<p>To all of my wonderful Music Major forum friends.... What are your favorite violin shops in the NYC area? </p>
<p>I’m a big Julie Reed fan. Reed Yeboah Fine Violins. 1776 Broadway. </p>
<p>Matthias Lehner</p>
<p>Rare violins on 57th street is a good shop, they tend to be more in the high end range, but they are a decent, no pressure shop. Landon Violins on Broadway can have some decent stuff, though they usually tend to have better stuff in the high range, you don’t always find good instruments at lower prices there. Some people like Segal violins, we never had that much luck finding stuff there, but you also have to keep in mind that finding an instrument is often luck of being in the right time and place. There are also a number of young violin makes in the NY area, Reed violins sometimes has an expo of young makers. </p>
<p>The range you are looking in matters, some of the shops mentioned have relatively little in the lower ranges of price IME, Segal has more selection in the lower ranges but again, it is kind of hit or miss. You kind of have to figure out your budget, then cast a wide net until you find what works for you, price itself doesn’t necessarily translate into playing ability, but finding a good player is often easier at the higher ranges, to find the gem at lower price ranges is a lot more of sticking your finger in a pie and pulling out a plumb:)</p>
<p>There are also a lot of violin makers in the NYC area who make instruments and restore them, I don’t know the names off the top of my head, their own instruments tend to be in the 20k range IME, and that may be too high for you (it prob would be helpful to know what range you are thinking of with your search).</p>
<p>You also could take a look at when Tarisio has an auction, they are at 250 W 54th street (a building that has to be seen to be believed, right out of the 50’s…), you can try the instruments, but to be honest it isn’t that easy, the instruments often either are not set up, or are set up with dubious strings and such, so it may be hard to find how the thing plays…plus with a violin, it is always better to use it for a while, most shops let you take them out on loan to try them. </p>