What a wonderful shop. The staff is so knowledgeable and welcoming. They support and encourage the students in all ways. They even sized my daughter and made sure she had a great tuned instrument.

I appreciate Shar and all they do. The people in the store are always pleasant and helpful. The only thing is I wish they would answer the phones so I didnt have to drive there to get a question answered.

I would give six stars if I could, I had an issue and Bubba in customer service was able to resolve it quickly and in a fashion that only a local, client-first, classy organization could. I will definitely more business in the future. Thank you!

I placed an order for violin on September 17th when product showed In Stock on website and still shows In Stock today, but my order status showing backordered and was never delivered. They are not even responding to calls, and going to voice mails. I am not sure what to do. Guys, please just be careful!

Went with my mom to purchase a new viola, and turn in my rental. Such a great experience, both Quinn and Lindsay were so helpful and worked with our budget. 10/10 would recommend!!

If you have a violin of any significant, DO NOT have any work done at Shar and go to a reputable luthier. I had a small problem fixed on my valuable instrument recently, and upon entering my concerns about the state and care of the instrument in the process of the repair were completely disregarded. The violins bridge came back to me damaged, and I am having to get a new one made, as well as having the initial repair redone elsewhere. For those of us whos instrument is their livelihood, not having our opinions valued as the instruments owner and player is extremely unsettling, not to mention when there is actual damage when it is done.

You can read the whole story that goes with my 3 star rating (possibly 4 depending on how you look at it). In summary, Ive been playing the violin for 11 years now and have bought numerous items from Shar, and was over the moon pleased with the products! I guess I had higher expectations than what was presented to me when I decided to use them for some luthier work in September 2021. In summary, Id buy products from Shar any day, Im not 100% sure Id use trust their luthier services if I was on a time crunch.I took my bow in to be rehaired and for a sound post adjustment. When I arrived I went to the front desk and wasnt even acknowledged for the first five minutes. Once I was noticed, the employees was very kind. The luthier, John Perrett seemed knowledgeable and adjusted my sound post just fine.As expected, it would take a couple of days to rehair my bow. I worked out with Mr. Perrett, that my bow would be shipped to us since I was only in Ann Arbor for a day. This day was a Thursday and I was told Id get a call when the bow was ready to be Shipped out. The next Wednesday I got a call and was pleased to hear that they were going to ship the bow out the next day. I requested on the phone call that they text us a tracking number.A week later I still had received no tracking number as requested, so I called. The clerk at the front desk was very helpful and informed me of my tracking number. The only thing was, according to the tracking number, the package was being sent out the same day I called. This was disappointing to me, they called us a week before stating they were shipping the bow to me, and only now was it actually being sent. The tracking number was very accurate and the bow did arrive on the date listed by FedEx.The bow was haired very nicely and sounds great!

Very thankful for Jack, Daniel and the support team!!! They helped me find a certain violin model under request from years ago and now I have my favorite violin back.

There are no words to explain how wonderful and incredibly exceptional Shae music is for our family. I will always use them for my family! Five plus stars if I could give it!

Very helpful. I was able to successfully buy a viola along with a case and bow.

Exceptional team of string specialists.Customer orientated service.

Great staff, very helpful. Awesome rental prices.

Best place in metro Detroit, to find all of your violin 🎻 needs. Along with other instruments in the violin family.The only thing I wish was different: more kindness and concern from the sales staff.Ive been shopping here for years, and unfortunately, have had many negative experiences with certain sales staff. Bougie attitude. Uppity. I guess maybe thats just what you get, when visiting Ann Arbor, MI. The whole city is like that. Typical Ann Arbor attitude.Other than that, this is a great place to find all your violin needs.

I always get my violin bows rehaired at Shar and have always been pleased.

I came here for a 9:00 a.m. customer service interview, arrived at exactly 9:00 a.m., waited at the door, and called the number given by HR, to have no answers, and no one in the lobby. The doors were locked. Once I did reach someone, the manager was contacted and he arrived upset the meeting was starting at 9:15 instead of 9:00 a.m., promptly ending the interview with complete disrespect. I wondered if I arrived at 9:01, thrown off at the energy of an awful person, who is director of sales (how?), but I was here at 9:00. Me and my family have been customers of this store for ten years, and this was not the experience I expected of them. I have been in customer service for the past seven years and know that this is NOT how to treat others. Any decent human who understands communication would know that too. My music students know compassion and humility before all else. I always had recommend Shar for their rentals and sales, but I immediately withdraw my support of this company and will be recommending all music students of mine, grad students and faculty in music I am affiliated with, and those in this field to do business elsewhere.Bonnie

Update on this original review.I did finally receive a phone call in the afternoon of 12/3 and all the duplicate charges were removed. I was promised that a replacement of my order would be sent out that day.Interesting enough the original order placed on 11/21 was delivered today on 12/6. The tracking information for that shipment shows that USPS finally “received” the package on 12/3 shortly after I spoke with someone in Customer Service. The tracking on the “replacement” shipment shows that USPS is awaiting receipt of that package.Original ReviewTerrible customer service for online orders. I ordered a set of Pirastro cello strings on Nov 21 and they charged my CC 4 times for the order. I still have not received them as of December 3 and the tracking number for the USPS states they never received the order for shipping. I have left many voice messages and NO ONE EVER CALLS BACK. I finally made it through the call waiting period this morning and the person said the item must be lost at the USPS. She offered to send out a replacement set and I just discovered they charged me 2 more times for the replacement order. Terrible, Terrible, Terrible service.

Great service, easy to work with.

SHAR Music is amazing! Super friendly staff and an incredible assortment of string instruments of the violin family all the way from beginners to professionals. My daughter who has been playing violin for years was curious about learning to play Cello. Our visit to SHAR solidified her resolve.SHAR also has a full workshop for instrument repair, offers lessons and sells a wide assortment of music.

One stop shop for violin needs

I ordered my beginner violin three weeks ago and received it within two weeks, as the customer representative told me. The violin, Prelude, is of great quality and produces a delightful sound. I highly recommend this place to shop for stringed instruments, from beginner to professional. The staff are very friendly and professional and the instruments are of excellent quality.

Have dealt with this company since the late seventies. They keep all things strings in hand for string players!!!!!

I paid my rent of the equipment over a month ago, somehow I had been receiving calls and letters saying I owe them money. Last time I called someone said he would research into it. Yet, after research, the gengleman left me a message saying I still had a balance. I was able to reach a lady after several calls today, and finally she found my payment record, and said she was sorry the system did not get updated with the payment.

Great experience and staff. Thanks for the great work.

Very bad online shopping experience.I ordered several items from Shar music in May. For one item, I received cheaper substitute without asking my opinion.For another item, I called to cancel one item after one and half month wait and was told that it was back in stock and I can expect to receive it in a week. Now two weeks later, I still dont see anything yet.About the violin I bought, it is good quality. But I just realized that I actually could have much better violin with the same money spent if I choose other shops.The customer service number, I tried maybe 10 times at different times, only one went through.

I had a good time with the gentleman who assisted me on discussion of hydrating my early Martin ukulele. It was a pleasure and will go back again in the future.

This review is for the online store. I ordered a back ordered item that they charged me for even though there was no estimate for when or if it would be available. I contacted them by phone and email multiple times trying to cancel, but they will not refund my money. Internet scam. Do not use! Sheet Music Plus is much better.

UPDATE: I had to call Shar again today for an unrelated matter. There *was* a bit of hold time (around 1 minute), but they actually DID answer the phone!! From my conversation, it seems they’re back to providing the high level of customer service I’ve grown used to. This review used to be one star, and now it is four. It’ll probably go up to 5 next time I actually need to buy something.EDIT: Yesterday, someone from SHAR attempted to call me (presumably - “unknown name” from Ann Arbor). I was busy and did not accept the call. Nor will I be accepting unsolicited phone calls from this business in the future. THE things that need to happen here are 1) SHAR needs to either forward their 1-800 number to phones that they answer, or if their carriers won’t do that, they need to find one that will, and 2) The in-store inventory system (barcodes, entering item numbers, whatever) needs to be integrated with your website - preferably automatically. There are subscription services that can do that for you if you are unable to do it yourself. It’s a HUGE problem that you would charge someone and then a week later, tell them an item isn’t in stock.Now to the actual review:SHAR Music supposedly “shipped” one of my students a violin, bow, and case about a week ago at the time of this review. The day their items were supposed to be delivered, instead of getting what they ordered and paid for, they got notified via email that the everything was “on back order.”Now, I get it: You’re not in the office because of the pandemic. You’re probably having a bit of a hard time. But we’ve been doing this now for SIX MONTHS. Frankly, you need to get it together.This is the second student of mine to whom you’ve given extremely poor customer service, not to mention the poor and slow response I received when I was going to order $600 worth of music stands from you a couple months ago.I’m over it. The very LEAST you could do would be to forward your 800 number to a cell phone or two, but you haven’t even done THAT!You used to have stellar service, and I recommended you to everyone. Now your service is the worst experience: you’ve ghosted your customers, in some cases, AFTER you’ve taken their money.This needs to stop now.Until I hear differently, I’ll be sending students to Southwest Strings, and urging other violin teachers in my area to do the same.And please save your “customer service smile” “apologies” or promises to “make it right” - I (and I’m sure many others) want you to fix your phones that are going straight to voicemail. I want you to get back on your game. Start notifying people when an order is delayed BEFORE it’s supposed arrival date.MOST of all, you need to FIX YOUR WEBSITE, and make SURE your inventory is up to date. You should NOT be charging a credit card for an item that you don’t even have to sell! It’s not the customer’s problem if “the system” on your end fails to update. I’ll say it again: YOUR poor website programming is not OUR fault. For a business that provides goods to customers nationwide (WORLD-wide?), in 2020, it’s inexcusable that your website would even ALLOW a back ordered item to be charged for. It says that you don’t keep careful track of your inventory, which is a BIG red flag for anyone who might want to do business with you. And if you don’t have the expertise to fix your website problems (expired security tickets, poor inventory integration), then you need to HIRE SOMEONE WHO HAS THAT EXPERTISE. It’s 2020, NOT 1960. You have been making sales online for about 20 years, now, yes? You’re NOT beginners in this nationwide web sales business. SO FIX IT ALREADY.And DON’T waste your time AND MINE saying you wanna “make it right” for just me or JUST my students in a response to this review. Make it right for EVERYONE by fixing your inventory integration, and making some kind of rule that doesn’t charge a credit card if you don’t have an item in stock.I’m currently advising students to do chargebacks if you wait a week to tell them you didn’t ship an item because it was “backordered.” FIX. IT.

Knowledgeable staff. A vast variety of stringed instruments. They have an awesome repair shop. Repairs are done quickly. Prices are fair. This place is worth checking out!

My wife made me drive from California to shop at SHAR. :)

WORST EXPERIENCE EVER!!!!!I took my wife for an interview on Thursday October 15th to Sharmusic promptly at 9 am. There wasnt anyone at the front to meet us and the door was locked. Emailed and called, no answer. Went around the back, nothing. Finally got ahold of someone at 9:13 and was met by the rudest, most condisending person Ive ever seen. We are musicians and music teachers and because of this occurance I will no longer be supporting this company! As a matter of fact I will do all I can to persuade our students and colleagues from coming here! Mister sales manager, this is to you; I wouldnt treat a dog how you treated my wife! Heres a little free advise for you sir, Be careful how you treat others.

Our daughter purchased an advanced level violin. Despite them being crazy busy, Michael took great care of us, making sure all our questions were answered, and our daughter was able to try out a variety of violins and bows. Michaels expertise and knowledge was invaluable in the decision making process, and we highly suggest making a trip to SHAR Music for your musical needs.

Very nice and well laid out store. Tidy and organized with a wide range of violins, violas, cellos, and basses. Friendly and helpful staff who dont hover over you like some places. Several studio rooms available to go in and close the door to play and listen to instruments. Excellent store hours.

The place was clean and very friendly and open. The staff very welcoming and very nice. Was able to get my new instrument with little to no hassle, though I found out later during my violin lesson that my instructor had been there the very same day I had gone, but we just missed each other by like 10 minutes lol. So that would have been great to meet up, but maybe next time.

The people who work at Shar are musicians themselves and wonderful helpers! We have been renting from them for our daughter for seven years and purchased a violin for my husband and they have been wonderful every step of the way!

I was shocked at how fast the shipping was!I broke a string on my cello and my local shop is closed because of the stay at home order in Ohio. Amazon couldn’t get one here for three weeks. Found SHAR on Google and took a chance. It was here in three days 😳Thank you so much for helping me keep making music while stuck at home 😊

Prices on music and accessories are decent but bow work and luthier work is awful. I highly discourage seeking rehairs or repairs on anything above a student level insturment through Shar. Go the extra mile to find a better luthier and you will ultimately save time and money. Ive had issues with every rehair on both of my bows for over 3 years and ive finally (clearly my fault for trusting them) learned my lesson. As an update to this, avoid any luthier work here you can. Travel the distance for another shop and you will be happier for it. Shar will unapologetically damage your insturment and lie about it. (I had first hand experience with employees lying to customers when I worked there).Additional edit, shar reached out to me and said they would discuss my issues further. Nothing was discussed (extremly disappointing as i assumed managment would be there to help resolve the issues), clearly it was a marketing employee who responded and not actually management (who probably have no idea whats going on) not a single showroom employee spoke to me, and my issue was not soemthing they were willing to go the extra mile to fix, even though it is 100% their fault. My bows have been permanently damaged by John Paret, and my cello will forever me marred from the repair work I mistakenly had done. Please go elsewhere for luthier work.

Ordered a holiday music book of duets. Excellent product that was packaged very well to prevent damage, and received a quick and thorough response to my concerns about the arrival date. Product arrived when expected. Highly recommend!

By far the best customer service experience probably ever. During this pandemic I needed to get a violin to practice with my daughter.There was a slight hiccup at first with my credit card (not their fault, things happen.) I called them and they corrected it within the same day, help my order, and fixed it all. They kept me in the loop through out the entire process and made sure that it was still shipped out in a timely manner. They truly are a great family owned company and I will continue to do business with them from now on. Their prices are phenomenal for what they have to offer (come on now, stringed instruments arent cheap. And you know you have to pay for quality.) When I ordered my daughters violin back in December, they were extremely efficient. Her violin came in two days from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Murfreesboro, Tennessee..in TWO DAYS!! Thats an insanely good shipping time! I have no need for expedited shipping, cause I might see one of the SHAR employees hand deliver it to me in a day! (haha. That would be kind of funny.)Overall, Best place ever o order anything string instruments and anything else they offer!!

The staff are very helpful! Anthony has given me great advice on a couple of occasions. They have a good selection of instuments and accessories, and have let me test out things before Ive bought them before so that I can see the difference in quality between the differently priced products.

Wonderful customer service! The lady that helped me was helpful and very prompt at returning my email with a phone call! Thank you for great customer service!

Very clean and staffed with knowledgeable associates. Despite being tucked away in an unexpected location it is easily accessible with ample parking. They are extremely well stocked with musical instrument for orchestra. I went to have them check on a violin I bought my son and they looked it over and said it was in fine condition despite my lack of knowledge. This was seconded by my childs teacher. So, they have earned my trust by not trying to scam a buck like a disreputable oil change facility.

Great music store. Friendly and helpful service. Great place to rent a student musical instrument. Got my instrument. Got my cello fixed and now repaired here a number of times and was satisfied every time.Sheet music wise they have what I need 99% of the time. The other 1% they just end up ordering and/or shipping it to me for no extra cost.Theyre always in stock with rosin and music essentials.

Good service and choices. But, when looking for violas, I had better luck at Psarionos, which had better service and choices. No offense

Very thorough explanation on everything related to string instruments. Easy to work with and rental fees are very reasonable.

My daughter had her last orchestra class in June 2017. SHAR Music has since charged me a few hundred dollars in rental fees on a viola that was turned in almost two years ago.I called & it didn’t stop. My wife called a couple months later and they partially returned the erroneous charges. That was in August 2018. Now in January 2019 they are once again trying to charge my account for the rental fee on a viola that got turned in already.These are either the most incompetent people or the most dishonest. If they don’t end this we are taking them to court.

Wonderful and kind, hard-working staff. Thats the only good thing about this place. (Yes, I am a previous employee)

They took forever to respond to my emails (at least a week). I’ve called this place 4 different times, nobody ever answered! Was very difficult to return my A String.

We ordered a 1/4 size cello from Shar, used, at about half the cost that a brand new one would have run. It arrived a very quick two days later (with free shipping), in well-protected packaging (the FedEx guy ignored the very clear “THIS END UP” markings and it’s still in amazing shape.)For a cello that was used, and was marked “dents and scratches,” any marks on it are imperceptible to the naked eye.We will definitely purchase from Shar again!

Went there with my mother to help me find myself a new violin. We were helped by a very nice gentleman and he led us to a practice room where I was able to try several violins. The people there were very patient and help us find the perfect violin and being there an hour and my word, the violins there are just stunning. Bought myself a Romanian violin for a very nice price and when I had brought my other violin to get it looked at, they kindly were able to take a look at it and said they can fix it for me and have it shipped to my house in only few days. I will choose that place any day to look for a violin.

I have purchased sheet music and strings from SHAR Music literally since its beginning in the early 60s. The merchandise includes everything a professional violin player or teacher could want, and the service is first rate and dependable. The website is easy to use.

Fiancee needed a new cello case and the staff was very friendly and helpful in helping her find the perfect one. They even helped her with a rosin recommendation. Shes happy with her purchase and Im happy to write this review :)

Great place. Our school uses them for the orchestra class. Had to bring my daughters rented bass in for some repairs and all was covered with the insurance that comes with the rental. The staff was great and very helpful. We will most likely go here when we purchase her a bass in the next year or so.

We like this shop. They have good instruments and reasonably priced. They also rent instruments for younger players which is great. We figured renting for a year was about the same as buying a small violin for our daughter though

I play cello, and I have been shopping at Shar for 7 years. I bought my cello there and a whole assortment of accessories. They provide repair and rehair services as well. They are very kind and allow you to try out any instrument and bow you want. I highly recommend this store for any string player.

You can buy almost anything you need for your instrument here. Its awesome

Fantastic selections of string instruments. Rentals available. Very talented and knowledgeable staff to help you make the perfect selection. Ask for Anthony if your in the market for a cello. He really helped us.

Awesome . . . My daughter did all the talking and they helped her graciously

We rent from SHAR Music. The monthly price for the violin package is very reasonable. The service is also awesome! Anytime we need strings, or ansize change or even damage fixed they take care of it! I would recommend this company over others.

This is a review of my experience at the Shar showroom in Ann Arbor (and not of their online shop.) As a customer of their online shop, I was quite excited to have the chance to visit their showroom/brick-n-mortar store. Staff: Professional yet warm, friendly and genuinely helpful. The person who helped me was also quite knowledgeable (and played the same instrument I did, holds a music degree). Environment: spacious, clean, relaxed ... quite suited for music-related shopping. This was a spontaneous visit so I didnt expect to a wide array of instruments to peruse, but was nevertheless pleased to have tried out a few and also a bow. You can take as much (reasonable) time to audition instruments in a comfortable private room. PS The staff are quite proud about their store and their story and are eager to share it .... for me it says a lot about the company!

UDATE: Thank you Ryan for reaching out and making this right! I appreciate the apology and follow up.

They were fast and efficient. My daughter wanted a little more fanfare than, here is your case and instrument.I just wanted fast and the best deal, everyone said go here. They have fair rentals with the money building towards a 50% discount on another instrument (no guitars or ukes)

Very helpful choosing a new instrument & educating us! Definitely will go back. We traveled 1.5 hrs & so worth the drive!

Back to school busy, but still managed to be incredibly helpful and calm. Great job, team!

The combination of service and items available at Stars is impossible to beat for string players. I highly recommend visiting their store to get a one-on-one experience for whatever youre shopping for.

Great place and nice instruments. But my cello had been in there repair shop for at least a month now and stuck with a loaner. Any answers?

Great music store.. great stock.. be prepared for sticker shock tho.. prices are a little higher.

Really friendly employees. Very helpful in getting the right instrument /case / peripherals you need

Very high quality service and products. Everyone is very knowledgeable. I buy everything I need for my violin here and use their repair services whenever I need work done.

A great place to have work done on your stringed instruments or rent one. Just be sure to check the hours ahead of time. They are closed on Mondays and have limited hours.

Wonderful! I shop on their website and it is SO ORGANIZED! I love it! So easy to find things! I order something at least once a week. Great selection of products!

It is SHAR! Once you get in the store, a feeling in your soul tells you to buy everything. Besides that, kind staff, great products easy to notice from outside and parking available.

Anthony took such good care of us, from the moment we walked through the door! My curious 6 year old had so many questions and he took the time to answer them all. I would highly recommend Shar to anyone, beginner thru expert. Exceptional customer service!

Phenomenal customer service and easy and fast delivery on everything, a must for string players of all levels!

When our 89 year old private teacher (whom we love) was having difficulty remembering the composer of a sonata in a minor that he wanted my son to play, I called the lovely people at Shar and sang it to them over the phone.Theresa then sang it to Alex and so on until they decided they would call me back after speaking with one of their bass players. They did call me back! They played the piece on the bass over the phone, told us the composer and publisher.Of course, we ordered it from Shar. These people go above and beyond to assist! Thank you to everyone in the customer calling center!

In store management was very helpful in every way. We drove three hours to go here, and it was worth the drive. Nice selection of instruments, cases, music and accessories. We will be back for future purchases.

Consistent Premium Quality Service and Product ProductionThanks Shar!

We rent my daughters violin from here and they are great. If something happens to the instrument they take it back and give you a new one.

Our go to place for strings and accessories. Have purchased all my daughters violins, bows and cases here since she was 9 (now 21). The staff has always been kind and patient with her at every age. Highly recommend!

I find their customer service to be very accommodating. Their rental program is excellent. I am very pleased with them.

Awesome place to rent a string. Very reasonable prices and great knowledgeable staff.

Lots of violins. Many classical string instruments. A ton of sheet music. Lessons. This is the place. A Michigan Legend.

Top Notch! Have rented instruments from them for years and theyve gone above and beyond on a couple of occasions. Highly recommend.

Lots of violin selections and private rooms to try them out

Great day testing out instrument upgrades. Staff was friendly and helpful. Thank you Shar!

Great selection of instruments and friendly staff. We love their rental program.

Great place for rentals and purchase of violins and other stringed instruments!

Every string player loves to go and browse through Shar. Additionally they let you try out their instruments

I have not been there in a long time, they have remodeled, it seems bigger, I only bought music, they has a petty good selection of what I wanted. sales clerk as nice not pushy.

I have been doing business with Shar for about 35 years and I have always found them to sell quality products with excellent customer service.

The staff are patient and very helpful.

Great music store for orchestral students. Not a guitar store. Lots of neat violins to try out.

It is a good store for renting or buying violins an other stringed instruments.

I first began frequenting Shar about 17yrs ago and the quality of customer service is like fine wine. Its gotten better with age. Anthony is just phenomenal and was an absolute delight to be taken care of by. He had every thing set up in a practice room for me to check out the bows for my viola, helped me pick out sheet music. When I broke a string and came in to take advantage of the 20% off strings over Labor Day weekend, he accommodated me as I had to help a friend with a funeral. He helped get me in and out quickly, then had my viola waiting for me with the new bow I decided to get already in the case.Yet I dont want to take away from everyone else. Anyone who works here is knowledgeable about the musical world and the instruments that make it possible. As I stated at the beginning, nobody gives great customer service like Shar and its only gotten better over the years!!

Excellent shop for any string instrument player! Besides their ample selection of instruments, accessories and books, their repair staff do a very good job!

I have been using Shar School Sales for 8 years for my violin school. I have purchased over 100 violin, violas and cellos as well as accessories such as music stands, metronomes, tuners, rosin, replacement parts and music. I have always been pleased with the customer service, quality control and product. Recently however the shipping (to Canada) has been atrocious! I recommended a student purchase a new violin case and it took 3 months to arrive after shipping. I purchased a large order myself and 1 part came timely. The next part never shipped (6 months later still on back order) and it took me many failed calls/emails and social media shout outs until they placed a new order. The 3rd part apparently shipped and was returned (not by me!). I did not receive either a shipping or delivery notice from Shar or Canada Post. I still havent received my product ordered 6 months ago.

Great place. Many nice instruments. Great staff.

Always such helpful staff, good music library and quality selection of instruments and accessories.

Very helpful staff knew just what I needed.

We bought strings and music/instrumental items from Shar online often. When we were in Ann Arbor, we decided to stop by this shop. The staff are very friendly. We saw all the small violins and my teenagers decided to try with their fat fingers.

Ive bought a violin, a bow, sheet music, and strings all from Shar. The strings I bought were my most recent purchase (Pirastro Tonica) for my viola. The d string broke in a month and a half and they gave me a new one even though it had been more than 30 days. Great customer service!