Violins Gordon Stevenson, Edinburgh

This place is a little hidden gem! Forget the big music shops - here you receive personal attention and time. Took our 9 year old to find a really good small violin and he had some beautiful and fabulous instruments - and knows so so much! We came home with a delighted child who hasn't put her new (old!) violin down - she knew the instant she played it that it was the one for her. We'd already tried lots of 'new' ones in other shops. What a waste of time - I'll come here first next time she moves up a size. Shhhh - don't tell tooo many people about him!

Possibly not one for everyone, but if you own a stringed instrument and you happen to be in or around Edinburgh, Gordon Stevenson is the man to go to.
Whether you need the back taking off and some serious work done, merely a re-hairing of a bow or even a point of contact for anything from groups you could join, to top-quality specialised insurance. That in fact was how i first found him - i've a really nice old 'cello that i needed to renew the insurance on, and potentially have some restoratative work done on, so looked into it quite carefully.
What i found was that Gordon could do both exceedingly well.
Again, i think the amount of respect he gets from the local music scene says it all. What's more, he's incredibly knowledgeable, has a great memory, knows what's going on, and even speaks french!