The term Luthier means a maker of stringed instruments. A Luthiery is his shop. If a Luthier makes stringed instruments, he also fixes them and will have access to the books to evaluate what stringed instruments are worth. Our Luthier made or fixed violins, cellos, guitars and base fiddles. I believe that this is rather exceptional. From what I have read and from my own experience there seems to be 3 ways to sort Luthiers. These are by type of instrument, skill and experience of the luthier and by the business integrity of the luthier.

Wooden stringed instruments divide into 2 broad categories, those that are plucked and those that are bowed. It appears that most luthiers will specialize in one category or the other. So you would expect that a violin maker would not be a guitar maker and vice versa.

Most violins are factory made and have been for over 100 years. Making violins by hand is still practiced and of course this is a more expensive way to produce an instrument. The price usually depends on the reputation of the Luthier and the quality that results from his endeavors. This is rather exceptional and to supplement the income from their own creations Luthiers add to thier income by reconditioning or restoring older instruments. Along with this goes the skill to appraise the value of instruments for sale and for insurance purposes.

How good the Luthier is depends on his training and experience. We were lucky to enlist the services of one who was trained in Europe from the age of 14 and had over 50 years of experience. His reputation was more like legend. He excelled in his skills at making instruments, fixing them and at being a business person with integrity. To me this is what you expect when doing any business. The person you hire should know their business and do it honestly at a fair price.

I have told the many people who have asked about violin appraisals that you need to find such a luthier and have him appraise your instrument. I can’t imagine that you can have it appraised on line. As the header on this website states, violins are all about the sound. You cannot have your violin credibly appraised with out a trained luthier hearing it. This leads to the question of how do you find such a person? Searching the web for a Luthier in your locale is one way. However, that does not address the integrity issue. What we did was ask around at the local music shop. We were lucky and found our man that easily. Other places to ask would be with your local teachers, music schools, bands and orchestras. The grapevine for violins is present and the local violin community knows who is who for honesty and quality.

Then it is up to you. Expect a good Luthier to be a bit prickly in his personality. People who do not know instruments have a lot of expectations that are much higher than what is reality. People who do know music are demanding and frugal. A good business man always has a bit of a crust from dealing with such situations. If you find this in your luthier, it is a good thing.