400 W. 37th St. Reading, PA 19606 | BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

“Joe is a master violin maker, that is dedicated to the craft as much as he is to his clients. I had the chance to spend time with him both while he was in school and after when he helped me with several restoration projects, it was his presence in the shop that made these time consuming projects possible.”

– Marco Coppiardi

String Instrument Restoration

Proper repairs and restorations are crucial in the survival of every fine violin, string instrument or bow. Whether it is a minor repair needed in a timely manner or a valuable family heirloom that is in unthinkable condition. Joe uses his training and experience to guide him along the painstaking journey to bring every instrument back to life.

At times this is no small task, but no matter how big or small the restoration, each instrument is given the proper care and attention as if it were a delicate Stradivari violin sitting on the workbench. Some of the past restorations and repairs Joe has done include: sound post patches, button patches, neck grafts, peg bushings, fitting new bass bars, cracks, removing and re-gluing tops, cleats, fitting new pegs, carving new fingerboards… the list goes on and on.

To see some of his past repairs, please visit the photo gallery and blog portion of the website. With our restoration and repair work, we pride ourselves on going the extra mile to bring a string instrument back from its original state.

We know the importance of preserving these old instruments in the proper manner and keeping them out of the hands of amateur repairmen who could do more damage then good when it comes to your old, valuable instrument. Be sure to know who you are leaving your instrument with question your Luthier and know where they got their “experience”. Don’t settle for anything but the best when it comes to your instrument!

In 1990, there was a story written about a violin Jim Fegley was attempting to restore. The violin was run over by a car and shattered to pieces, but Jim passed away before he had the chance to do the restoration. A few years ago, Joe found the old violin in a case, along with all of its pieces. The repairs far exceed the value of the instrument but Joe saw the history and decided to start to bring it back to life and undertakes a complete violin restoration. He spent about 2 years slowly piecing together the back plate like the 3D puzzle that it was. He will take on the top plate and ribs in the near future and will be sure to fill you in along the long journey.

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