We purchased a 3/4 size violin for our daughter in 2005 for $1700.
And now that we are moving up to full size we took it to a different shop in Calgary hoping for a reasonable trade in as we figured it was a decent quality violin considering what we paid when we bought it. They said that it isn’t worth much. The tuning pegs did not fit right, the finger board was not very good and the bridge was not fitted well plus the finish quality was very poor. Basically it was worthless. They said the value might be $600 if it was fully repaired but the labour cost to fix all the problems made it not worthwhile to repair.
So the violin is on its way to Cuba as a donation for people who can’t afford musical instruments.
We were obviously not knowledgeable enough when purchasing this violin. So beware if your are considering doing any business with
W A Gough Violins Ltd.
120 16 Avenue NW
Calgary, AB
Canada
403-276-8820
I know og Mr Gough. He is a fine gentleman and an excellant luthier. A testament to his skill – several of the gifted musicians with the CPO buy repeatedly from Mr Gough. Did you stop to think that the person you were dealing with on a trade in was not knowledgeable or that he was the one trying to rip you off. Make sure you know what you are saying before you attack someone’s reputation.
We have been dealing with Mr. Gough for over 15 years and I would vouch 100% for his honesty. He’s refurbished several old violins for us and treated us more than fairly. I agree with Marian Gartner – he is an extremely fine gentleman and I would recommend him wholeheartedly. Perhaps the other shop should be the one in question?