Craig’s Violins

Have been going to Mr.Craig for all orchestra needs over the last 8yrs. He is extremely friendly, honest and skilled professional. The store offers great beginner and intermediate violins for rental and sale at reasonable pricing. He provides lessons and repair services as well.

Craig is always upbeat, always happy, always encouraging. He cares for people, for their well being. If more people were like Craig, this would be a better world.

I worked as craig's apprentice for a little I hope someday I can again! Great guy stand up hard worker solid and patient teacher both for music and for woodworking and instrument care!

The summary is that if you have a beginner, or especially an intermediate instrument, there is NO OTHER PLACE to take your violin in Austin in my experience that you can trust more to tell you the truth and give you a reasonable price.

I gave up the violin for 30 years. My violin is from the 1800's and is worth a few grand.

8 years ago I decided to get my violin fixed up again as a possible retirement hobby. I brought it to a major violin store in Austin. They looked up how much it was worth and THEN told me that it would cost me $1,000. They said they had to remove the top. I knew better and besides, if I had to spend that kind of money, forget about that hobby! I brought it to another violin store and they didn't even have a real luthier.

Then we went to Craig (back then he was fixing violins as a hobby from his house). He was such a nice guy and said he could do everything and more for only $100. Now I could at least SEE if I could or wanted to play again. I was very happy.

After some years I decided I wanted to get serious again but needed the violin to sound better to do that so in the last years I brought my violin to a luthier with a little shop that I think knows what he’s doing but he obviously wanted me to ditch the idea of trying to get it to sound like it did 40 years ago and to buy another one. He was honest, but seemed used to fine violins.

Then I went to another big violin store and luthier in Austin. This one told me that it would cost $700 and that the seams were coming off in four places! What?! He said there were multiple cracks that would come unglued again in a year if the top didn't come off.

I went home and tapped all around and could not find one open seam. I saw just one of the 5 cracks that Craig glued 8 years ago had come undone.

I figured that I should go back to Craig for the truth and maybe he has learned even more in 8 years. He has! I asked him if there were any loose seams and he said there were none. He said he would fix up the crack that came loose but that there were no others. He was willing to carve the bridge I brought in. I asked him to adjust the sound post and that bridge until we got my sweet violin back.

When I went to pickup I told him that it was still not good enough. He had made me a new sound post and while I waited he patiently adjusted it again and it was soooo much better! The whole thing cost me $60.

But he also told me that the bow was having a big effect and I believed him! He didn't just want to sell me something. I tried out the bows he had and one clicked like a puzzle piece and totally changed the sound of the instrument and felt like butter. He let me trade in my old bows so that I got the RIGHT bow for almost nothing. There were some new minor scratches on my old violin from the work... but the sound! I am so very happy now. He gave my violin back its voice.

If I hadn't found Craig I couldn't have afforded to even TRY to get my beloved violin with me again at all with so many scam artists in this town and now because of Craig I have it performing like I need it to in order to finally get good at it! I'm deeply grateful to him every day when I pick up my violin to play.

If you aren’t a professional and aren’t in the know about violins… Don’t go anywhere else! No luthier in Austin is going to be as HONEST and real and kind and work with you like Craig.

I take lessons for violin here. Craig is a very nice person and an amazing teacher.