Music Center of Hawaii is very small but the amount of instruments and service far exceeds their…read moreshop size. They are one of the only shops that repairs saxophones, violins, and standup bass's. They have a huge selection of violins, flutes, saxophones just to name a few. The staff is absolutely top notch any thing you need for your bowed instrument is there.

They helped us with a short term rental of a violin for my daughter. They sized her up with an…read moreexpert eye, gave us the relevant paperwork, and sent us on our way. Excellent value!

Bought a new guitar recently and wanted it to be set up perfectly for me. I refer myself to be an…read moreamateur guitar repair guy. Been playing the guitar for years so I know how to set up guitars and do minor repairs. Since I bought a brand new guitar, I wanted to see if taking it to a pro would make a difference. One of my Musician friends referred me to Peter Bond. My first impression of Peter, super nice, cool, and very knowledgeable. I told him to dress the frets and to lower the action a bit. I also gave him a new set of strings so he could restring it when he was done. When I went to pick it up, the frets were nice and shiny and seem to play well. Took it home that evening and noticed that the intonation on the higher frets were off pitch. Call him about the problem, said he wanted to see it again. To make a long story short, the strings that I had given him to restring my guitar were bad. He put a fresh set of new strings from his stash and it played perfect. He made me a bone saddle, which I think made a huge difference in sound. He's an amazing Luthier, but I think a better human being. Mahalo Peter!!

So great to have Peter round to help me create my crazy ideas for guitars, or to take on the work I…read moredon't or am unable to do. Thank you Peter for all you do, and have done over the decades! Call him, share what you want done and make a new friend!

It has been a dream of mine since I was a kid to take voice lessons. The closest training I ever…read moregot was high school chorus and a couple music classes while in college. But even after taking these classes, I've always wanted to do more. But when life got busy, I ended up putting this passion on hold. As I got older (and hopefully wiser lol), I realized there will never be a right time to do the things we love until we make time for them. So I did a quick Google search and found Grammy award winning soprano, Audrey Luna. And this is where I started my beautiful musical journey. To be honest, I really was a bit scared and anxious to reach out to her knowing I had no real musical background. But I took a leap of faith and sent her an email to let her know I was interested in private voice lessons. She responded promptly and inquired about the reason for wanting voice lessons. And I told her for personal development. She quoted me a reasonable price for a trial session. And before I knew it, I was attending my 1st private voice lesson :) Although she is a world renowned singer AND Grammy award winning soprano, she truly is a humble and kind person. During my lesson, she taught me how to do some vocal-warm ups and improvements with my singing technique. I was able to immediately notice a difference in my singing ability, which really surprised me. She helped me to determine what my range was. All my life I thought I was an alto because I was told this in my high school chorus class. But with Audrey's guidance doing vocal-warm ups and help with technique, she was able to reveal the soprano in me to my great delight :) If you are looking for a friendly, supportive, patient, kind, knowledgeable, vocal coach who has solid technique and the voice like an angel, look no further. Audrey is everything stated above and so much more! For one whole hour, you will have access to a vocal coach with over 15 years of experience who teaches any level (including beginners like me), who is able to sing and teach in all genres and multiple languages. For all the years of experience and knowledge Audrey has, you would think her voice lessons would cost an arm and a leg. But her prices are so affordable, she has students ranging from young to old and even internationally. Audrey has helped me achieve a personal goal, and this has meant so much to me. I feel so lucky and privileged to have a vocal coach of this magnitude guide and support me in this wonderful musical journey. I highly recommend her. You won't be disappointed.

First of all: Audrey is a wonderful colleague and a great teacher!…read more I am an opera and concert singer (working mainly in Germany and Europe) and have worked with many teachers and coaches. When I had the opportunity to sing the extremely difficult coloratura part of "Ariel" from Thomas Adès' "The Tempest," I became aware of Audrey. She has successfully sung this supernatural part at the world's greatest opera houses (MET, La Scala, Vienna, etc.)! I felt very honored when she immediately agreed to help me. And all of this online (due to the great distance between us). Her singing technique is so experienced and stable that she can master the most demanding parts with a healthy voice, and she can also teach this technique. Not many teachers are able to listen to or see their students online and correct them so precisely and effectively. Audrey does this very well, and I firmly believe that live lessons with her would be even more brilliant! She also attaches particular importance to the development of musical colors, dynamics, phrasing, and expression/acting. I was able to successfully perform "Ariel" with her and haven't wanted to stop working with her since. Now she advises and helps me with classical repertoire such as Queen of the Night, Olympia, Blonde, etc. I would also like to emphasize that Audrey supports me with repertoire questions, career planning, and mental training, which is essential in this business. I can recommend her to every singer (whether beginner, advanced or professional)!

I needed help with my baby girl, my acoustic guitar. I'm by no means an expert, and honestly,…read moredespite some experience on stage, I'd still barely call myself an intermediate guitarist, so when my acoustic's connections went on the fritz, I was at a loss for what to do. I asked one of my much more experienced and knowledgeable musician friends, and he instantly suggested BR Frets. He was then confirmed by another guitarist friend of ours who was hanging with us, saying they're hands down the most skilled people on island that they both know of, so I went ahead and made an appointment. Both friends said to expect a couple of weeks, maybe 3 depending on how busy they are, as they do get quite a bit of business, and to try and get an appointment when I can, so I did as soon as I could. I was greeted warmly by Chris, who asked me some pertinent questions, took a look at Hayley, and gave me a clear idea of what to expect; either he can fix her, which if he can, he'd try to do so that night. If he can't clean and repair the connections on my pick up, not only would they likely need to send out the pickups for diagnostic and repairs, but the cost to do so would jump up significantly, showing me how much the piece costs broadly and then factoring time and labor. Sure enough, I called the next day, as advised, and Wes said to come back on in to pick her up. I got there and spoke with Wes, who told me Chris stayed up a bit the previous night to make sure Hayley's good and ready to go, and she was back in action! They also only charged for the time and labor, which was more than fair for the quality they provided and all the relief they gave me. Definitely worth coming to them when guitar help is needed.

I've been playing more in open D tuning and got tired of retuning my Taylor every time I wanted to…read moreplay something in open D. So I took my old beloved Takamine F360s out of the closet and decided to leave it in open D. But it was playing rough. The action was very high even after I adjusted the truss rod. Also the intonations were off. I took it to a major guitar store in town and the luthier there said he couldn't help me because the guitar needed much more work than he could do. Then I found Chris at BR Fret shop. OMG what a God send. Talk about someone who cares passionately about guitars and knows the instrument like Wolfgang Puck knows pizza. Chris identified that the problem came from under the bridge where through years of humidity, that area was bulging and pushing the bridge up thus raising the action. He took it apart, sanded under the bridge then put everything back together along with new strings. I was completely blown away at how low he got the action with no buzzing. In fact it made my Taylor seemed hard to play in comparison. So I ended up taking my Taylor in for an adjustment as well. Pro tip : make sure you register your Taylor guitar with Taylor manufacturing and they will pay for the adjustments at certified Taylor shops. I hope Chris and his assistant Wes never decide to leave O'ahu. We are very lucky to have them here in our little corner of the ocean. Happy pickings...or strumming!!

I signed up my daughter for voice lessons because she was introverted, a bit anxious, and had…read moreexpressed wanting to try singing lessons. She was a complete beginner and super shy to sing even in front of him. But uncle Junior created a safe and comfortable environment, and his calming presence put her at ease. He has an incredible ear and picked up on her bad habits immediately, and his exercises and techniques were easy to understand and apply. Her tone is now clearer, her projection is stronger, and her confidence is soaring. She genuinely looks forward to every lesson and it is obvious how training with him has helped her overall growth, maturity, and confidence. Thank you, Junior, for helping my daughter find her voice!

Junior is a talented vocal coach and his unique process is empowering and fun! My voice has…read moreimproved tremendously - I can feel the difference in my range, control, style, and power. Working with Junior has transformed my singing and transformed me as a person. He is such a positive teacher with immense passion for his craft and his students. I always leave our sessions feeling refreshed, confident, and smiling from his encouragement. He's a talented musician that has honed his teaching method. I highlight recommend taking singing lessons with Junior. Our voice lessons are the highlight of my day!

Took a vintage audio amp in to be checked out. George took a quick look at it and told me what was…read morewrong literally while I was there. He seemed very knowledgeable about the gear and pointed out how certain parts were not original or spec. I left it with them to complete the repair and bring it up to specs. So far so good. I have other vintage gear to be done so I am waiting to see how this first amp goes then will have others to bring in.

From the owner: Specialized in service of the full range of professional audio equipment along with restoration of…read morevintage tube amplifiers and radios. Services are also provided for classic guitar amps, effect pedals, mixers and electronic keyboards. Expert level fault isolation, component-level repair and tweaking to restore optimal performance.

Good people, great gear. I used to have a studio on the ground floor. It was so easy to run up the…read morestairs!

Brian at Thunder Studios has been great and alwsys dependable when you need anything and has been…read morevery accommodating for our band mahalo Brian and staff at Thunder Studios!! Blakk Diamond.

An amazing music school! They are really knowledgeable and great at pricing their products. Thank…read moreyou so much for helping me out. You guys are amazing.

Me and my husband had been looking to replace his ukulele and spent quite sometime looking into…read moreaffordable options with great quality and that is exactly what we found here! Absolutely amazing experience. Owner was very patient and helpful as we figured out what we wanted and what was in our budget. Great prices with great quality. Couldn't recommend enough. So happy that we found this gem and will definitely be back in the future.

I came into voice lessons as a complete beginner--and, being a little older, with more than a…read morelittle trepidation. Learning to sing is something I've always wanted to do, but I honestly wasn't sure if I could. I've now had only about 17.5 hours of lessons with Cat, and the difference is already remarkable. I've gone from feeling like I couldn't sing at all to singing in ways I genuinely never thought I was capable of. I know I'm still at the very beginning of this journey, but the progress I can already hear and feel has me incredibly excited about where it might lead. What really sets Cat apart is how genuinely passionate she is about teaching. You never feel like you're simply another student going through a predetermined series of exercises. She cares about whether you understand what you're doing and, more importantly, whether you're actually learning how to use your voice. There are absolutely moments when learning to sing can feel daunting, especially as a beginner. But Cat has a wonderful ability to make the process far less intimidating. If she sees that I'm struggling to understand something one way, she doesn't just keep repeating the same explanation--she pivots. She finds another approach, another explanation, or another exercise until suddenly something that seemed impossible starts to make sense. She is incredibly patient, encouraging, and invested in my progress. There is a genuine sense that she cares about helping me become the singer I want to become, however long that journey takes. I'm incredibly happy that I chose Cat to be my vocal coach. I still have a long way to go, but for the first time, learning to sing doesn't feel like something I've always wished I could do. It feels like something I'm actually doing. I truly cannot recommend Cat highly enough.

One of the best music teachers I've had in 20+ years of taking lessons. I studied voice with Cat…read morefor four years, both in person and online. She always met me where I was and adapted her teaching to what worked best for me. I made tremendous progress and can now confidently recognize when I'm in tune and how far off I am when I miss a note. I only stopped lessons because I moved back to the East Coast and the time difference made scheduling difficult. Highly recommend Cat!

Very sincere and transparent about the product and service he offers. I enjoyed learning from his…read moreknowledge and recommendations. The store is clean and beautiful! His wife was very sweet and came out to the street to look for us since it was our first time and we had a little hard time finding the store. We had a very pleasant visit and my daughter's broken viola was nicely fixed up in a short amount of time.

A friend introduced me to Michael at Cremona Violin in Honolulu. He helped my daughter choose her…read morefirst violin so she can start lessons as well as fit my other daughter with a new cello that will hopefully last a couple of years (since she's only 8 and has lots of room to grow still). Michael was kind and patient and knowledgeable. I look forward to working with him in the future.