David Kerr Violin Shop

The whole team has been nothing but helpful, kind, and patient with me during my renting and eventual purchase of a cello. As a new student to cello, I have felt clueless during the process but they all helped me find a beautiful, quality cello at a reasonable price.
Whenever I go in to get help with tuning, body fixes, and strings, I am aways treated with respect, and I always learn something new.
I would highly recommend this string instrument shop. Spend the money for a quality instrument and quality service, rather than getting a junk item for a «good» price. These people are professionals, yet they love helping us lay people. My favorite instrument shop by far!

Lots of violins to try! The only thing I don’t like is that most of them are kept in an employees only room and they bring out up to about five at a time for you to try based on your budget, and you can send some back and request to try different ones. They have no price tags on them to help keep your opinions impartial and not automatically think the most expensive is the best.
There are rooms for you to test them out in and they leave you alone for as long as you’d like. You can bring home a violin to try out at no cost, and they offer a payment plan if you’d like to purchase an instrument and make separate payments over several months.
Two visits and many many violins later, I finally came across «The One.» It was everything I was looking for in sound and finger action and surprised to see that it was under my budget! I recommend taking your time and keep requesting to see more violins until you’re 100% positive you love it. Come back another time if you don’t find any on your first visit because they may get some new additions.

Your time does not matter at this store.
They’re closed from 3pm on Sat to noon on Tuesday. They’re never open after 5pm. What does that tell you?
Never seen a store, music /​stringed instruments or otherwise where your time matters less. They’re not open and they’re not in a hurry. Nor are they organized.
They have a lot of instruments, so +1 for that.
Called in an order, way in advance, and they didn’t enter it in their system. Older fella at the counter completely ignored us when we stood there — its okay if you have another customer, thats what the phrase «Someone will be right with you» is for.
Was told by counter guy he had to go ask 9 other employees where the order we called in was at. Nothing was readied in advance.
As we drove out of the lot, someone came running up saying they’d found our paperwork. We’d already been there for 20 minutes and were leaving.
A professional musician commented to me this place isn’t run by business people.
Tony M.‘s observation of nonexistent customer service on 6÷20÷2014 nailed it exactly.
I’d give a 1-​star review, but Unilocal likes to hide those when a business mistreats customers, so its 2 stars therefore you can read what I have to share.
We won’t ever go back.

Kerr was okay but the attention to customer service was certainly an issue. I was flying in from out of state specifically to pick out a new violin because of Portland’s wealth of good violin shops (at least compared to my own home city). I made arrangements weeks in advance to have someone there to meet us before normal hours and was told it was no problem.
When we arrived at the appointed date and time, no one was there to meet us except a luthier had no clue who we were or about our appointment, and who did adjustments and really didn’t know about models in certain price ranges. He did his best, however, and was polite. Over an hour later our original contact arrived and acted as if nothing had happened. No explanations or apologies. Not a great business, or for that matter, social tactic in my view.
Add to this experience the mistake of presenting us with two violins that were well above our set price range (more than double) and the experience really went down hill. We tried out about twenty five instruments over two hours. The prices are not on the violins so you have you have to trust that they’re bringing in appropriate instruments. The two instruments involved in this error were, perhaps not surprisingly, the ones we picked out by process of elimination over two hours of comparisons of sound and playability. With our hard won choices disqualified, we had to hurriedly sort through the earlier «discards» in order to make a choice and then be on our way to our next appointment but the process certainly felt dissatisfying.
Some of the staff was, certainly, courteous and knowledgable. And the selection was robust though in my price range somewhat undistinguished. In comparison to the other two shops I visited that day, Kerr ended up being at the bottom of the list for both customer service and level of instruments in my range of affordability. I ended up buying from another shop, not because of the treatment we received specifically, but I’d be lying if I said that didn’t have an impact.

Kerr was alright. I was a very frequent guest at Schuback’s store when he was doing retail operations on Powell Blvd., but after some time, «switched» to Kerr because I felt Schuback’s prices were higher than they should have been (I was not alone in that opinion). I even knew of employees who worked for Schuback who later became employees of Kerr. I used to know one of his staff luthiers who eventually spun off on his own and continued making violins and violas out of his home. As far as Kerr’s skills as a luthier, I don’t know. Then again, I don’t even know if he makes instruments. As far as his repair and restoration aptitude, I think he is very good. I only had him do significant work one time — he did some repair on a fiddle I had just purchased — a good instrument which had some problems due to neglect. His prices were probably half of what Schuback would’ve charged, so I was happy with that.
But, I would say David’s customer service skills left something to be desired. I can name a couple examples… On one occasion, I drove over there (I lived on the west side), needing assistance with something on my fiddle. He looked straight at me, sighed, and said, «Can we do this another day?» Wait a sec — I just spent 30 minutes or more driving over to your shop and you’re going to send me right back home? As I recall, one of my pegs was stuck and wouldn’t turn and I needed an application of peg lube. It would’ve taken him 5 minutes. I should have said, «No, we need to do this now because I have a performance next week and need it fixed.» Another time, I was shopping for bows. I was only there for about 15 minutes and then he came into the back room and said, «I need to close up now.» Kinda my fault for not looking at his office hours, but his fault for losing a customer. I bought the bow somewhere else. I never went back to his shop after that. All in all… average. I would neither recommend nor dissuade someone from doing business there.
Speaking of office hours, it looks like he’s shortened them even more — now he’s only open from noon until five! Schuback was closed Sunday and Monday, but open practically from dawn until way past dusk Tues thru Sat and always around for emergencies. Somehow… I don’t think Kerr is quite as dedicated. To quote a colleague of mine, who was a loyal Paul Schuback customer, «I don’t like [Kerr’s] attitude.» He’s been around for a very, very long time and he has a good reputation, that is very true. But after moving out of Portland and seeing the world, and doing business in other violin shops, I see the huge differences. If his shop was in Los Angeles or any big city, he wouldn’t last a year. :/

I just had an amazing good experience here! I needed a string for my cello. Then I got inside and saw how wonderful their instrument selection is and I had to try a few out. I enjoyed the private room, filled with wonderful cellos, where I tested some. I fell in love fast and hard! I ended up taking home my favorite cello to try it out for a week, plus borrowed a very fine bow. The final outcome is that I bought a different cello and decided to keep using my old bow. One thing that makes me happy is that I will be able to trade my new wonderful cello in for the next level up when my finances permit. The staff is really impressive! No hard sell at all – they are simply very helpful and are great resources in of themselves. Steve and Andy helped me and they sure know a lot! I cannot recommend David Kerr Violin Shop highly enough! All good !

In March, 2011, I decided to learn to play the cello.
After researching violin shops in several cities, I chose David Kerr due to their wide selection of instruments, and due to their 12 month lease policy that allows the leasee to apply all lease payments and security deposit toward the purchase of the leased instrument, or any other instrument in their inventory. This is a policy many violin shops offer, but David Kerr went above and beyond when they allowed me to change cellos part-​way through my lease (switched to a better-​sounding cello and bow). Also, I dealt with five staff members (over the course of the 12 month lease), all of whom paid me a great deal of attention, and were very generous and helpful with their time and advice. In fact, when I first walked in and explained that I wanted to learn to play (but had never played), but was worried my inexperience might cause me to not select the best sounding instrument (from the inventory of student cellos), one of David Kerr’s staff (Brandon) played five different cellos for me, and helped me select the best-​sounding instrument from those available. He probably spent 40 minutes working with me on that alone. All of Kerr’s staff (whom I dealt with) have been extremely helpful and generous with their time to this newbie. I wound up buying the cello I switched to (the second cello), and upgraded to third bow. Speaking of upgrades: Kerr will give full trade-​in value for my cello and bow (minus a re-​stringing fee or re-​hairing fee) should I decide to upgrade later on (which, sooner or later, I will probably do).
In short, dealing with David Kerr’s shop over the past 13 months has been an absolute pleasure, and I can’t recommend them more highly — particularly to anyone who is just starting out and needs some guidance.

After my violin took a trip out a rolling suburban’s window and shattered its face, I decided it was time to get a new one. I traveled almost 4 hours to David Kerr’s shop to hunt for my new «baby.»
The friendly staff invited me to try a number of violins in a private practice room (filled with beautiful violins of all price ranges) to my heart’s content. I probably played 20 violins before settling on two of them which I really resonated (pun intended) with. I took 2 home for the night and returned in the morning to ultimately pick my favorite of the two.
David, himself, was very thoughtful and kind as he helped answer my questions about the instrument, as well as fit it with new strings (which made a wonderful improvement to the already beautiful sound of the violin).
I highly recommend this instrument shop (and yes, they sell all kinds of instruments… not just violins) to anyone – from the novice to the pro. David and his staff of wonderfully dedicated musician/​workers will help you pick the instrument that is perfect for you.
I look forward to my future visits here, because I know that I’ll be treated well and will leave happy.

I’ve only been playing the violin for a couple months and snapped a string. I googled the nearest shop with «violin» in the title and feel very lucky to be in the neighborhood of this place. I was really pleased that I and my rather low-​end student instrument were welcome in the shop. Several different folks were very friendly and informative though I am a total newbie and asked probably twenty questions. I’ve recently discovered that several of my friends secretly play the violin and are harboring damaged instruments in need of minor repairs. I’m sending them over. Thankyou!

Seriously… there are no reviews for this place yet?!? I can’t be the only orch dork on here!
David Kerr’s Violin Shop is hands down my ultimate happy place where I no doubt turn into a kid in a candy shop… a very expensive candy shop.
Whether a beginner or professional, David Kerr’s is armed and ready with the materials needed to help you become a violin virtuoso. From teeny tiny adorable (¹⁄₁₆) sized violins that are ready to face three-​year-​old kiddos to the extreme opposite of rare full sized (⁴⁄₄) violins that are worth a couple years of income, it is safe to say there is a violin suitable for everyone. While I never have gone violin shopping here, I have looked around and as soon as I have sixty grand or so to casually drop… I’ll be back to purchase a certain violin (it’s a beaut).
Along with the beautiful instruments, the shop also has a nice selection of bows, which is what my visits have revolved around. While shopping around, I simply brought my violin, an idea of what I was looking for, and a desired price range. After hearing my specs, the lady helping me worked her magic and found a few suitable matches for me. To help make a decision, I was guided to a room where I was able to play some scales and bits of pieces of music to try out the bows in order to find the perfect match. Checking in periodically and filling me in on all the details, the staff made sure I left well informed and happy with my new bow. By the time I needed my bow re-​haired, I had absolutely no hesitation where to come.
In addition to selling (and renting) instruments and bows, the shop also does repairs, restorations, and appraisals (both verbal and written) on the instruments. David Kerr is quite the violin guru and Portland is extremely lucky to have his shop in their vicinity.
While violins *clearly* are the most superior instrument in the string family, the shop isn’t a hater toward violas or cellos… just double bass for some reason. But can you really blame them?!? After all, basses are like elderly parents… both are unforgiving and hard to get into and out of cars! …just kidding!