Joan Balter Violins

Joan is the best in the bay. My sister and I each bought our full size violin and cello with her. Her instruments are high quality. I usually go to her for violin maintenance and bow rehairing. Every time I’m there, I enjoy talking to her and learning random tidbits about violin maintenance or anything– like dumping uncooked rice into the f-​holes to clean out the dust. She has a really awesome personality and is extremely knowledgable. She’s always the first person I recommend to people for anything string instrument-​related.

Joan is simply amazing. I could only agree with everything else written about her in all the other reviews. Her little Shop is very welcoming and undoubtedly has everything a great luthier should have. She’s extremely knowledgeable and is a master at her art. This will forever be my top choice for any future work or purchases. Joan is simply fantastic and you can feel the presence of greatness whenever you are around her, yet she remains so friendly and so humble. Highly highly recommend.

I just bought a gorgeous Tschu Ho Lee violin over the weekend after shopping for several months. Joan was very patient and understanding throughout the whole shopping process and even let me hold onto my dream violin for a few weeks while I made my decision. She’s extremely knowledgable and came highly recommended from my teacher. Thank you Joan for a wonderful experience! I really do love it and feel confident that I made a wonderful investment. I will be back for all repairs and adjustments.

The best and only Luthier we use. She does great repair work (when necessary) and has great violins at respectable prices. We have bought 4 violins from Joan that sound great. She also has a trade-​in program for growing violinists as they need larger instruments. In addition, she is a really nice person.

I feel always so lucky that I found her and her workshop is so close by.

We are very lucky to have such a wonderful violin resource in Berkeley. Joan is knowledgeable and very helpful. The tip-​top best !!!

Joan is so great! She is a knowledgeable, licensed, and working luthier and musician in the Bay Area. Her house stands as the perfect working environment for making/​selling instruments. She has been so patient with me as well. I was not sure which cello I would purchase, and she later allowed me to take 2 of them home and try them out. She also let me waste away 2 hours in her den practicing an instrument because I wanted to make a better decision.
She also did some free work for me with some small extras, and her bow rehairs are excellent and with a reasonable pricetag. She is also friendly, and she is in demand in the summers — so make sure you hit her up from October — May lol.
Great person — also does appraisals.

Joan is a wonderful violin resource. She’s extraordinarily helpful and patient, and has a fine range of instruments and bows. Her sense of humor makes visiting a true pleasure and you’ll be happy with both the quality of her stock and her pricing. I bought a fine violin from Joan made by Alexandra Pedota of Cremona about five years ago. I had to stretch my budget for this one, but I’ve been very happy with it and recently found out that the instrument has appreciated to almost three times what I paid for it according to both appraisers and sellers of Pedota’s current instruments. Now I”m going back to Joan to replace my beloved bow which broke last week. Thanks Joan!

I was just in Joan’s shop having a seam reglued. After briefly speaking with her in her charming little shop I can see that she is an friendly and amazing woman. I’ll definately be going back to her should I ever need a repair again. I can’t reccomend her highly enough!

Highly recommended, highly skilled, and an amusing personality. Joan is well known within the string community, and rubs elbows with the world’s top performers, despite her modest little workshop at the back of her house. Check out the pictures on her wall if you need some physical evidence. So, you can go to one of the fancier looking shops in the area, or you can trust what insiders already know: Joan is the person to see.

Joan Balter is a great violin maker, and has a good collection of cellos as well. Her private studio is a great place to get your bow rehaired and check out gorgeous instruments. While her pedigree is a mile long (both in instrument making and in musical performance) the proof is really in the quality of the instruments she sells. There’s a reason big names come back to her time and time again.