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Tuesday 10am - 6pm Wednesday 10am - 6pm Thursday 10am - 6pm Friday 10am - 6pm Saturday 9am - 5pm

Johnson String Instrument

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United States
Newton Upper Falls, MA
Johnson String Instrument

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Together with Carriage House Violins, we form New England’s largest stringed instrument company. We value customer input.

We have served the Greater Boston string-playing community since 1976. Together with our bowed instrument sales division at Carriage House Violins, we form New England’s largest string instrument company, here to offer our customers—beginners through concert artists—the very best in bowed instruments sales and service. We are one of the first and most prominent internet resources for string players. Our instruments are acquired from a variety of local and international sources, including the major auction houses, collectors, private sale, and consignment. We perform instrument restorations and repairs, as well as bow rehairing and repairing. We also provide appraisals for instruments purchased from Johnson String and Carriage House Violins. In addition, we maintain the most complete and reliable rental program in the country. We stock an extensive selection of books, sheet music, Suzuki materials, cases and accessories—some exclusive to JSI—that can be purchased directly from our Newton, Massachusetts store, by mail, or securely from our website. If you need anything for your violin, viola, cello, bass, or guitar, we have it! We have a dedicated staff of professional players and violin makers that selects each and every instrument and bow we offer. This means that everything from the construction of the instrument to the resonance of the E string is evaluated with careful, experienced eyes and ears. Our Teacher Services have provided teachers with exceptional customer service for over 35 years. By offering the best rental program in the country, a vast selection of new and antique instruments and bows, sheet music, method books, teaching aids, and every imaginable stringed instrument accessory, we help teachers maintain their teaching studios. Please feel free to contact us with any questions and comments you may have.

10/30/2026

Henle Horizons has arrived at Johnson String Instrument!

Get your book now at the link in bio.

10/23/2026

Niccolò Paganini played so fast and so impossibly well that 19th-century audiences decided he must have sold his soul to the devil. His gaunt frame, long fingers, and all-black stage dress didn’t help, and some swore they saw Satan on stage guiding his bow. Paganini never denied it. When he died in 1840, the Church refused him a consecrated burial, and his body traveled Europe for decades before finally being laid to rest.

Our spooky sheet music is 15% off for a limited time, with eerie classics and Halloween favorites for strings. Shop now at the link in bio.

10/21/2026

Col Legno is Italian for “with the wood,” flipping your bow and striking (or drawing) the strings with the stick instead of the hair. The result is a dry, rattling, bony sound that composers love for anything eerie. Berlioz used it in the witches’ sabbath of his Symphonie Fantastique, and Holst made it march in “Mars.”

Our spooky sheet music is 15% off for a limited time, with eerie classics and Halloween favorites for strings. Shop now at https://bit.ly/4yig9E9.

10/20/2026

We will be closing at 4:00pm, Tuesday, October, 20th for a company event.

10/19/2026

Every time a string section plays, they are friction-melting organic material (rosin). Violin, viola, cello, and bass strings were historically made from catgut (which is actually sheep or goat intestines). Furthermore, every bow is threaded with roughly 150 to 200 hairs taken from the tails of horses.

Our spooky sheet music is 15% off for a limited time, with eerie classics and Halloween favorites for strings. Shop now at https://bit.ly/4yig9E9.

10/16/2026

Sul Ponticello is when players place the bow right next to the wooden bridge of the instrument, producing a metallic, glassy, fingernails-on-a-chalkboard sound.

Our spooky sheet music is 15% off for a limited time, with eerie classics and Halloween favorites for strings. Shop now at https://bit.ly/4yig9E9.

10/14/2026

Cellos and violins can develop a ghostly defect called a “wolf tone.” It happens when the vibration of a played note clashes with the natural vibration frequency of the instrument’s wooden body. The result is a harsh, trembling howl, like a wolf crying out from inside the instrument. 🐺

Our spooky sheet music is 15% off for a limited time, with eerie classics and Halloween favorites for strings. Shop now at the link in bio.

10/12/2026

Our store and phones will be closed on Monday, October 12, in observance of Indigenous Peoples' Day.

10/08/2026

Our reaction to you telling us when you last changed your strings🎻

10/02/2026

Ever wonder what happens with the old rosin, case felt, or even a lost name tag from a past student once it returns to Johnson String Instrument? They’re reused to make wonderful puppets to scare away the halloween demons!

Huge props to our longtime employee, Raquel, for making these awesome puppets!

Address

1029 Chestnut Street
Newton Upper Falls, MA
02464

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10am - 6pm
Wednesday	10am - 6pm
Thursday	10am - 6pm
Friday	10am - 6pm
Saturday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+16179640954

Website

https://www.johnsonstring.com/

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