a great place to try out a bunch of different horns and figure out what you really like.
Most of their stock is high-​end instruments, although also had a few blemished and mid-​grade trumpets for sale when I visited.
My visit was in December 2009.

Highly competent and accommodating owners. We have rented several instruments for our daughter and the experience has been thoroughly positive. They have a beautiful selection of brass and wood instruments and the know how to support them.

A really wonderful place. When you first walk in the mass of glass cabinets with glittering brass instruments is amazing. They rent & repair instruments, and they buy and sell used instruments. Many of the used instruments are exquisite — from the days before cheesy mass production. Sandy (the owner) knows all kinds of arcane details about every manufacturer, how they evolved, and which periods produced the best instruments. They have saxes, trumpets, flutes, trombones, … you name it. If it’s musical and glitters, they carry it. I bought a sax there after years of renting. I’m very satisfied.
They also do lessons: there are lesson rooms in the back where a range of teachers give regular lessons every week. As far as I can tell, they’re all good. I’ve used Geordie Frazer for years, and love him. Talk to Sandy to find a teacher.
I can’t think of anything to not like about them.

This is more of an instrument shop, rather than a place to get music, or tuners, or other accessories.
I play the flute, so I’ve been in there to browse and try out different their selections on different occasions. I will admit I was reluctant to visit the shop, even though it is nearby because the name made me think they wouldn’t have a selection of woodwinds, but I was wrong. The staff was helpful, honest, and provided an unbiased ear on each occasion. I even ended up purchasing a used flute there and it was a great deal.
When it came time to sell my old flutes, I hopefully took them there looking to save myself some craigslist trouble. The owner looked them over, noted the repairs that would need to be made, told me how much she could give me for them, and then suggested that I would get a much better price if I sold them myself (b/​c people buying from a music store expect fully repaired instruments, so she’d have to pay me less to justify spending the money to fix them). How’s that for honesty?
One thing to note: this is not a good place to take a small child or stroller. There are so many instruments inside that there’s little room to maneuver and get the kid to a place where nothing is within reach. So leave the kid at home and go try out the instruments on your own.

WOWEE!!! I went to Hornucopia today to look for a piccolo trumpet and found the motherload of cool horns. They had hundreds of trumpets and brass instruments, from the obscure, to the popular. That had wind instruments that I have never even heard of, and that’s impressive, since I’m a band director! It was almost like an archive or a museum for brass instruments, except you can play and purchase the instruments if you so desire. Also, if you’re looking for lessons, they only allow top-​notch, professional, union member musicians to teach at their business. I’ve been to many a music store in my day, but nothing as awe-​worthy as Hornucopia (what an awesome name they have too!)

Hornucopia is open full-​time. A few reviews below are incorrect on this point.
The store is a nexus for quality instruments, repairs, and top-​drawer instructors.
Hornucopia has a substantial collection of antique and vintage instruments. These are displayed in handsome glass and wood cases among charming historical photographs. Browsing the instruments and chatting with the expert staff is like a trip to a museum.
My child takes sax lessons from Patrick Wolf at Hornucopia. We rented his first saxophone here as well. For other parents with a child starting out, I would recommend seeking a quality instructor here first. The store provides an instrument free of charge for your child to try during a first lesson. If the type of instrument and the instructor are both a good fit, proceeding with the instructor and using the resources of the store should be a happy experience.

Good news – Hornucopia is alive, well, and plan to continue their business as before; we were there on Saturday. The owner will be focusing on repairs and his partner will be handling sales – a division of labor, not a scale-​back. This store is a horn player’s dream! Case after case of beautiful trumpets, saxes, French horns – you name it (and some I couldn’t name!). Lessons, rentals, sales – very friendly and customer focused. If you play a horn, it’s worth your time to check it out.

Sadly, Larry of Hornucopia is scaling back his operations as he nears retirement.
My understanding is that they will still be in business for rentals and possibly sales, but in all probability the operations of the store will be scaled back.
Hornucopia had a great run under Larry though, and hopefully it stays in business for years to come. I really like this place.

I went bay Hornucopia a week ago and it looked like it was closed. It is a shame if it is closed. They had such a great selection of vintage horns and woodwinds. The owners were knowledgeable and helpful. I hope they are relocating or I was mistaken when I passed by.

I have been renting an alto sax for my son here for 5 + years.
They have good, fast service and are always very helpful.
They service is always very quick too!