John Montgomery is an excellent Luthier and we are very fortunate to have someone as knowledgeable as Mr. Montgomery as a resource here in North Carolina.
However, because Mr. Montgomery has such a superb reputation, he has a tendency to charge much much more than Luthiers for comparable work in other markets. Our family has had several violins worked on by top notch luthiers in major markets such as Chicago, LA, and New York. The costs for repair done by Mr. Montgomery is nearly twice what you would expect to pay if you went to a comparable luthier in another location. I suppose it would be a case of supply and demand.
We have attempted to sell 2 violins on consignment through Mr. Montgomery. Not only did he inform us that we would need to sink 1500 into a $7500 violin in order to make it "marketable", after having the violin in the shop for over 5 years now, there has been no sale. So at this point, we have to pay 1500 to get the violin back or continue to let it continue to age with absolutely no communication or status updates from Mr. Montgomery.
If you need to purchase an instrument, you will be able to find excellent "high-end" instruments and accessories. However, if you are looking for repairs and/or to sell your instrument, you would be better off either selling at auction or taking it to a luthier in a different market who will not take advantage of the seller in terms of repairs and sales commission. read more