Good riddance to the armpit of woodwind stores. Overpriced, with rude, alpha-male poseur staff taking out their failed-musician-frustrations on the customers. They literally stand around in the back and laugh at how we know nothing. Good luck getting their holier-than-thou help. I've unfortunately purchased several horns from them because the choice of local vintage woodwind shops is limited. My most recent purchase was a 'The Martin' tenor sax. I knew I would have to pay a premium over a similar horn on ebay, but that was my choice as I wanted to test a few in person. One of the above-mentioned 'sales reps' reluctantly brought out 2 horns. When I asked him if I could use one of their practice booths (only one was occupied), he showed his annoyance and snapped, "just try it out here!" I'm a good player, so I have no qualms about busting it out in public, but I'm also cognizant about other customers. In any case, while I was trying to focus on testing the horns, my rep wanders away and another macho rep comes up to me and yells, "Hey Coltrane, what do you think you're doing playing on the floor?! do us all a favor and use one of the practice rooms!" Come on, which one is it, I thought to myself. I found the horn that I wanted, payed more than I wanted, and rushed out of the poorly lit, smelly sock of a store with a bad feeling. After a week however, I found that some shoddy repair on several of the pads had caused one to fall out and others were loosening with the moisture. (I had already fixed the octave key on my own). I took it back and politely asked them to repair it as I had paid a bundle for what was now a non-working instrument. They smugly said they would charge me minimum $1000 because the horn needed an complete overhaul and that's what you get for buying an old horn. Yes, this was 2 weeks after I had purchased it. Shocked, I walked out of the store and immediately searched Yelp and found Drinkwater Robert Woodwind Repair (review pending). He fixed the horn for $150 (7x less!) and with no credit to Rayburn, it now plays beautifully. I really hope the smug staff at Rayburn are serving out their bad karma playing empty hotels to disinterested audiences. Brick and mortar stores are important not only for allowing us to try and purchase vintage instruments, but for supporting the culture surrounding historical gear. Rayburn long held a monopoly and they abused their privilege. read more

Apparently Rayburn specializes in brass and woodwind instruments, and it seems like they're pretty dedicated to that. I wouldn't go here if you were looking for anything having to do with string instruments. I went there to get some new strings and some peg dope for my violin, which turned out to be a mistake. They did carry the peg dope, and the price was reasonable, but the general staff don't really know much about strings and I think they sell them as a side business. Usually strings are sold individually, but Rayburn sells them as a pack, and it costs more there to buy them individually. If you don't know exactly what you're looking for or need any kind of advice in buying something for a string instrument, go to a specialty shop instead. However, if you do know exactly what you're looking for, Rayburn probably has it. I just don't know if I'd recommend them based on my experience there, knowing that there are so many music stores in Boston. read more

Mini Maracas! I work right next door to Rayburn Music and since our building used to be an old bank, there is a now sealed glass door that provides a view of their shop from my lobby. Everyday I peer through the window and what really catches my eye out of the assortment of professional music equipment, dedicated staff that work all sorts of hours, and odds and ends -- is the MINI MARACAS! These simple little cheap shakers are propably the only thing in the store I could play, and sometimes when the day gets monotonous, I daydream about purchasing them! Well, FINALLY I decided to head into the store today to check it out. Talk about professional! This is 100% where all the Berklee/New England Conservatory kids come to get their stuff fixed. The place is much bigger than you think and extends way back into the shop selling instruments, stands, music and of course has a huge area dedicated to repair. Make sure to wander all the way back, because its an old bank vault, they still have the huge vault there -- and they use it to store all the expensive instruments at night! read more

I loved this shop. I was directed here by my daughter's music teacher to rent a clarinet for the few months before we entrusted her with the family wood clarinet. They had an excellent supply of reeds on hand, advised me fully but not overwhelmingly on how to clean it, and anything I needed was to hand. As a lifetime pianist, I have not a huge amount of experience with instruments that require Supplies, but I think that on the whole, they did an excellent job, and that they're an under-used resource in the Fenway community. They charged beyond fair prices on instrument rentals, were talking to a few Serious Musicians when I visited the shop, and were extremely amenable to any and all queries without being obsequious. read more

I travelled to Rayburn Music today only to find out that they are no longer at 840 Summer Street as all of their web presence indicates. I called customer service to find out that they are not even in Boston, but rather Connecticut and have been there for months! read more

I've gone to Rayburn a few times for clarinet repair and to buy reeds and such. In terms of a shop they have a good selection and can't fault them there. However I have had my clarinet repaired twice specifically requesting that they look over it for any flaws that would need to be fixed in the future and repair them. In both cases a pad came loose or some kind of other issue arose in two-three months that my clarinet would need to be repaired again. Also turn-around was a week in both cases. read more

I was directed to Rayburn to sell my tenor sax in consignment by a few people I know who attend the music school in the area. When I say I've never experienced ruder customer service, I'm not joking. The unfortunate part is that my experience started out really well, and just went downhill. The owner, Roni (sp?), whom I had the displeasure of having to track down to get information on my payment was one of the rudest people I've ever encountered. My saxophone had sold three months before I called to track down my payment, when the policy was a 30 day waiting period after the sale, and she could not get me off the phone fast enough. It then took another two months for me to get my payment, which was 70% less than what I had been told it would sell for. My advice to anyone looking to sell would be to try craigslist or eBay. You'd be better off taking your chances there. read more

I have been using Rayburn Music for my instrument repair work for over 30 years, but not enough so that they know who I am when I come through the door. Both my alto and tenor saxes were overhauled by Emilio Lyons and they practically play themselves. Dan Kellerman has done a lot of work on my clarinets and flutes and just does perfect work. There's a lot of chatter out there on the net about different shops, personalities, etc., and some of the other scores on Yelp seem to reflect some sort of "I just didn't get along with {fill in the name}." I look at musical instrument repair the same way I look at choosing a physician: sometimes the best is a person you don't necessary add to your Christmas card list, but if you trust them and they work well for you, and you get great results, then you have achieved your goal. In summary, anytime we need an instrument repair, we go to Rayburns. read more

I have been taking my son's trumpet to them for 3 years and the last time they told me it was "a pieces of crap" "Junk". He also told me that I should buy my son another trumpet. Mind you it is a $5000 trumpet that Wallace Rooney gave to my son. I proceeded to go to Pope Instruments in J.P. and he fixed it in 10 min with no charge. read more

Fixed up my old clarinet for my 8 years old. Not cheap but they did a great job. Helped us out picking out reeds. We went back a couple of time since then for adjustments. All were free. read more

Rayburn Music is a great place to find used vintage instruments. However their customer service stinks. They treat people according to the way they play, and their level of success. The employees there aren't very nice. The way I get treated when I walk into Rayburn Music was not satisfactory. If Rayburn Music wasn't the only place in town you can find good stuff, and good repairmen, they would drop the attitude. I've spent a lot of money at Rayburn Music over the years, and have never been treated with respect. read more

came in winter 2013 to rent a children's size violin. Was about to leave with one when my chlld noticed 2 of the strings were nonfunctional, actually sagging. The employee apologized, saying he had pulled the violin from the "wrong pile", that is rentals not yet checked over and repaired. I have no idea if that was true or not. Shortly after starting to play on the rented instrument we noticed an unpleasant rattling noise when certain strings were played. The teacher felt it was because the chin rest was too big for the violin. She traded that for us from her own supply because when I contacted the store about getting a replacement rental, they suddenly said they didn't have any more in the location near Symphony Hall where I had shopped, They had only 1 rental violin at the 1/2 size and I would have to travel to Quincy for that. The teacher, in response to these various difficulties, said she sends her students only to Johnston Strings in Newton. Now I understand why. read more

Rayburn does rentals through my kids' school. Beware that they make it very difficult to return the instruments, so that the billing can continue endlessly. They also bill erratically, it appears so as to rack up late fees. Customer service is indifferent at best. read more

Pleasant working with them to rent a good trombone for my son in college near there. Fair pricing and service.

The customer service from the "supervisor" in A/R was atrocious. We have been a customer for 7 years and she was rude and extremely unprofessional. I was stuck this year b/c I didn't want my son to go without for the school year, but they lost a customer. REALLY bad...do not use them. read more

Rayburn Music in Boston is closed. Check out the store next door, Virtuosity Musical Instruments.

I rented my violin and my flute from here as a young student, so of course I came here when my young clarinet player needed a key fixed and when my flutist daughter wanted to upgrade her instrument. The folks in here look to be mainly serious musicians themselves, and in fact were very easy to talk music with. So when I first walked in I suspected I had to assert myself to get someone's attention, because of the deep discussions going on between themselves and customers. Danny took care of fixing the clarinet in the hour I went to get some lunch. The other time I came back to get a new flute for my other daughter, they had maybe 5 or 6 for her to try in a private room in the back. Apparently as soon as they get in new flutes, they seem to fly out just at fast. Anyhow, this was the second music store that we visited to look at flutes, so my daughter already had a good idea which brand worked best for her sound. It has almost been 6 months and she is still very happy with her choice, having already gone through one audition with it. read more

I have had a very repeatedly frustrating time with Rayburn this school year over the issue of my 10 year old daughter's rental cello. This is her second year of cello. Her teacher said she needs a 3/4 size cello, so we went to the rental appointment and I asked for a 3/4 size. We signed the rental contract, paid over $205 for the school year rental and took the cello home. At home we discovered that they had given us a 1/2 size cello. The next day I called Jonathan Knox, the school rep for Rayburn, and he said it would take one week for a new cello to be delivered to our local school. I told him I was paying for private lessons and my daughter needs to practice . He sent me to the warehouse in Quincy where they gave me a 3/4 size cello. When I got it home I found it was missing a bow and thus was unplayable. I called Mr. Knox and he said he would deliver a cello to my child's school the next day. When it did NOT get delivered in the next few days, I finally called him. He thought he had brought it to the wrong school, but couldn't remember,so he sent me to the other school where I found a cello in the main office but it had someone else's rental contract in the instrument pocket. I called Mr. Knox about this but he said not to worry, that it was for us. A few months later the cello bridge fell off and I called Mr. Knox. He said he would bring us a loaner cello while ours was being repaired but he forgot to do so. The school music teacher fixed the cello temporarily during class but it still needs further repair. I have called Mr. Knox again as well as customer service but still they have again failed to deliver another cello. They seem not to know a whole lot about about stringed instruments. When I needed to replace a broken string they said they might not have the corrrect string length in stock. In conclusion, I have found that they used to be a good school rental company, but my experience was with brass and woodwinds. Presently I find that they are completely unreliable for stringed instruments. They seem unfamiliar with what is involved in that stringed instruments may need more frequent minor repairs and also the fact that the instrument must be correctly sized to the body size of the student, unlike brass and woodwinds. read more

i rented a cello thru my child's school. Beware when returning i returned it as instructed they continued to bill my CC for 6 more months. When i called them they said they never received it. I had to go to the school where they instructed me to leave it and find it for them. And much like the other reviewer their customer service was very poor, all in all a bad experience. read more