Find a luthier near you.
Search violin, viola and cello workshops by city and specialty — then use the questions below to work out whether the workshop you found is the right one for your instrument.
Luthiers by city
- Luthiers in Cremona
- Luthiers in Mittenwald
- Luthiers in Mirecourt
- Luthiers in Paris
- Luthiers in London
- Luthiers in Torre del Mar
- Luthiers in New York
- Luthiers in Brooklyn
- Luthiers in Toronto
- Luthiers in Munich
- Luthiers in Bonn
- Luthiers in Bremen
- Luthiers in Zurich
- Luthiers in Brussels
- Luthiers in Edinburgh
- Luthiers in Melbourne
- Luthiers in Berkeley
- Luthiers in Ann Arbor
- Luthiers in Pittsburgh
- Luthiers in Narberth
- Luthiers in Nagoya
By the work you need
Violin & Cello Restoration Specialists
A worldwide directory of luthiers who restore antique violins, violas and cellos — crack repair, bass bar work, varnish retouching and structural conservation.
Contemporary Violin, Viola & Cello Makers
Modern luthiers building new violins, violas and cellos by hand — Cremonese-tradition makers, antiqued models, classical Strad and del Gesù copies.
Bow Makers (Archetiers)
Independent archetiers — contemporary bow makers building violin, viola and cello bows by hand in the French and English traditions.
Violin Setup & Adjustment Luthiers
Find a luthier who specialises in setup, voicing and soundpost adjustment — bridge cutting, peg fitting, string height and tonal optimisation.
Violin & Cello Appraisers and Experts
Luthiers and experts who issue written valuations, certificates of authenticity and condition reports for violins, violas, cellos and bows.
Concert-Level Violin & Cello Specialists
Luthiers who supply, set up and maintain instruments at concert level — for orchestral soloists, chamber players and competition musicians.
Violin, Viola & Cello Repair Workshops
Find a workshop for violin, viola and cello repair — open seams, cracks, bridge replacement, peg fitting, soundpost resetting and fingerboard work.
Viola Makers & Viola Specialists
Luthiers who build, set up and adjust violas — body lengths from 15 to 17 inches, commissions, string and setup advice for viola players.
Student & Workshop Instrument Specialists
Luthiers who supply and properly set up student violins, violas and cellos — fractional sizes, rentals, school instruments and first upgrades.
Acoustic Research & Instrument Voicing
Luthiers working at the intersection of lutherie and acoustics — plate tuning, voicing, tonal measurement and research into how violins make sound.
Antiqued & À l'Ancienne Instrument Makers
Makers building antiqued violins, violas and cellos in the à l'ancienne style — Strad and del Gesù copies with period varnish and wear.
What to ask before you hand it over
How do I find a good luthier near me?
Start with the city you live in, then widen the circle. Use our luthier finder to filter workshops by city, specialty and instrument, read the profile, and contact the workshop directly. For a valuable instrument it is worth travelling — a three-hour drive to the right restorer is cheaper than a local repair that has to be undone.
What is the difference between a luthier and a violin shop?
A luthier makes and repairs instruments by hand. A violin shop sells them, and may or may not have a trained luthier on the bench. If the work involves the soundpost, bridge, bass bar, neck or varnish, ask who is doing it and where they trained.
What should I ask a luthier before handing over my instrument?
Ask where they trained, what the work involves, how long it will take and what it will cost in writing. Ask whether anything will be replaced rather than repaired, and ask to see the old parts afterwards. A good luthier answers all of that without hesitation.
How much does violin repair cost?
A standard setup is typically the price of a couple of lessons; a new bridge, soundpost adjustment or peg work is modest; crack repair, neck resets and varnish retouching run far higher because they take days of bench time. Our repair-cost guide breaks the numbers down job by job.
Can a luthier work on my instrument remotely?
Setup, bridges, soundposts and crack repair all need the instrument on the bench. What a luthier can do at a distance is advise: photographs and a description are usually enough to say whether a problem is urgent, cosmetic or a sign of something structural.
More detail on prices in our violin repair cost guide, and on the makers themselves in the best luthiers working today.
For the trade
Run a workshop or a shop?
Music Shop Suite is our sister software for the trade — instrument inventory, repair tickets, customer records and point of sale in one place.