Loft Violin Shop The

Oh! So you need a bow rehairing? Music lessons? New viola? Good company? LOFT VIOLIN SHOP. (Not just for violins). My viola has never sounded better, after getting a routine bow rehairing done. They have a neat payment plan if you’re in the market for a new beginner/​intermediate/​advanced instrument, where you rent until you’ve paid off the balance of the instrument, and you can trade in your old instrument toward the payment of a new one.
The employees are delightful individuals who have expert knowledge in their field. Bringing my viola in was like bringing a wand in to Ollivander’s in Harry Potter, the way they sized up my viola. It was great! You can get all your instrument needs here, as well: strings, rosin, shoulder pads, you name it.

I rented a violin from here for about 6 months last year. The store itself looks like an dark, interesting old house. I found a similar shop in Atlanta when I went to visit my cousin and believe it or not, the shop owner over there had good words for this shop. The staff was very helpful when I called them with the questions that I had regarding the rental plan. The older guy at the front desk was chatty with the customers, especially their kids. They offer string replacement too if and when the strings do break. When I wanted to return the violin, the process was smooth. If I do want to rent one again, I will definetly go back here.

I was visiting the area for a 10-​day work trip, with a viola in tow for practice. A friend (violinist in Columbus Symphony) highly recommended that I visit The Loft Violin Shop. Brought my instrument in while I was at it, and they immediately noticed that the bridge and tail piece didn’t seem quite right. Turned out the bridge was too high for my viola, so they shaved it down, as well as replacing the tail piece to match my instrument’s size.
I have been considering shopping for a larger viola, so I took the opportunity. They set aside for me 6 violas in my price range in the «viola room» upstairs and let me at it. I was accompanied by a former concert violinist who was also in town for the convention, and I sought out her advice. We narrowed the choices down to final 2. A beautiful 15″ viola made right there in their shop, and a strong, 16.5″ German viola. I couldn’t quite make up my mind right away. So I returned to The Loft for the next several days, playing back and forth between the two for hours at a time!
Everyone at The Loft were very friendly, courteous and helpful. A gentleman working the front desk took time to learn expressions and greetings in various languages. It was pleasant experience having him talk to me in Korean. On my last day in Columbus, I came to visit one more time. I brought in some friends with me to visit — a 12-​yrs old girl who’s about to start learning to play her grandfather’s violin, and her father. We were given a grand tour of the facility, including the workshop in the back where we got to see the crew getting ready for the new school year rush, as well as Italian masters working on fine instruments!
By the way, I decided on the 16.5″ German viola. Since I had to fly back to San Francisco, and I do not have a double-​instrument case, they offered to ship my old viola for free (the gentleman communicated that in my native language, btw.)
We had a great time. Thank you, everyone at The Loft! We will definitely be back next time we’re visiting Columbus!

I got my violin here when I was 16 and still stop in whenever I can to pick up supplies (eg rosin, strings, etc.). The staff is helpful and friendly.

If you’ve ever had an interest in learning how to play any of the instruments in the violin family, a visit to this tiny little Beechwold shop is absolutely essential. After walking in with a dumbfounded look on my face, one of the girls behind the counter eagerly approached me and explained to me how the shop works, which is as such: for around $ 30 a month, you can rent yourself a violin or viola to learn how to play on, all of which goes towards the actual purchase of said instrument. All repairs on the instrument are covered during this time as well. Like I said before, this is an incredibly ideal situation if you’re curious about playing a stringed instrument. I’ve always had an itch to get in to playing the viola, and although they don’t offer lessons, they do make it easy enough by giving you a directory of local teachers in their easy to navigate website. I really couldn’t imagine it getting much easier than this, that’s for sure. Brace yourself, Unilocaler’s, as you might just be reading the work of the next Andrew Bird or Yo Yo Ma!

Last year, I bought myself a violin and decided to stop saying that I was going to learn and actually do it. The staff at The Violin Shop has been so incredibly awesome and helpful! They are patient and available and very, very knowledgeable. The shop itself is so cute and looks to have been an old house at one time. It has an air about it… very mysterious. They are a one-​stop shop for repairs, advice, lesson information, supplies, etc. I am sure they service much more than simply violins so you should stop in sometime.