Great service and repair work. I've bought a wonderful bow here and gotten a good bit of work done on my cello. Always a positive experience. read more

If you love string instruments, come check this place out. I get so excited just seeing all of the lovely violins hanging up on the wall. So many musical possibilities! I came to Kamimoto to have my bow restrung, and to get a new grip and a stainless wrap put on. Their turn around time is 24 hours which I'm sure most would appreciate - I'm just a recreational musician at this point in my life so they could have kept it several days and it would have been okay with me. I've dealt with four employees during this repair and their customer service was not uniformly awesome, though all were efficient and helpful. One woman in particular was commenting on how much she doesn't like children to her co-worker as I was standing there with my young son. Does that make her a bad musician, certainly not, but it didn't give me warm fuzzies and make me want to come back and spend more money either. The other three were pleasant enough. The bow repair turned out really well - the grip looks great, the stainless steel is tightly wound and finished well. I'm really happy with the quality of their work. I believe the total for the restring, grip and metal work was in the neighborhood of $150. read more

The instructors there didn't return calls or messages. Quite hard to get a hold of them.

Great service and great product! People here are so friendly and nice! Wish I had known them earlier! They always think about the customers and willing to help you! Highly recommended to you! read more

We bought a cello from Kamimoto a few years back and they serenely said "when your son outgrows it you can trade it in for an upgrade." 3 years later, they won't buy it back due to the fact it was repaired (by Kamimoto) before we bought it. There was a lot of double talk and passive-aggressive behavior from the staff about the repairs. So if you plan to buy from Prison Cell Kamimoto make sure they sign off on any guarantees from their felon-classical staff. It is an organization systemically corrupt from the bass note to the highest octave. Bring your lawyer for all potential transactions with the worst place since Monkey Lube went out of business. Enter the cute house at your own risk. They are classically trained to dupe and then deny and then whisper, unflinching. The consummate overseas liars hire shy smart obtuse locals to sell betray trust and gloss over the fine print. Everyone wants to go to Harvard so they play cello. That's why the staff wear Ivy League sweatshirts and sweatpants emblazoned with Ivy League but the clothes are not authentic Ivy-League gear just like the hollow empty vessels peddling stringed out dreams. read more

I'm very pleased with the premium rehair they did on my bass bow. I had to call to figure out that it was ready for pickup (after a few days waiting) but that was near the start of the outbreak and the quality is good enough for five stars. Seems like they're taking Covid seriously which is comforting but it's best to call ahead. read more

First off I want to say how disappointed I am that my daughter was referred here by her music teacher. She came to this place last year with her graduation money to purchase a rent to own instrument. Well that was what she thought. My 17 year old went into their shop last year and signed a contract without an adult there and was told it was rent to own but it was actually a rental contract. Last week they called her up and Said they wanted full payment from her for the instrument. She was confused about the whole situation, so she called me and after she sent me copy of the contract that's when I told her that it wasn't a rent to own contract they had her sign a rental contract. She was in tears because that was not what they told her when she went in to get the instrument. She asked if she could make payments they said the best they could do was half this month and half the next. My daughter is a student at SFSU and can't afford that nor can I at this time. She made every payment on time and was even asking if they could work with her so she can continue to play. They said it was bad for their shop and wanted the instrument back this week if we couldn't pay for it. Since my daughter lives in SF she couldn't come down so I called the shop and asked if it was ok if I could drop it off on Monday without having her charged since she lives so far, the gentleman on the phone was so nice and said not to worry about. My daughter came home today to surprise me and return the instrument but was charged a fee even though she made the return on time and I was guaranteed that their wouldn't be a charge. Shame on you people for being so deceiv read more

I have received amazing service from Kamimoto Strings. i purchased my personal bass there and also outfitted my middle school string program for instruments and accessories. Vincy Li was very thorough and professional as was the entire staff. Inventory and product knowledge is very impressive and the service level is superb! The pricing was great and their willingness to work with my school district made the process wonderful! i will return there for my string needs in the future! Thanks Kamimoto Stings! -Randy Barber Bassist and music teacher at Alum Rock School District read more

Kamimoto String Instruments is wonderful. I recently moved to San Jose and I needed a source of inspiration as well as a fix for my cello; I discovered Kamimoto String Instruments. The staff is wonderful. Each staff member make the store as amazing as it is with their professional attitudes and incredible strings knowledge. It's splendid that they will play the instruments in order to fine tune them after a fix - as many instrument shops (even the famous ones in Los Angeles) won't take the effort "due to time restraints" or "volume of customers." Kamimoto really seems to have pride in their work and makes the extra effort. I love my cello and for that I am glad Kamimoto is here in San Jose. read more

I don't think I could have had a better experience with this or any other business for that matter! I have a German plywood bass that I have had since the early 80s that needed some serious work. I hadn't played it in a while and have an opportunity to use it for an upcoming gig. I realized the neck was in bad shape where it attached to the body and there were other problems as well. Jon and his crew diagnosed the problems and fixed them in one week's time. I don't think the bass has ever played better! All the fixes were very well explained. Everyone there is very friendly and helpful! A great business. read more

I am a new violin adult student who bought a used violin from a friend. I could not get the violin in tune and thought I had problems with sticky pegs or overly stretched strings so I took the violin to Kamimoto. In just a few minutes the gentleman behind the counter tuned the violin, then showed me that the pegs and strings were OK. I offered to pay for the tuning but he declined. Then he gave me a short tour of the instruments for sale in the shop if I ever decide to upgrade my violin. Great place. read more

I have been going here for 4 years! Their service is great and their prices are reasonable. All of my visits there were great and I enjoyed them. They allowed me to test out a number of violins and had a range of prices from me to choose from. They sell many string instruments and also sell rosin, handkerchiefs, etc. I hope this review helps out anyone in need of a string instrument!(´ `) read more

As I mentioned in another one of my reviews, I went to 4 different shops with the same violin to evaluate whether it should be repaired. Actually, this was the first shop I visited and it was my fault telling them what the teacher noted was wrong. Pros: I like the people there, they are very approachable and friendly (not like the other shop). Jon gave me an estimate on paper about the repairs. He has a white binder listing what the price range is to fix what part of the instrument. Then he wrote that down for me on the paper. I like this because it gives me an idea that they are honest and that they have guidelines for their pricing and the price is not picked out of the air. Jon spent time with me about 15 mins looking at the violin and agreed with what the teacher said. Cons: The shop is definitely very narrow and tiny, I felt weird when the other customer was in front of my, I had no where else to stand. I went into the other room with baby violins and looked around, which was cool. Jon did not look at the entire violin in detail, so he did not notice something else that the teacher didn't notice either, and it was the major factor that determine whether the violin should be fixed or not. However, even given that, I would go back to this shop for their friendly staff and their honest pricing. read more

Kamimoto Strings is such an amazing place. All the workers make you feel comfortable and at home. Everyone is very experienced. It is very cozy and compact. read more

My daughter needed a violin and this place was recommended to us from a friend who plays a string instrument. Matt helped my daughter pick out the rental instrument and he also let her try out some of the violin instruments to see which one she preferred. Then he adjusted the strings, picked a bow for it and had the outfit ready for us. He explained the paperwork which is straight forward, simple to the point policy and asked if I had any questions. I said no, signed it and was out the door. This is the second time we have rented an instrument from them and they were just a helpful as the first time. They carry various string instruments and have been around for a while and have very knowledgeable and professional staff. I have rented from 2 other places before coming here and had such bad service before finding Kamimoto. Thank you for your great service and quality products. read more

Kamimoto String Instruments - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - San Jose, California

This place is a bit hard to find, and a bit cramped, but they worked with me, alot. They are awesome in that sense. They helped me get in and out, without spending too much. For the amount of work I asked for, it was a good place to find. Thank you yelp, and thank you kamimoto strings! read more

Finding a shop that will do complex bow rehairs is hard. We were shown a bow rehair pattern that used dark horse hair in a thin strip on the player side, with the rest light horse hair. I've tried in the past to find shops that were willing to do that without luck, in multiple states. The shop was able to do it quickly and without serious concern. That alone makes this place worthwhile for your more unusual bow needs. read more

Highly recommend this shop. You'll have to look carefully to find it as it is a converted house in a residential block. The lady at the counter tapped on my violin like a curious squirrel, turned it over a few times, gave me a precise diagnoses and estimate and said it would be ready Monday (This was Friday) (Much better than the week + I had been quoted elswhere) About 40 minutes later I got a voicemail saying the violin was already done. It is in better than new condition now. read more

This may be a fine shop for someone looking to buy an instrument, but I would strongly recommend against placing instruments with them to sell on consignment. I placed a viola and a cello there, and bows. They didn't sell anything despite very aggressive pricing. I heard nothing from them for 18 months, I called them and told them to,reduce the price. Another year later, I called again and told them to reduce the price further. Still nothing on any of the pieces. I finally went back to the shop after 3 years to collect my instruments. I didn't call in advance, it turned out the instruments were in deep storage and not in the shop. So, they couldn't be shown to anyone. The case for our cello had disappeared (they did give us a replacement). The owner offered to buy the viola at a fraction of the very reduced price - I refused, as I'd rather give them to charity then be ripped off. I paid about $10,000 for two instruments and was pricing them at around $5,000 for both. We were offering the instruments and bows separately, and after three years there was not a single offer on anything. read more

We purchased our daughter's violin at Kamimoto's 4 years ago. We love the instrument and received very helpful, courteous and patient help. It was obvious that the staff was interested in choosing the best instrument for our daughter within our price range. Just recently, we were back at Kamimoto's looking for a new bow. The staff was once again wonderful! John helped us pick out the best options, again within our price range and they set us up in a room where our daughter could try them out. They also have a wonderful program allowing us to take several bows out on loan so that our daughter could play on them and her teacher could hear them also. We found a bow that she loves and we are so grateful for the professional and caring help we received from all of the employees who helped us. They also tuned up her instrument, improving the sound greatly, and made string recommendations. It is a treat to go there! All of the help we received was so professional and given with a desire to truly help my daughter achieve the best sound possible out of her instrument. It was quite an education as well--we learned so much! Thank you very much, Kamimoto staff! read more

I bought a bow from this shop for $500 (or so) and within a couple of months the tip broke off just taking it out of my case. This is not normal - I'm a professional cellist. After doing some digging around I learned that at this shop they take off the original fingerboards and replace them with Chinese-made ones (this was done to a Trabucci Cello worth $25K - the owner will deny it of course, but I know the truth because I have a REALLY reliable source) so you can imagine what other "shortcuts" they might take. Unfortunately, this shop is one of the more reliable ones for a bow rehair (even though I've learned from some of my fellow musicians that even that service has gone down in the last couple of years) and they tend to have rather competitive prices (sometimes) when compared to the internet or other local stores. My advice: Don't be afraid to negotiate the price and BE CAREFUL with what you purchase from them - they probably won't honor anything they've promised. Good luck! read more

Bought a violin worth more than $1200 without bow/case. However, 3 days later, the bridge is broken as we were toning the violin. Took violin back to store, owner refuses to repair free with reason that this is not defect, and asked 70 dollar to repair. Has to return the violin, and get refund with original price minus 70 repairing fee. So, be careful about the quality of violin. The violin we bought 10 years ago from Scott cao which is only around 300 dollar is still performing well. We will definitely not buy violin from this store anymore. read more

I recently walked in wanted to rent a cello after deciding I wanted to learn. I have only been playing Cello for like two weeks and I've been here three times! Each time I've had excellent service and have had all if my questions answered with patience and a lot of helpful information. The atmosphere is inviting and I get the sense they are fair, know their craft and are happy to help. Go visit today and see for yourself! read more

I was very fortunate to finally get a cello! I've always loved the voice cellos produce.... Deep, rich and bold tones! I was helped by Jackalyn in Kamimotos. I asked her about cello bows since I knew absolutely nothing about bows at all. She helped me select 3 great bows to trial for one week. As a result I fell in love with all three bows. Each one had something cool about it. But as I said before I knew very little about bows. Choosing one was a very hard decision. But I ended up getting the one that felt the most balanced when gripped and played. It was an awesome purchase. I couldn't be happier. Thank you Jackalyn for your wonderful help. read more

If you have to go to this place for a repair, take pictures before and after and get a detailed description of the work that is supposed to be done before you pay them anything. Very disappointed in what they did to us and intend to let others know. They gave me only a verbal (untrue) estimate of the work, didn't do what they said they would do and charged me upfront. I should have suspected something then. read more

I have a problem with my bow and needed it fixed immediately because I was playing that night. I took it to Kaminoto, it was fixed as I waited, when it came time to pay, I was told to forget it. Good guys. read more

I have been coming to Kamimoto's for years with my cellos, folk harps and other Early and folk instruments. They can repair just about any musical instrument. I also got a wonderful 200+ year old cello that is not signed but has a fabulous sound. They are friendly and have reasonable prices. They specialize in instruments for schools and young children but also can meet the needs of other musicians both amateur and professional. read more