Keller Strings Violin Shop

I am honored and, frankly, quite surprised to be the first to review Keller Strings. They’ve been here for quite a while and seem to do a pretty brisk business, and the #1 reason has to be that the owners are crazy, unbelievably, super duper fantastically nice. If I didn’t love my parents so much, I would insist these two adopt me immediately.
So, rewind a bit. I’ve played the viola for almost 20 years. When I moved to New Orleans in 2012, of course I brought my lil girl with me. (side note: I used to try to insist my viola was a dude cause I spent so much time with it, it felt like my boyfriend. But nope, she’s just a really awesome lady friend.) In all the hullabaloo of moving and settling in, I didn’t get a chance to play for a while; by the time I tried again, the pegs had swollen and could not move, so I couldn’t tune her up.
Speed through the next 2 years, where I am far too lazy to be a decent person and get this girl fixed but never forget her. Finally, I picked up some peg oil from another music shop to try to get her going. I can finally tune! I can finally play! THE EXCITEMENT IS OVERWHELMING! This happened to be Easter Sunday and, yes, I texted my family with some super-​inappropriate resurrection-​themed messages. And then, just as quickly as she came back to me, she was lost again when her sound post collapsed. There was crying guys. I was crying.
So finally, I bring this poor girl into Keller Strings to get the sound post fixed and my bow rehaired for good measure. The owner was so kind and understanding and non-​judgmental (no side-​eye for being so neglectful of my baby for so long, p. s. this is why I don’t have human babies guys). The sound post cost $ 8 to re set and the bow was $ 55, absolutely reasonable prices for a job well done. Plus, I got a 10% discount cause they were feeling nice. Picked up some rosin while I was at it to complete my fresh start, and I am super duper happy.
Oh, bonus: While we were chatting, I mentioned that I was looking for a casual ensemble to play with since I miss that so much. When I went to pick up my viola, they gave me contact info for a local group to start with in the fall! I feel more closely connected to my community just from a couple visits to this great store.
Keller obviously does repairs, but they also sell the whole gamut of string instrument parts, accessories, cases, even instruments. Plus they do lessons! These guys are obviously something great, and I am so glad to have met them and look forward to working with them for a long time in the future!