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Timbre Folk & Baroque
4.8 ★★★★★ 33 Google reviews · Guitar & music store in Berkeley, California
Acoustic and electric guitars, along with violins, mandolins, ukuleles and other stringed instruments are stocked at this shop. Also found here are folk instruments like nyckelharpas and hurdy-gurdys.
Plan your visit
- Repairs & setups a repair bench comes up in reviews and the store's own info — call ahead for turnaround, since good techs run a queue
- Buys & trades used gear they buy, trade, or consign used instruments — bring the case and any original parts, and expect trade credit to beat the cash offer
- Lessons lessons come up in reviews and the store's own info — call about openings, instruments taught, and rates before the first visit
- Today see hours ·
- Phone (510) 545-9901
- Website timbrefolk.com
Hours
| Monday | 9:30 AM–5 PM |
| Tuesday | Closed |
| Wednesday | Closed |
| Thursday | Closed |
| Friday | Closed |
| Saturday | Closed |
| Sunday | Closed |
What's on the wall
“Cozy, light-filled shop with nice acoustics and a carefully curated selection of (mainly string) instruments.”
“That level of honesty and respect is rare these days, especially in retail.”
“Also purchased a used acoustic from here and am super happy with it.”
“Top notch luthier, very friendly and knowledgeable, reasonable prices.”
“My daughter has been taking mandolin lessons for 18 months and loves it.”
“There are a bunch of crazy cool instruments like nyckelharpas and herdygerdy's, as well as more conventional instruments like guitars and ukuleles.”
What players say again and again
“Top notch luthier, very friendly and knowledgeable, reasonable prices.”
“I had the pleasure of meeting Mark and his daughter — both were incredibly kind, knowledgeable, and genuinely passionate about what they do.”
From the reviews
This is a great store for acoustic instruments. Awesome, unique selection and the owner, Mark, is very kind and knowledgeable. He has worked on 2 of my guitars for setup, repair, etc. (one electric and one acoustic) and I have been very pleased. Also purchased a used acoustic from here and am super happy with it.
I resurrected two guitars from a closet recently - both around 50 years old - one a 12 string Martin and the other an off brand, but quality made, 6 string. I hadn’t plucked either of them in many years, as they neither played nor sounded like I needed them to.
This place is awesome! The owner, Mark really knows his stuff. There are a bunch of crazy cool instruments like nyckelharpas and herdygerdy's, as well as more conventional instruments like guitars and ukuleles. I got my ukulele here and Mark was willing to take time to really help me find the right one.
Exceptional. Incredible curation of uncommon and unique instruments in a cozy, inviting environment. Came in for banjo strings and ended up chatting with the owner for 20 minutes or so about all the interesting things that I had never seen before. He was happy to chat and answer any questions I had.
Selling or trading gear at Timbre Folk & Baroque
Timbre Folk & Baroque comes up for buying and trading used gear — confirmed on their own site. Two things make the trip go better. First, bring the whole package: the case or gig bag, the original tremolo arm or bridge parts, the paperwork if you have it — a complete rig is worth real money more than a bare instrument, and it saves the back-and-forth of "can you bring the case in?" Second, know that trade credit almost always beats the cash offer, usually by a healthy margin — if you're upgrading anyway, price your old gear as a trade against the new one before you take cash. Either way, expect the offer to be below what the gear sells for on the wall; the gap is the store's margin for setup, warranty, and sitting on it until the right buyer walks in.
Lessons at Timbre Folk & Baroque
Reviews and the store's own info mention lessons at Timbre Folk & Baroque. If you're signing up a beginner (or restarting yourself), a quick call ahead answers the three things that matter: which instruments they teach, whether the schedule has openings at the time you actually need, and what a first lesson costs. There's no wrong first guitar — a good teacher will happily work with whatever you walk in with, and a shop that teaches usually keeps affordable starter instruments on hand for exactly this reason.
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