Disclaimer: I'm a 4th generation musician I love this place. My father took me here for years-from 1990 to be exact (7th grade) when I purchased my first full size violin and separate Full sized bow. My dad is a musician who studied in Korea, Paris and Berlin, so he was very particular as was my violin teacher, a Juilliard and Mannes Grad and faculty, so this is the ONLY place we have ever gone and referred for our own instruments and to our friends (my dad has personally referred over 100 musicians to this shop over the years and everyone loves their instruments! Fast forward to 2010 when my first child was 4 and I took her there for her first violin as well, and then my middle daughter in 2013 (she was 5 and switching to cello from violin), and then this spring, when my youngest (3) got her first 1/16 violin as well. We love Barrie Kolstein. He is a wonderful man-a true old school craftsman of the finest string instruments. He also plays the bass and so my girls call him the violin/bass grandpa. We all love the smell of wood/varnish/"mr kolstein's smell" when we walk into the store. Sometimes, the girls (now 9, 7, 3 years old) walk straight back into the workshop with Barrie and ooh and ahh at the new instruments being glued together, varnished, or restored... This is also one of the only places on Long Island that carries not just the typical school rental string instruments, but the "elite rentals" which are the higher end instruments that my children get. Since Ive been coming here for years, when I lost my violin, Barrie loaned me an instrument for ONE GIG and then our violist was unable to make another wedding (I'm part of a quartet), I was also able to pick a viola up last minute just for the weekend. If you're starting out, this is the place. Come get measured and they will ensure the right fit and the right instrument. He won't rent out low quality instruments. If you're a serious musician, he has the high end instruments as well and they make their own rosin-the only rosin I was ever allowed to use by my violin teacher in middle and high school... (My daughters always think they are getting a free gift set at the end: a blue Kolstein cloth for wiping down their instruments, a little white box with a mini blue holder of Kolstein rosin, and a golden instrument/luggage tag. Hahaha. Parking can be a pain, but there is usually a spot or two on the street from the corner before to maybe 15 feet past the storefront which is right on foxhurst. We live in Nassau, in Port Washington, so it's a bit of a trek, but we always come to this shop. Remember to ring the bell/buzzer to the right of the store! It's locked! read more

My son and I have known Barrie Kolstein for more than twenty years, having first stopped in to the shop to look at the cellos when my son was in junior high. When Sean began to excel on the school cello, I decided it was time to buy him an instrument of his own. Barrie spent much time with him, helping him to decide which instrument would serve him well. We bought a cello from the Mittenwald area of Germany, made in the early 1900s. Sean proudly and successfully played this beautiful instrument through high school and college and treasures it still, as an adult. When my father inherited the violin and viola that his own musician father had played in the 1930s and 40s, we brought them to Barrie for an appraisal and possible restoration. However, my father (who is elderly) was remiss in picking up the instruments and they remained at Kolstein's for over two years. I, in the meantime, moved to North Carolina and would gently remind my dad to call, which he finally did this spring. To our surprise, Barrie told us that all of the instruments had been seriously damaged when the shop flooded during Hurricane Sandy. He recounted that he has spent the last three years restoring ALL the instruments in the store, including my father's. The totally amazing part of this story is that Barrie did this all out of the goodness of his heart, and didn't charge us a cent for the restorations!!! The cases and bows were destroyed by water damage and had been thrown out, but Barrie replaced them, again for no money!!!! I can't begin to tell you the gratitude my family has toward Barrie and his business. I have never, and I mean never, met a person in business who gives of himself and his talents so unselfishly. He clearly has devoted himself to the making, repairing and selling of fine instruments to keep the live music scene alive. I couldn't recommend him more highly! read more

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You could spend $60,000.00 or much more on an Italian bass or have Barrie Kolstein make you one with the very same tonal and aesthetic characteristics. That he can do this is something of a secret do to all the noise of competitor advertising mostly mediocre basses. I own his Montagnana copy and his Carcassi copy and could not be happier. I have been playing in orchestras and jazz for 40 years and have played literally hundreds of basses looking to buy at the professional level and finding either I couldn't afford it, someone had gotten to it first, or it was junk like most of what is out there. You will not be sorry if you commision a Kolstein custom master built bass. Barrie is so far as I can tell the only maker alive today with the ability to produce an instrument with all the qualities of a real Italian bass. And I have played many. read more