Appraisal, Rental, Repair

As a full service violin family and bow dealer, our staff has a combined total of well over 80 years training and experience to help you with your violin family needs.

The services we provide include:

When an instrument is appraised, a lot depends on the materials and quality of construction, the structural condition (including previous and required repairs), the appearance, the size, the model, the playing condition, and the quality of the tone of an instrument. The particular maker and the demand for his/her work is also important. If the instrument has been owned and used by a prominent musician, that affects the value as well.

Normally, Mr. Riedstra needs to actually inspect and play your instrument or bow to write a proper written appraisal for it. When seeing the instrument personally, its interior and exterior condition and authenticity can be more easily verified. Therefore, any verbal or written values given over email or the phone will have a potential margin of error, since certain hairline cracks and alterations to the instrument or bow cannot be seen.

However, for an e-mail or telephone evaluation it is normal to start with good quality close-up photos of the item(s) and descriptions of any repairs visible to the owner. The photos should be shot straight on (not at an angle). Shoot the front, back and sides of the body and of the head (scroll). For bows, shoot the frog and head very close-up, both sides. Mr. Riedstra can give you a rough idea what an instrument or bow from a certain maker is worth with the understanding that his opinion and evaluation may need to be revised upon actually seeing the item(s) being evaluated. If certain types of damage or repair are later discovered, values can vary greatly.

We do charge for appraisals, whether verbal or written; whether done in person, over the phone or by email. Prices are in Canadian dollars and can change at any time at the discretion of Riedstra’s Violin Shop Inc. Canadian residents also have to add Federal Government Sales tax--GST (5%). In addition, Ontario residents have to pay Provincial Sales Tax - PST (8%). These taxes are not included in the prices shown below.

Shipping, brokerage, duty and insurance charges both ways will be paid for by the owner/representative of the instrument or bow being sent for appraisal.

If you have any original certificate of authenticity (bring the original document, not a photocopy) and any old insurance appraisals, please bring them along with the instrument(s) and bow(s) since their existence may be referred to in our appraisal if they are valid and important papers.

Your next appraisal update on bows and instruments which we have appraised, will only cost $105.00 per instrument or bow if done within four years from our original appraisal.

Mr. Riedstra will need to see the items again prior to issuing an updated appraisal to determine that they are still in the same condition as when his first appraisal was done.

INSURANCE APPRAISAL PRICES

A written appraisal includes a full written description, and for items over $6000 in value, photos are included. The more expensive items take a lot more  time because of the more detailed examination and research in my personal library, records, and other sources to verify authenticity. The time required for the appraisal of a particular instrument or bow is one factor that will affect the cost of the appraisal.

CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY

If a written Certificate of Authenticity is desired, this includes an insurance appraisal. The fee is 7% of the appraised Fair Market Replacement Insurance Value with a minimum of $350. Photos are included as well.

Please make a Saturday or Monday appointment at our Kitchener store if you would like an instrument or bow authenticated or evaluated by Mr. Riedstra. Otherwise you can leave it at the store Monday to Saturday, and we will give you a receipt for it. Mr. Riedstra will look at it when he has time in the next few days, but we have to leave it in quarantine for four days during the Covid time.

Some instruments and bows will require several hours of comprehensive and complicated examination and/or research time, as well as time for the photos to be taken. In such cases, it may be necessary to leave the instrument or bow with us for a week or two, or longer. We will give you a signed notice of receipt indicating that we have your instrument and/or bow for evaluation purposes.

Upon request, we will provide instructions on how to ship an instrument or bow to us safely for evaluation provided that it is your intention to do so.

INSTRUMENT MAKING

We will make a violin or viola and varnish it according to your requirements.  Price quotes upon request.

BOW REHAIRING PRICES
This includes cleaning and polishing the metal parts of your bow, unless the metal parts are too delicate.

We use very high quality white Mongolian horse hair. Black hair and "salt and pepper" hair are also available for bass bows. Cutting and fitting a new leather finger grip, or new metal (silver, silver-plated or silver-tinsel) winding, a new tip plate, re-cambering or other repairs/restorations to your bow, are additional services we provide.

Violin, Viola, Cello and Bass Rentals

We only rent out used instruments, but new one are available for purchase. We rent violins up to $1000, violas up to $1300, cellos up $2100, and basses up to $2500

The minimum rental contract period is three months.  We will charge your credit card every three months on the due date unless you return the outfit.  If you decide to purchase the outfit in the first 90 days of your rental term,  you get ALL the rent back off the purchase price, before the tax is added to the remaining amount.  If you decide to purchase the outfit after the first 90 days, you can still have 60% of the rent back off the purchase price if you decide to purchase the outfit within the first two years.

All our rental outfits are properly setup. Those over $500 usually have better strings like Pirastro Tonica, or Thomastik Dominant for violins and violas; Jargar or Helicore for cellos and Spirocore for Basses.  Renters are responsible for any damage or loss whatsoever the cause, and any broken strings have to be replaced with strings of the same kind at the renter's expense while the instrument is in their care.  We carry all strings on hand in the store.  Strings are pretty strong, but the amount of time it takes to wear out a string depends on many factors.

STRING WEAR FACTORS