Howren Music & Sound

My daughter needed a clarinet for 7th grade. She is now a 9th grader (still in band as a sax player.) Howren's has been family friendly from the very beginning. They offer payment plans for your instrument, and they are an excellent company to do business with. The main location is in Charlotte, and the business department is there too. However, my daughter and I picked up the clarinet at the Gastonia location. They were just as nice there. more

If you are looking for quality products and genuine customer service. Look no further! Pros: null Cons: null more

I purchased my son's new electric guitar kit from Russ in December 2009. Since then, we have hung out in the store many many times while my son has tried out every new guitar he could. In this time we have been treated like family by Russ and the other guys and have only witnessed this same courteous and friendly care of every single person that has walked in while we were there. They have quickly and graciously fixed a problem with our instrument or replaced broken strings at little or no cost. I have comparison shopped the competition and found their prices to be competitive and I would highly recommend Howren at Park Road for any parent who wants their kids in good musical hands. more

... but good quality instruments at reasonable prices. The staff is knowledgeable, talks to you when you walk in the door (which is more than I can say for the superstores), is willing to work with you. It is a pleasure to spend money here. And the price I ended up paying for my Blue Ridge Acoustic was not a whole lot less than at with a web vender. And I got to try it first. I will certainly go back. Pros: A small store with personal attention Cons: Not a huge selection... more

A visit to Howrens, whether just for fun to look around, or for the serious musician, is going to be a fun and educational venture whether you looking for an instrument or need professional musical advice. All the staff have deep levels of experience and they are all very motivated to teach people about music and hopefully lead them to the musical instrument which will ultimately be a successful choice for the individual. I have been taking lessons at Howrens for about a year and always look forward to being greeted by the friendly staff, getting great expert advice on my intrument and music in general, and i love to look throughout the store at their great inventory of instruments. The previous 'review' by the rude disgruntled person with the autistic child is absolutely ridiculous and the parent is completely out of line in bashing the staff at this great store because they had the honesty to suggest that the person's daughter needed more professional help than the music teachers had the ability to provide. Howrens has a warm and family-like atmosphere which is welcoming to all. The staff do however have to insist on properly educating all renters on the care of the rented instruments so to keep up the quality of instruments so that future renters can be assured of good instruments to use. I think this is a very laudable attribute of the staff at Howrens. It shows they care about their customers and their instruments. Pros: Great staff. Great musical instrument inventory Cons: Zero. more

It's pretty much like every other local mom & pop music store, which is to say it's wonderful. more

I am a single mother with very little income. When I first moved to N.C. to go to college my daughter was also starting over in a new school. On her first day she came to me and said she wanted to play music. I didn't know what to say considering the cost of instruments are so exspensive and my credit history wasn't much to brag about. So, I made some phone calls and quickly realized that this was just not going to be an option. The following day I went to her school and asked the music teacher if she had any recomendations. She did and gave me Howren Music's number. I called and with in the week my daughter was playing. I pay my bill on time and am so happy that my daughter wasn't left out of this very important exsperience. Thank you Howren Music. Pros: Will work with any one more

On June 11, I brought a mandolin that I purchase on my honeymoon in Hawaii to Howren to have rusted keys repaired. I also ordered a hard case. Almost three months later, I have initiated every call to check the status, and the repair is yet to be complete. I was told that the keys would be filed, and when the case came in I could take them both together. However, I called to check the status, and the repair was not done. After a month, I dropped in to find that the repair was supposedly finished (no phone call). I examined the keys, and they were still rusted...just less so. So I left it, and after calling a couple more times, they finally tell me that the rust cannot be removed and the keys must be replaced. Cons: Customer Service is terrible more