Phenomenal customer service, patience, attention to detail and violin knowledge. For example, the bridge had a hairline crack that he noticed and proposed a new bridge replacement. My personal frame needed a higher center mounted chin rest, for which he identified, fitted and installed. After just south of 40 years, my violin needed a “tune up”. My violin has more blended and brilliant sounds, especially with a newly haired bow. Thanks, Mike, for making my day!

Quality work on the bow rehairing which translated to an excellent tone once I played my cello again. Mike was also flexible with drop-off & pickup.

What a pleasant and knowledgeable guy! The turn around was really timely and he did great work, I would absolutely recommend Burns Violins.

As an adult, I decided to learn to play viola. I reached out to several shops, and Mike was by far the most responsive and helpful of any. He recommended a teacher in my area, and got me set-up with a rental instrument. A few minutes of talking with him, and you realize he has a passion for seeing students learn on great-sounding instruments at a price that doesnt break the bank.Even after I bought a viola from my teacher and stopped renting from Mike, he still responds quickly to my questions. I dont know how he can give so much attention to every customer, but I know Ill recommend him whenever I get the chance.

A dusty old 1919 violin followed me home from an estate sale a while back. I strung it up and played it a couple minutes before one of the tuning pegs splintered—brittle, I suppose, from decades in a dry attic. Realizing it was in need of professional medical care, I brought it to Mike. When it emerged from his operating room, it had a brand new set of geared pegs, bridge, sound post, end pin, and freshly planed finger board. I’ve been playing it for a few months now, and I love this crusty old fiddle. The geared pegs are great. They look just like traditional friction pegs, but they never slip with changes in the weather. The violin’s improvement in tone is a testament to both Mike’s art and his craft, which combine to make an instrument sing. His rates are very fair. And he even delivered the fiddle back to me down here in Portland. Thanks, Mike!

Mike really cares about your instrument and it felt really good to leave my violin in his care for repairs. He also gave good advice for things to look after with my older violin so she can keep singing for a long time. Ill definitely be going back for future maintainance!

Mike worked on a violin from 1783 and made it sound like new and was willing to donate it to a local foundation, which gave it to me. This violin means so much to me and helped me substantially throughout my cancer treatment. Also, since I trust his work, I brought two of my bows in to be rehaired and he did a fantastic job (which did not surprise me). Definitely who I’m going to with all my violin needs!

So happy Mike happened to have the right size cello for my 4 year old. He took great care in the set up and our cello teacher is very impressed by the instrument. Mike truly loves his work and I would fully trust him with any future instrument repairs or needs.

The owner, Mike, helped my son with getting set-up on his first violin. He gave good, reasonable suggestions from his wealth of expertise. Never once did I feel I was being manipulated or up-sold. Besides this I could tell he is simply a high-caliber human being who loves music and musicians, and wants to see others succeed. My son left not only knowing more about the proper care and deeding of his violin but also encouraged in his study of this melodic instrument.

What a wonderful shop and owner!!! I was blown away when I came in. It felt so movie like from the time I went in the gate all the way to the studio entrance. The violins hanging and the bows and thread gave it such an wonderful feel of being one with the violins. Everything was orderly yet the rough feel of a home studio remained intact. The owner is such a wonderful citizen and has a down to earth personality. A must visit.

About 3 years ago, Mike worked on an old German student violin for me. For a very modest amount of money, he turned a ho hum old fiddle into something with considerably more focus and higher quality tone. After he worked on it, it was as if I was getting a new fiddle. At that time, I was looking for a second, better quality fiddle, and ended up purchasing a new instrument. Mike did a great job of patiently walking me through purchase and decision process.Remembering his ear for quality sound, and his expertise and knowledge regarding instrument set up, I returned to his shop in Tacoma with the newer fiddle this past week (now about 3 years old). I came to see him because I had some set up questions. He was able to assess the instrument for both set up and tonal quality very well. Again, I was absolutely astounded at his ability to address both tone and set up and identify next steps. When I picked the fiddle later, it was like getting a brand new fiddle again. And, it sounded even better than the day I purchased it! And, he left the door open to return if I have additional questions.From my experience, Mike has a great deal of knowledge, technical luthier skills, and is a great communicator. He will have my business for repairs and maintenance as well as purchases for years to come. Thank you Mike.

I brought my violin recently to Burns Violins to repair a pitted fingerboard. He also clarified for me the importance of a proper set-up for the violin (properly fitted and cut bridge, string angle, sound post placement, etc.) to obtain the best sound quality and ease of playing. When I received my repaired violin back, I was amazed at the positive difference in the feel and sound: it plays more clear, it has better and stronger response, and it was simply more joyful and easier to play! He even touched-up some nicks I had on it. It felt as if I had an upgraded, higher-end violin! Oh yes, the fingerboard felt good to play on once again.Its obvious Mike is passionate about ensuring the violin is properly set-up to enable the violins best performance. Hes also easy to talk to and was open to answering all my annoying questions about the work. I learned a lot from my visits. Great guy and great shop! Hes now my go-to guy and highly recommend him for any of your violin work!

My experience with Burns Violin was outstanding. Mike repaired my sons cello quickly and professionally. I appreciate his expertise and highly recommend him!

I cannot express enough how amazing my experience was. I arrived expecting to simply shake hands, hand over my violin and be advised that I would have it back the next day.Mike invited me into his shop and allowed me to stay and observe the process.I am incredibly new to violin and when my soundpost fell out I panicked. Mike put it back in place in under 10 minutes and then advised that while it would work it was not perfectly fitted and could have an impact on sound.I will be using my violin for recording, so he advised that he could make a new sound post and have it put in. He allowed me to sit and watch him make it (a fascinating process if I might add) and within in no time at all I had a new post set within my violin.Outside of the sound post he even took the time to break down the various aspects of the setup that could use some improvement to create a better sound.Mike really knows his violins and the entire experience had an incredible personal touch and I left very confident in the work that was done.I will be going to Mike from now on for any Violin needs, even once I move to Eastern Washington.Incredible service, I would recommend taking all your violin needs here.

Just bought a Jonpaul Corona viola bow through Burns Violins, it was a great price and the bow plays beautifully, with a crisp spiccato and a lovely sweet tone quality. Mike has helped many of my students with repairs and instruments, and has done repairs on my viola and bows. Really excellent quality workmanship, and very relaxing to be in a small shop with such a personable owner. With my schedule, his willingness to make appointments at odd times is a godsend. Thank you!

I’m so glad I learned of this wonderful violin shop. As an adult learner, I was intimidated by the prospect of trying to learn something as foreign and challenging to me as a stringed instrument, and had no clue how to begin to even pick one up, let alone pick one out. Mike, the owner, was kind and patient and extremely helpful. He was always just a text away whenever I had any questions at all. I utilized his rental program, which is a really great option that I highly recommend! Ultimately I rented for a year while I took lessons and decided if this was the instrument for me, and at the end of my year lease, I decided to purchase my rental. The full year of leasing then applied to my purchase price. It was an awesome option to have. Mike and his violin shop are such a fantastic part of the community and I can not recommend him and his shop highly enough. #supportlocalsmallbusinesses #northtacoma

Great customer service, personal touch. Excellent quality and very reasonable prices for purchase or rent

Mike was great, friendly, and fast. Without a doubt, I am recommending to him everyone.

Mike recently repaired a broken sound post on my violin. He did more than simply make the repair, he took extra time to make sure that my violin looked and sounded better than it did before it broke.

Great expertise