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Gene Bearden and Gregory Bearden: dealers, makers and restorers of rare violins, violas, cellos and bows in St. Louis, MO. Greg Bearden is regarded as the area's foremost appraiser with many years of training under the tutelage of his father (Gene) Bearden, famed American violin dealer and Connoisseur.

Greg has been helpful to many musicians with the authentication of their musical instruments throughout the country and help with finding the right instrument. Bearden Violin Shop was founded in St. Louis by P.C. Bearden in 1943 and established a fine reputation for restoration and violin making.
Reviews (9)
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Richard Hendrix
Apr 07, 2022
St Louis's premier violin shop, well established and known worldwide. If you are looking for a serious instrument, this is the place to go. I have been dealing with them for at least the past 20 years.
Kimberli Moore
Jun 06, 2021
GREAT independently owned local shop. Each and every time I've visited I've received friendly and honest advice. I was seeking to upgrade my daughter's rental viola and the owner took the time to give me honest feedback about his choices and the quality thereof. I look forward to my visits and know I can trust this shop. I love the instrument we left with, as did my daughter's professional viola instructor. I agree with another reviewer, this shop has a unique old town feel and great personal service.
Gary Lee
Jun 01, 2021
Bearden Violin Shop is a well-respected St. Louis business with a 3-generation history of expertise working with the best quality instruments. I can confidently refer students there knowing they can rent or purchase an excellent instrument. My antique cello has been given quality care there and thanks to Greg I love my cello more than ever. My first cello was sold to me and my parents in the fall of 1975 by his dad, Gene so I've had a relationship with this shop for a long time.
Mike Holder
May 22, 2021
Greg bearden is the best violin or Viola luthier in Missouri! His knowledge is Remarkable and hard to find. They even had a Original Stratovarius at time. It's a must see small shop, when in Saint Louis or in Missouri.
Steven Judd
Mar 09, 2021
Quality, conscientious care for your instrument. They took care of my immediate need and made me feel comfortable with the work being done on my instrument. They are my first choice for any needs I have for my instrument.
Trent Buskirk
Dec 02, 2020
Our violin teacher referred us to Bearden. We have since moved away from St. Louis but continue to go back to Bearden for all our violin needs. Greg helped repaired my daughter's full size violin which she dropped accidentally and broke the scroll. Greg did a beautiful job to repair it and at a reasonable cost. My daughter was so happy when she got her violin back. Greg is very honest and personal. We have been happy customers of Bearden for almost ten years now and will continue to go back to them for our violin needs.
Albert Stix
Jun 10, 2019
Really enjoyed meeting Greg at his shop again this past Saturday. It is my 2nd encounter with him and both times, I have found him to be very helpful and very informative. My father and I took my son there this past weekend and despite it being nearly time to close for the day, he offered my son several very nice Cellos to try out along with some very nice bows.

I learned more about Cellos and bows in one hour with Greg this past weekend than I've learned in the entire last five years that my son has been playing. Greg said he had another nice Cello coming in and that he would call us when it is ready to try out. I'm sure we will be back and can't imagine buying one from anyone else at this point.
Cherry Nguyen
Jan 17, 2018
This is my first time every bringing my violin anywhere. I brought my violin in to get the seam re-sealed. I had called first to ask about the pricing and for anyone that is wondering, they're all at a reasonable price. I dropped my violin off and had it fixed. The Asian lady was very nice, I'm assuming she's his assistant or something. But she was really nice and I looked forward to seeing her because her first impression was very nice.

I briefly met Mr. Bearden and he was very kind to me. After my violin was fixed, I came to pick it up and I was surprised to a freshly polished violin. I guess Mr. Bearden noticed that my violin really needed some TLC but this literally made my day 10x better. It was a very kind gesture for him to do that especially since I'm a college student. I will definitely be coming back here to get anything else done.
Mary Schaeffer
Feb 02, 2015
Very professional and friendly service - beginning with providing a rental cello of decent quality when I started a year ago, beating the price of other rentals of lower quality (according to my instructor). More recently with having a reasonable price range of very nice cellos for purchase. Loving my new cello and at much better price than similar and bigger shops in Chicago and San Francisco.