Well its hard to write a completely painless review after shelling out major dough for a major…read morerepair (i.e. viola done broke in half) but I have to say I was very impressed by the professional demeanor and excellent work of Mr. Torick. He gave me an accurate quote, and not only did the required work but added in a complete makeover for my poorly kept (in retrospect) viola which has suffered from a lack of tuneups over the last 20 years. Amazingly, it sounds like a new instrument, like magic; resurrection! Would recommend his skills to anyone.

Lou Torick is awesome. I can only speak for work he has done on violins (including mine,…read moreobviously) and not only was he very efficient and accommodating, but he did a beautiful job with tweaking everything that needed some long deserved love on my fiddle. I am sending all my collegues and friends from Indy to this guy when they visit Chi-town from now on! Lou's shop is in the Fine Arts bldg on Michigan Ave in the loop.... My new bridge he made for me is definitely one of the best ones I have ever had (and I have had four, sadly, made for my violin in the last 5-10 years....). My violin sounds so open and fresh! The clean and polish job he did looks excellent. I got a compliment yesterday from my stand partner at the recording studio about how pretty my axe looked - she noticed it for sure because of the clean up job Lou did on it! He also adjusted some things with my pegs and I never thought they would be able to work differently or better than they always had been, but, low and behold, what an improvement!! He is really reasonable and fare with his prices. A fine lutheir for sure and always great to know about people you can go to for help with your instrument when the other big fish are too busy to make time for you. His work is as good as any other fine luthier (who knows what they're doing anyway...) and its nice to go to a shop that isn't overbooked and so personable. Lou also has an astounding violin bottle collection! A++ Lou Torick!!!

My husband is a luthier and speaks very highly of Jeff Yang as a musician and businessman, but I…read morehadn't been in his shop myself until tonight. My daughter broke a cello string when warming up an hour and a half before her orchestra concert (she has a solo! Ack!!). My husband wasn't here to manage things but told me to take the cello to Chicago Strings. We called ahead. They had our brand of strings! Win! They were open for 22 more minutes! Win! We got there and Kinichi hooked us up with strings and actually putting the string on! Win! In 10 minutes, literally as the clock struck 5 (closing time), he was done putting the string on and showing my daughter how to do it for future reference. He was professional, efficient, and witty to boot! Thank you!!

I have been very impressed with the customer service of Chicago strings. Our five children, ranging…read morefrom 8-12 yrs old, all play the violin and we have rented from this company for the past year and a half. We are in the store occasionally with broken bows, loose strings, and even the need to upsize, and their staff is always competent, helpful, and gracious. We highly recommend this company.

The word 'frustration' is not even enough to express our experience with Musical Expressions…read more Our 10 year old son was going to attend a piano recital organized by the company. We paid for it a month ahead of the time, cleared our schedules, even had extended family informed. It was supposed to be at 9:45 this morning at a church. We had grandparents from out of town drive 2.5 hours so that they can be a part of it. We bought our son a new suit and dress shoes, as we were emailed by the teacher about the dress code, no gym shoes. We bought flowers to give to our son afterwards to congratulate him. Not even mentioning hours of practice he did for the event and the excitement he had. ALL to get a call 10 minutes prior the event, when we were already in the church parking lot, informing us that the event got cancelled. THE REASON: they could not get into the church. There was ONE, SINGLE, point of contact they had with the church, who failed to show up to let them in. I went to the office as I believe I needed more of an explanation. The staff and owners did not even accept responsibility for this: 'Church person did not show up!'. When I said the place you pick is your responsibility, all they can say was we can happily refund you for the recital money. How are you going to refund the disappointment, frustration and waste of time? Also couple months ago, our teacher was not available for two weeks. Their scheduling is so NOT flexible that they could not schedule make up classes for us at all. We ended up specifically demanding a refund for those classes as they tried to schedule something for weeks but were unable to do so. Our son has been taking classes here for two years now. We love our teacher. But this level of ineptitude displayed by the staff and the owners is just beyond comprehension.

I came to Musical Expressions to re-learn the guitar. since I hadn't played in at least 40 years. I…read morewant to have fun and learn some basic musical theory. Preston is my guitar instructor. He is patient and and personable and is the perfect fit for my music educational needs. The staff is professional and very accommodating. Due to a new work schedule, I've had to reschedule two of my lessons without any issues. I highly recommend Musical Expressions.

If you are a professional string player with thousands to spare this is the place for you…read more I went here to buy to look for an intermediate violin for my 17 daughter who has been playing for less than a year. Because of this we weren't looking to spend a super ton of money on a violin, just one better than her student one. The older gentleman, who was the main luthier, was really annoyed that we didn't make an appointment (we didn't know we needed one), didn't know the make of her violin, and said he had an 11am appt coming that we'd have to basically leave before. My daughter is new to violin but not string instruments so when she asked to see violins in our medium price range with a warm tone and a high resonance he said that would be impossible cause we weren't willing to spend a lot. This is obviously not true cause we have gone to other shops and found ones in our price range matching that description. We ended up buying a fiberglass bow that was pretty expensive but i still would never give them my business again. This store is very prissy and not nice to newcomers or people who aren't wanting to spend ton on a violin. Would not recommend

As a violin teacher and being a retiree of 34 years of public school orchestra teaching in the…read moresuburbs, I can say that the reputation of this store has always been excellent, over decades. They know stringed instruments, and they know how to repair string instruments. I was there lately to help a student choose a new violin, and I was impressed with their knowledge of violins, bows, and cases for the violin. In re to repairs: they actually turned down a repair of an older violin that had been repaired a few times, because it looked too delicate, may cost more than the value of the violin, and referred my student to a second shop for another repair estimate. That's an unheard of level of honesty in this business. I would recommend this shop and I'm super picky. I generally drive into Park Ridge where many of the CSO musicians go for their repairs to MBecker, but I'd comfortable having something repaired here or buying a new item.

Having lived in several major cities (U.S. and abroad) I no longer bring my violin anywhere else…read moreexcept to John Becker. In the past, it has been difficult delaying a small repair or adjustment, but inevitably, I'll fly into Chicago and be back at his shop to redress what needed to be done in the first place. I finally decided to have major work done on my instrument (which is kind of an understatement!) earlier this year: neck straightened, new bridge, soundpost, fingerboard, pegs, etc. The result was nothing short of amazing. John's meticulous attention to detail and craftsmanship truly transformed the sound of my instrument. If you're violin is in need of a repair or restoration, I can't recommend John Becker enough! He'll take the time with you--more so than anyone else I've worked with, to give his honest assessment and answer any questions and concerns. His care, integrity and experience is truly unparalleled anywhere else.

Never in my life have I experienced a private music school with teachers as exceptionally talented,…read moreknowledgeable & personable as SoR Naperville. It's a classy, extremely high caliber music school disguised in a humble, charming building and taught by humble charming people. Additionally, randomly, their bass teachers are also really, really, ridiculously cool. And smart. And funny?! And for some reason their rooms always smell the best?! Anyway, just my observation as someone who walked by it on the sidewalk once and definitely not the bass teacher with the essential oil diffuser (it's cedarwood oil). On a more serious (quarter) note: enrolling your kids here opens them to an extremely supportive, positive, driven community while at the same time exposes them to the highest caliber private & small group music instruction in Naperville.

School of Rock Naperville is absolutely fabulous! As a mother of three children, I consider School…read moreof Rock to be one of the most influential factors in their creative growth and discovery. It's about the The Music: you will be amazed with what the teachers at School of Rock will do with your child. We have done at least a dozen performances series, as well as private lessons, for years. Huge shot out to Adam and Sean!! It's about Teamwork: my 12 year old son practically calls School of Rock Napervillle his second home. It is truly like a family here! Great life lessons are learned behind these doors: Respect, Empathy, Team Skills, and Positive Communication and Affirmation. It's about Passion: my son has found his soul here. He now goes to his piano to wind down and release any stress. This is a life-long gift. We treasure this beyond words can say. School of Rock is a gem. I would recommend starting with a one week Summer Camp. Surely to amaze!!!

Kenneth Stein Violins is how every business should be run. Expertise, professionalism, kindness,…read morerapid response. Cannot say enough good things about this place. We bought our son's cello, bow, and case there several years ago, and wouldn't even think of any other store for sales/service.

This place was a string dream. We went there to try out cellos. The location is upstairs off York…read moreRoad. Older inside. But we had the best buying experience. We were giving a room to play in for 2 hours. NO pressure. The sale person Paul came and went. Answered ever question, he did not stand in the room. Our daughter was able to play to us and not feel odd or judged. That is huge. They had our price range out and ready to play, plus they said try our this one at 40,000 dollars to se the top end. We had a experience that we end up with a cello, bow and case for a very reasonable price. Ken is passionate about this and it shows in him and his interest. That is a find to be a business man selling his talents in instruments. A women was there with a viola bow broken in two spots. It was fixable but he said it was to costly to based on the bow its self being a few hundred dollars new. He gave her a loaner and booked a time for her to come back to buy a new one. It is a very gentle-mans hand shake demeanor of trust. We will be back and spread the word!!

Great service and pricing. Bob does a fantastic job. Setup my 2021 Strat and it plays so much…read morebetter.

Bob is the man! Me and my brother have been taking our guitars to him for years and he's awesome…read more He'll ask your exact needs and meet them 100% He's super punctual with repair times and when he gives you a time estimate he always meets it. And of course extremely fair prices. Highly recomended