Stevens Violin Shop

Vance is great. Very friendly, helpful, patient. Working with him was just a good experience.
We got set up with a new cello for my son. After trying out four or five, the winner was clear.
We took it home for a week to let the professionals check it out. Nothing but thumbs up.
Highly recommended.

Personally, I have only had great experiences at Steven’s Violin and have been a professional, performing violinist for around 40 years. I recognized Vance’s talent with violin bows around 1990 after moving to the area when I first went in for a bow rehair. When I was studying at North Carolina School of the Arts, we had the amazing experience of having top notch Luthiers and bow makers come in to teach us about the equipment and maintenance needed to maintain value and functionality so I immediately noticed the high quality bow rehair from Vance. It was done to perfection and lasted longer than most. After acknowledging his expertise, we became good buddies. To this date, his evaluations of my equipment has always been very accurate and my purchases (and trades) have been more than satisfactory so my level of trust is high. Beside that, how many other business owners are directly accessible and will take the time to talk WITH you (not AT you)? BTW, they stopped accepting walk-​ins a while back (it’s a specialty music shop for professionals but they will help anyone interested) so just remember to make an appointment before going there…

This is the 4^th shop I visited with the violin.
Pros:
Once I got my appointment, it’s great. There is no wait time. Vance kindly greeted me with respect without knowing whether he is going to have any business from me. When I presented the violin, he did not just waved his hand at me and ask me to leave. He took the time to evaluate the violin and let me know what is wrong with it. He told me the history of the violin, and even spend time looking inside the violin which neither of the other shops did. Vance did the most detailed examination and he did it knowing that he will not be earning any money from me b/​c the violin is not worth fixing. He is so detailed that I have trust in him that he knows what he is talking about. Thank you Vance for helping me make the decision.
I would definitely recommend friends and family to go to him for any kind of instrument repair work.
Cons:
This is a «by-​appointment only» shop. I went there the first time without knowing that and got a locked door. So call ahead and make your appointment.

After 30 years as a professional violinist, I have come to appreciate a fine luthier. Owning a valuable instrument requires that I am very selective in who I pick to work on my instrument. If I am not careful, my instrument could be damaged – that means it looses value considerably. That brings me to Vance Knudsen, the owner of Stevens Violin Shop. I trust Vance with the upkeep of my violin. Over the years, I have had Vance put on a new fingerboard, fit new pegs and tailpiece, change the bridge and soundpost numerous times and re-​glue the instrument when it opens. (Fortunately, my violin has never been damaged so it has only needed maintenance.) Those things don’t sound like he has done much – on the contrary, they are crucial to how my violin responds and sounds.
In addition to having Vance do my violin maintenance, I have purchased violin and viola bows from him. Vance is at his best when dealing with bows. Very few luthiers in the United States have attained his level of expertise in identifying bow makers. As a result of his very extensive knowledge, the bows he sells are outstanding both as playing tools and as collectibles.
I feel comfortable stating that the better the player, the more he will appreciate Vance’s expertise.

Around 6 years ago, Vance at Steven’s Violin Shop did some work on my cello. The cello had been reworked previously, not so well — its tone was muted — and one of the seams was coming lose. After Vance worked it over, it was a whole new instrument – rich tone, solid.
The folks at SVS were responsive and helpful with my initial questions via e-​mail. Vance seemed very knowledgeable — recognized the cello’s make, verified the label was probably correct, and spotted issues with its setup and condition on the first check-​out. The work was worth the cost (~$ 1k). The instrument sings out now, has a clearer and fuller tone, and six years later the repaired seam is still solid.
Update: I came back to Vance for a cello bow rehair and new cello case in 2013. The bow is great (quite reasonable price), and he matched a very good Internet deal on the case. It took a while longer to get, but it was worth it to work with a local shop.