Peter Zaret is an excellent dealer of both high end and student level instruments. I traded in with him for a superior instrument, and within the month I was ready again to purchase another instrument for my studio. I visited him and tried out several instruments. Dr Zaret still had the instrument I had traded in, and I decided to play it again for old times sake (it was an instrument I owned for 25 years). Dr Zaret had made adjustments to it, and the sound was absolutely incredible. It was like playing a different instrument altogether. I ended up taking this instrument home again. He was incredibly generous when figuring out the cost of repurchase. Dr Zaret is really a scientist at heart, a master of acoustics. I recommend him without reserve. He is truly a national treasure.
Corinne
Aug 2024
Absolutely thrilled with the service from the exceptional Peter Zaret and Sons Violins shop! I've known him for 20 years, and his expertise continues to impress me. I've had his unbreakable Zarelon bow hair for YEARS, I've broken more strings than bow hair and the sound is excellent. I've saved a ton of money on bow rehairing. His innovative approach has made my cello sound even better, with a noticeable increase in volume and resonance thanks to his masterful bass bar. This time, he skillfully repaired hard to find seams in my 1844 cello, preserving its rich history, enhancing its playability and restoring it's glow with a good polish to boot. If you're looking for top-notch craftsmanship and unparalleled skill, this is the place to go. Highly recommend!
Nikolai Rogich
Jul 2024
Highly considerate and thoughtful professionals; they work with you to get you a cello and bow that suits your playing style and needs.
Robin Smith
Apr 2024
I bought a refurbished bow with his synthetic hair and it plays as good or better than the 2 other bows I have. A small comment on the craftsmanship. There was glue all over the place. A little bit of pride in workmanship would of gotten the fifth star. I was able to take some 2000 grit sandpaper and fiberglass buffing compound to dress up the stick. I am very happy.
My N.
Feb 2024
Don't walk away - RUN! Do not even THINK about letting this man anywhere NEAR your instrument. He is a HACK of the worst kind. He took a bow of mine worth over $3000 and convinced me to try his synthetic violin bow hair. Here's a similar bow for sale: His literature advertised that "It rehairs the same as horsehair". This is a bald faced lie! Instead of using the appropriate methods, he FILLED the tip and frog with SUPERGLUE!!!!! The synthetic bow hair didn't play very well, but I had decided to try it, so I accepted that I'd just flushed sixty bucks down the toilet. However, within a week of his "rehair" about 40% of the hair fell out in a large chunk, so I realized I'd been dealing with someone who didn't know what he was doing. After discussing this with friends at my orchestra, I learned that others had had some pretty bad experiences with the man: 1) He destroyed the tone on one woman's violin by putting some kind of spray or finish on her violin without even consulting her. 2) Another woman told me that he sold a gullible woman a viola for almost 5000 dollars that she later found was worth only about 850 bucks. I had to take it to a REAL luthier to remove the glue, reconstruct a part of the frog that he ruined and repair it - to the tune of $444. When I approached him to be compensated for his incompetence, he offered me " 100 dollars, take it or call a lawyer". He then hid behind his staff like a coward and had them throw me out of his office. I had been polite and acted properly so there was no need for that level of rudeness. If I can update this, I'll update it after I sue him. If you want that type of "customer service" and lack of keeping your word, then, more power to you. RUN!!!! UPDATE : Mr. Zaret's response to my report of his business practices is telling. From one side of his mouth he claims that he "stands by OUR work" yet he refuses to correct the financial loss I incurred due to his incompetence. Seriously, if someone misrepresented that they would use the same methods as horsehair -from his literature - "rehairs the same as horshair" -: and then you found out they used SUPERGLUE on your high end three thousand dollar bow, would you trust them to repair it? If he wants me to have my friends post their negative experiences to negate his claims of 'hearsay evidence", I suspect they will do so. His claim of having attended a prestigious music school only speaks to him having been born with a silver spoon in his mouth and says nothing about his moral fiber or character. His refusal to accept responsibility for the damage he created speaks much louder. As far as the repair being over priced, he never even read the receipt to see what had to be repaired. The superglue destroyed/fused the ebony slider plank which then had to be replaced along with considerable painstaking effort to remove the glue and restore the bow. Mr. Zaret, through his incompetence, forced me to have this repaired by a REPUTABLE luthier. It required extensive work and quality workmanship is not cheap. CHEAP workmanship, as I unfortunately learned by making the mistake of trusting Mr. Zaret with my expensive, high quality bow - can be EXPENSIVE, I learned this the hard way by trusting Mr. Zaret. RUN....
Jac'qln “Zekila” Porter
Jan 2024
Hello everyone , I pray all is wellMy experience with Dr Peter Z a r e t.Was amazing I've never met such a beautiful spirit . I purchased a violin for a student, but later learned his mom had purchased one for him... So I gave this violin to a special friend....my experience was unbelievable this man help me in every way to get the best choice . And a friend I gave the violin to as a gift ended up going back and exchanging it for a more expensive violin everything worked out perfectly Dr Zaret is a beautiful person and loves what he does I hope to visit there again very soon they all there felt like family Happy New Year
Philadelphia String Quartet TV
Jun 2023
Dishonest. Awful violin shop.
Lalescia Hurt
Mar 2023
They fixed my violin and performed for me it was a treat visiting here
Armando A.
Sep 2022
Peter and his team are amazing people and musicians. I bought a Francesco Monzino viola from him in 2018 and I loved his tonal enhancements he has implemented. He and his team are innovators to the string instrumental world so some of his "enhancements" are controversial and looked upon very skeptically. However, I have enjoyed his innovations and enhancements he has done with my instrument. If you are wanting to try his tonal enhancement but do not want to put your instrument on the table just yet, I would recommend trying one of his instruments before committing.
Robin L.
Aug 2022
After a tonal enhancement we found so many extra unfinished (raw) pieces. When we contacted Peter he was rude and condescending. Peter is unprofessional both in workmanship and mannerisms. My advice - don't do it. Actual rating: 0
Joe Cosme
Peter Zaret is an excellent dealer of both high end and student level instruments. I traded in with him for a superior instrument, and within the month I was ready again to purchase another instrument for my studio. I visited him and tried out several instruments. Dr Zaret still had the instrument I had traded in, and I decided to play it again for old times sake (it was an instrument I owned for 25 years). Dr Zaret had made adjustments to it, and the sound was absolutely incredible. It was like playing a different instrument altogether. I ended up taking this instrument home again. He was incredibly generous when figuring out the cost of repurchase. Dr Zaret is really a scientist at heart, a master of acoustics. I recommend him without reserve. He is truly a national treasure.
Corinne
Absolutely thrilled with the service from the exceptional Peter Zaret and Sons Violins shop! I've known him for 20 years, and his expertise continues to impress me. I've had his unbreakable Zarelon bow hair for YEARS, I've broken more strings than bow hair and the sound is excellent. I've saved a ton of money on bow rehairing. His innovative approach has made my cello sound even better, with a noticeable increase in volume and resonance thanks to his masterful bass bar. This time, he skillfully repaired hard to find seams in my 1844 cello, preserving its rich history, enhancing its playability and restoring it's glow with a good polish to boot. If you're looking for top-notch craftsmanship and unparalleled skill, this is the place to go. Highly recommend!
Nikolai Rogich
Highly considerate and thoughtful professionals; they work with you to get you a cello and bow that suits your playing style and needs.
Robin Smith
I bought a refurbished bow with his synthetic hair and it plays as good or better than the 2 other bows I have. A small comment on the craftsmanship. There was glue all over the place. A little bit of pride in workmanship would of gotten the fifth star. I was able to take some 2000 grit sandpaper and fiberglass buffing compound to dress up the stick. I am very happy.
My N.
Don't walk away - RUN! Do not even THINK about letting this man anywhere NEAR your instrument. He is a HACK of the worst kind. He took a bow of mine worth over $3000 and convinced me to try his synthetic violin bow hair. Here's a similar bow for sale: His literature advertised that "It rehairs the same as horsehair". This is a bald faced lie! Instead of using the appropriate methods, he FILLED the tip and frog with SUPERGLUE!!!!! The synthetic bow hair didn't play very well, but I had decided to try it, so I accepted that I'd just flushed sixty bucks down the toilet. However, within a week of his "rehair" about 40% of the hair fell out in a large chunk, so I realized I'd been dealing with someone who didn't know what he was doing. After discussing this with friends at my orchestra, I learned that others had had some pretty bad experiences with the man: 1) He destroyed the tone on one woman's violin by putting some kind of spray or finish on her violin without even consulting her. 2) Another woman told me that he sold a gullible woman a viola for almost 5000 dollars that she later found was worth only about 850 bucks. I had to take it to a REAL luthier to remove the glue, reconstruct a part of the frog that he ruined and repair it - to the tune of $444. When I approached him to be compensated for his incompetence, he offered me " 100 dollars, take it or call a lawyer". He then hid behind his staff like a coward and had them throw me out of his office. I had been polite and acted properly so there was no need for that level of rudeness. If I can update this, I'll update it after I sue him. If you want that type of "customer service" and lack of keeping your word, then, more power to you. RUN!!!! UPDATE : Mr. Zaret's response to my report of his business practices is telling. From one side of his mouth he claims that he "stands by OUR work" yet he refuses to correct the financial loss I incurred due to his incompetence. Seriously, if someone misrepresented that they would use the same methods as horsehair -from his literature - "rehairs the same as horshair" -: and then you found out they used SUPERGLUE on your high end three thousand dollar bow, would you trust them to repair it? If he wants me to have my friends post their negative experiences to negate his claims of 'hearsay evidence", I suspect they will do so. His claim of having attended a prestigious music school only speaks to him having been born with a silver spoon in his mouth and says nothing about his moral fiber or character. His refusal to accept responsibility for the damage he created speaks much louder. As far as the repair being over priced, he never even read the receipt to see what had to be repaired. The superglue destroyed/fused the ebony slider plank which then had to be replaced along with considerable painstaking effort to remove the glue and restore the bow. Mr. Zaret, through his incompetence, forced me to have this repaired by a REPUTABLE luthier. It required extensive work and quality workmanship is not cheap. CHEAP workmanship, as I unfortunately learned by making the mistake of trusting Mr. Zaret with my expensive, high quality bow - can be EXPENSIVE, I learned this the hard way by trusting Mr. Zaret. RUN....
Jac'qln “Zekila” Porter
Hello everyone , I pray all is wellMy experience with Dr Peter Z a r e t.Was amazing I've never met such a beautiful spirit . I purchased a violin for a student, but later learned his mom had purchased one for him... So I gave this violin to a special friend....my experience was unbelievable this man help me in every way to get the best choice . And a friend I gave the violin to as a gift ended up going back and exchanging it for a more expensive violin everything worked out perfectly Dr Zaret is a beautiful person and loves what he does I hope to visit there again very soon they all there felt like family Happy New Year
Philadelphia String Quartet TV
Dishonest. Awful violin shop.
Lalescia Hurt
They fixed my violin and performed for me it was a treat visiting here
Armando A.
Peter and his team are amazing people and musicians. I bought a Francesco Monzino viola from him in 2018 and I loved his tonal enhancements he has implemented. He and his team are innovators to the string instrumental world so some of his "enhancements" are controversial and looked upon very skeptically. However, I have enjoyed his innovations and enhancements he has done with my instrument. If you are wanting to try his tonal enhancement but do not want to put your instrument on the table just yet, I would recommend trying one of his instruments before committing.
Robin L.
After a tonal enhancement we found so many extra unfinished (raw) pieces. When we contacted Peter he was rude and condescending. Peter is unprofessional both in workmanship and mannerisms. My advice - don't do it. Actual rating: 0