440-461-1411, 1-888-VIOLIN2 (846-5462)
Our Hours: T-F, 9:30 - 6:00/Sat 9:30 - 4:00 EST

Traffic Update: Due to construction on Mayfield Road during the spring/summer of 2008, all customers driving south-bound on I-271 seeking to avoid traffic delays should exit at Wilson Mills Road, turn right (west) onto Wilson Mills to Lander Road (about .7 miles), turn left (south) on Lander to Mayfield Road (about 2 miles) and turn right (west) on Mayfield Road to reach the shop (about .4 miles). Listen to Cellos by Simi Coni, Sino Coetaneo, Nicolai Bistrita and Gheorge Tirvan, with and without my patented Bass Br. HELP WANTED: VIOLINMAKER/ REPAIRMAN Seeking person with skill in restoration and repair. Ability to work on bows desired but not required. Excellent salary offered based on skill and speed. Call Peter at the phone number listed above, or send email. Fractional Violins! We are now posting photos and information about some of our older, high quality 1/2 and 3/4 size violins. Take a look at the Violins page! Listen to our Simi Coni and Sino Coetaneo, Nicolae Bistrita and Gheorge Tirvana and more instruments, 1/2, 3/4 and 4/4, with and without Dr. Zaret's patented bass bar! Peter Zaret has given permission to Ronald Sachs of Ronald Sachs Violins www.ronaldsachs.com (in Atlanta, Georgia) to use Peter's patented bass bars in the Koberling violas that he carries. These instruments will be available in the southeast United States. Violas benefit dramatically from Peter's bass bar innovation - if you're near Atlanta, stop by Ronald's shop and try one out!

selection of violins, violas, cellos, basses and bows ranging from the most affordable student instruments to those valued in the six figures. We serve a world-wide as well as Ohio-based clientele and are located in a music-rich area that includes the home of the internationally acclaimed Cleveland

The range and quality of the shop's inventory enables us to serve the needs of the full panoply of string players, from the student to the dedicated amateur to the most talented professional. Each of our instruments and bows is hand-selected by Dr. Peter Zaret, who travels domestically and internationally to find instruments and bows of the highest quality.

Letters and Emails from Happy Customers

Here's an email from a California customer who bought a viola with a bass bar for her daughter. (August 25, 2008)

Here's 2 emails from a jazz violist & violinist (July 7 & 31, 2008)

Here's an email from a Cleveland Customer (June 17, 2008)

Here's an email from a customer in Australia (May 29, 2008)

Read this group of emails from a Customer in Amsterdam (February 2008)

April 24, 2008: Read a letter from a customer in Bend, Oregon.

April 17, 2008: Read a letter from a satisfied customer.

Here are some emails from an ecstatic Bulgarian Violinist.

See more letters further down this page.

At Peter Zaret and Sons Violins, we assess every instrument and bow that we represent, to confirm that it meets our standards. We evaluate playability, tone and total condition. You may be confident that if you purchase an instrument or bow from us we will stand behind it. For all instruments above student grade we give a guarantee of 100% of the selling price in trade and bows above the student level can be traded in for 75% to 100%. (Provided the condition on each item remains in substantially unchanged condition).

Dr. Zaret, a graduate of Juilliard, with a Ph.D. in Violin Performance, has been in business for over 20 years. His unique style, concert experience, and teaching background provides him with an in-depth understanding of our customer's needs. In addition to offering an excellent traditional inventory, Peter Zaret & Sons is notable for offering Dr. Zaret's patented bass bar as an option or retro-fit. (From our Patented Bass Bar page: "Every string instrument has a bass bar - the wood piece inside that enhances the quality of sound and impacts the volume. Dr. Zaret has developed a new design for the bass bar which allows precise and effective adjustment to achieve the most desirable qualities of sound in all instruments.")

The bass bar is also addressed in two articles, one from The Strad and the other from Strings Magazine, which you can reach from our Articles page (which also has advice on selecting a violin, viola, cello, bass or bow, as well as several other articles).

Below is a letter (transcribed) from a customer who had purchased a cello fitted with Dr. Zaret's bass bar:

August 3, 2005

Dear Dr. Zaret,

Here's your check for another one of your lovely cellos. Thank you for sharing your time and giving me advice on performance careers...We so appreciate your instrument genius. Art can never go forward unless rules are broken & our fears are faced, would you agree?

Sincerely,

Ann Hymel

Below is an email from a customer who has just received his violin and viola with newly fitted bass bars:

July 15, 2004

Dear Peter,

What a Genius you are! Thank you so much for putting your latest bass bar improvement in my viola and violin. The viola is, every time you do it, dramatically improved. The latest improvement is more power, more even tone, more depth of tone, the A string which tends to be nasel in tone on most larger violas is much more beautiful, and lastly has much greater ease of playing. I can hardly lay it down it is so beautiful to play.

The violin which was shrill from top to bottom when I sent it to you the first time has improved unbelievably every time you do it. This time it sounds very much like my Italian Gagliano-Antonazzi violin. It has the quality of an old Italian violin! There is more volume this time and much more depth and improvement in quality of tone.

Thank you so much! With your batting average of four new improvements a year, pretty soon, you will be producing instruments of such power and tone quality that you will be (able to take a) a good well-made ordinary sounding violin to a sound that surpasses the greatest Strads and Guanerius instruments.

Thank you, thank you, my dear friend.

Derwin

(Derwin Landis is a former pupil of Jascha Heifetz, and a prominent violinist and teacher in the Los Angeles, California area.)

Below is an email from a customer who has just received his violin with a newly fitted bass bar:

July 12, 2004

Dear Peter,

The Hammig is superb. The tone is warm with lots of overtones and great reserves of power. It responds instantly on all strings and I totally believe you when say that it is as good as any Strad. This violin has excellent wood and is beautifully crafted, but it was a mystery to me why it was so poor on sound.

I was delighted to see on your web-site that the Koberling Violas are to be fitted with your bass-bar. This is the way forward Peter. I believe you should target makers in the US and Europe, there are so many artistic makers around who fail when it comes to sound who rely on the myth of playing an instrument in, which is never the answer. From time to time there are discourses on 'acoustics and the violin' in the Strad Magazine with various theories put forward and hashed out by the same inner circle year in and year out who know all about your miracle bass-bar but dismiss it for ulterior motives and the sustaining of the cartel for clapped out Italian instruments. I trust Peter that you will live long enough to see your research and your bass-bar take their places where they should be in the minds and hearts of musicians globally and that intelligent makers will grasp the opportunity to fit your bass-bar and give future musicians the gift of sound as a matter of course.

Thank you Peter, with kind regards, sincerely, Leo (Harris).

Our website has samples of our instrument and bow inventory for your review. Instruments are fitted either with the Dr. Zaret's patented bass bar or with the traditional bass bar. We are happy to discuss our instruments and bows with you in person or by phone or email, and we will provide you with up to 3 instruments and 3 bows for a one week trial period (see our Customer Service page). We also have a rental program for student string players so that starting out can be affordable.

Peter Zaret & Sons carries accessories including strings, mutes, shoulder rests (see our sponge shoulder rests), chin rests, metronomes, music stands and more. Accessories can be shipped upon request. We carry a wide range of cases, which are discounted 30% with the purchase of an instrument and bow (with the exception of cases made by the Italian family, Musafia). Case covers are also available.

If your instrument or bow is in need of adjustments or repairs, you can trust us to do it right -- see our Repairs page.

Please browse our website to learn about our store and the services we offer to players of all ages and levels.

We are always happy to talk with you in person! If you're in or near Cleveland, Ohio, (or visiting) stop in!

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