Fantastic people, excellent service, and extremely patient! My youngest decided to start learning violin. While we're a very musical family, violin isn't an instrument we're very familiar with so I had lots (and lots) of questions. They were very warm and reassuring. We met the owner and luthier, and both were genuinely kind and helpful. They helped us get everything we needed and went above and beyond in every way. read more

We have been using Austin's Violin Shop for our violin rentals and purchases for the last 8 years and have always been so well cared for! The instruments have always been great quality and the service phenomenal! read more

Austin's Violin Shop - Violins - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Sugar Grove, Illinois

I have mixed feelings about this little shop. On the one hand they are very service oriented. On the other hand, they seem "scattered". The store is cute - located in the back of the owner's house. Parking is a bit tight - so leave the SUV at home! Take the small car. :-) We ordered a case from them. It came in, we took it home and realized it had a manufacturing flaw. Called to advise - and were told "we'll have to call and find out if we can accept it back". Huh? Not even an option to stiff us with it, thank you so much! I don't think they meant it the way it sounded - but put me on guard. So - we drive an hour back to the store to return the case. They can't order the same color - but they have another used case, same basic color, higher quality if we want to take that instead, even trade. They indicated it was in good shape with one chip. We were in a rush - gave it only a cursory look - and the store is dim. When we finally got the case out in the light, you can see it's been abused, with a huge crack in the color on the bottom front and multiple chips. I was so disheartened. Frankly, the thought of driving 2 hours total to resolve the problem makes me feel frustrated. And - frankly - they could argue we caused the damage. Bottom line - cute store, lots of music selection. Check your larger purchases *carefully* before taking possession. Overall seem to be very customer oriented. I don't think they meant to stiff us with the case trade - but I feel like I was stiffed. More pragmatically, the case does the job, so leaving it alone. LIkely I am simply a victim of Murphy's law, with the customer service variant applied: "If something can go wrong, it will go wrong, and it will keep going wrong for that one particular customer, no matter how hard you try to recoup" Would I recommend: If you are local, probably a good store. Would I return: Only if I was in the area, and likely just for music at this point. read more

Three reasons you should choose Austin's Violin Shop: 1) The customer service, kindness, and warmth displayed by the owner, Patti, and her employees, Melissa and Lori. 2) When it's a 1.5-hour roundtrip drive to Sugar Grove from my home, and it's still worth it after seeing the high level of skill and craftsmanship of the professional setup for my cello.  3) When you call another music store in Naperville for a quote, and the Naperville music store's employee tells you over the phone that Austin's Violin Shop is known for their quality work and is well trusted. Even though I purchased the cello from this Naperville music store, I ended up having Austin's Violin Shop's luthier take care of my cello, and I'm so glad I did. Austin's Violin Shop's reputation precedes them, even among other music stores in the area, and I highly recommend you shop and support Austin's Violin Shop just like I have! read more

There customer service is top notch. The staff at Austin's are helpful and kind and make you feel like family. Their instruments are beautifully made and they go above and beyond to make sure you are well taken care of. Thank you for all that you do to bring music to our ears and schools. read more

Austin's Violin Shop - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Sugar Grove, Illinois

Great staff, great service, and a nice personal touch. This is a top quality shop for any string orchestra musician who is looking for anything from a mute to a new instrument. read more

I have been doing business with Austin's violin for a decade. I am more than highly satisfied - I'm thrilled to do business with Austin's. I wish I could buy more stuff from them but there's a limit to how much musical merchandise you need... (sigh) I also known many other Austin's customers. I haven't heard a complaint from anyone I know. Any small problem we've ever had (things do happen - these instruments get a lot of use), Austin's has fixed right away, either free or at reasonable cost. Austin's is a family-owned and -run business that's based on a trust model that you hardly find any more. It was rare enough when I was young and I no longer am! It takes some time to realize how doing business with Austin's is different, and many customers find it remarkable, and do remark, positively. "You know what Austin's did...?" Followed by some tale of particularly good customer service. Austin's staff is expert, helpful, and friendly. They don't hound you to make a purchase but if you need an hour to make up your mind, and you want help from them for that whole hour, you'll get it. Want a professional violinist to play some instruments for you so you can hear the difference when played by a pro? They set that up for us. Want to try out 6 different electric violins in a practice room? They did that for us. Pretty much in every way you can think of, they accommodate, support, and serve. Austin's has a great selection of instruments, very attractively presented, at reasonable prices. When price comparison is possible (like when buying a Yamaha electric violin) Austin's beats the best available on-line prices. And when price comparison isn't easily possible (who can really tell whether one violin should sell for $800, or $5,000, or $10,000? - I can't), testimony by experts says we got good or excellent value for our money. Austin's reputation in the music community is excellent in this respect. Austin's isn't just the kind of shop that sells - it's a workshop as well. Their part-time luthier "tops up" violins, and of course repairs them. The results are great - violins sound and look wonderful. And by the way Austin's sells other string instruments such as violas and cellos. I said that Austin's beats on-line prices, but they more than beat them, if you've rented from Austin's. They credit 1/3 of your rental toward any future purchase, and this credit never expires. It's a great deal if you're not certain you want to buy an instrument - rent it and get part of your money back later. I don't remember the exact details of how they work this credit - there are some restrictions (you don't walk out of the store getting whatever it is free) but they're reasonable. Insurance is also available and cheap, and has come in really handy. One violin we rented from them was involved in an "accident" at a recital and had its neck snapped right off! Austin's replaced the violin at no cost to us. I don't even know if the busted-in-two instrument was salvageable at all. My advice: buy the insurance if you rent! My extended advice: if Austin's supplies what you think you need, check them out first. If you don't have time to go to more than one store, then make this the one you visit. You won't be sorry. read more

So glad this great shop is in our area! We've been coming to this shop for several years, and now are taking lessons with Honna at the shop. The staff are VERY friendly and helpful. They're kind to the kids coming in for instruments and lessons. We're renting a violin for the first time this year, and have been pleased with the quality of the instrument and service. I'm happy to be buying our music and supplies locally. Honna is a great teacher. She's good with my girls who take lessons - always very patient, especially with the wiggly 5 year old. She is great working with my 10 year old who wants to fly through music and gets "bored" when she works on the same piece for a while. Honna knows just how to change it up to keep my students engaged and interested. The only downside is that the waiting space in the store IS small. We have to play musical chairs sometimes when the store is busy as we wait for our lesson to start, but I love the store and the people here. read more

Don't go here. Yes they are cute, but it ends there. They told me my cello needed over $1000 worth of work, an more experienced Luther fixed everything for $200. Totally bullshit is what they give you, they sek to charge for things you don't need just to get the money. They cannot follow directions and want to call you over and over again to get the same answer. They hide charges, when I told they not to do the work on my cello, hey said oh, we'll then you can pay $20 for us looking at it. They did not warn me of this charge. I detest this business. They don't deserve any stars. read more

I haven't purchased anything from them, but I use them for violin rentals and repairs and they have always been very customer friendly. My child is a student at the Suzuki-Orff school and I have never actually been out to Austin's because they do weekly pickups/drop-offs at the school which is super convenient. I've rented violins from them, exchanged the size in the middle of rentals with no issues, and they are now doing a repair on my own violin (not a rental from them) and letting me use the pickup/drop off service at my daughter's school. They even offered to give me a loaner for free while they repair my violin! read more

I have been going to Austin's violin shop for the past 14 years. I absolutely love this business. We rented for a good number of years (a violin and a cello) and then purchased a cello and had an full sized violin restored. First of all, what I loved about renting from Austin's was the quality of the instruments they rented to us. They seem to specialize in high quality rental instruments which just simply sound good! Our children always had the opportunity to try out several instruments before deciding on one to bring home. Even then, if there was something we didn't like, we could come and choose another with no problems. Patty Austin is a generous soul and when we bought our cello, we got an excellent deal because of our accrued rental. She has also been very generous to us in lending cellos when my daughter flies in from out of town for a playing engagement but cannot bring her instrument. read more

I have been going to this store for about 4 years. I have 2 violin players now in middle school. We have rented from them, bought instruments, traded in an instrument, had a family violin restored (over a 100 year old one), bought cases and bows, and have bought numerous supplies from them. I have to say this is one of my favorite shops to go to because I know I am going to get an honest opinion. They will tell me when it is worth to spend the extra money and when it isn't (because I have younger players) and one time when they accidently overcharged me something like 50 cents, they made sure to mail it back to me! The family violin came out beautiful! It did have a few cracks in it from not being used and now you can barely tell that they were there! I have ordered products and they call me promptly when they come in. They know my children and I at this point as well as what the children have named their violins. Like I said, I know if I go there I will get great service and good products! read more