I played violin in several groups during high school, but never took the time to have it repaired or cleaned properly and always changed my strings myself.. After not playing for several years while in college and grad school, I moved back home to Southern California and joined two local orchestras. I noticed my violin was badly stained, my bridge was beginning to warp, my bow needed rehairing, and my pegs kept slipping- it was time to have a professional take a look at it. I did some research and remembered I had heard good things about Everjoy, and after hearing my conductor say he has his repairs done there as well, I knew it was a good choice.
Before even playing a note, Patrick was able to diagnose everything that needed repairs- including several things I hadn't even noticed. He was very conscientious of my budget as we went over all the repairs, but fortunately even with all the items I had not foreseen, the total cost was very reasonable and within my outlined budget. Patrick had called me during the week to suggest purchasing a new bow, since he noticed my current one was warped slightly to one side and that the weight balance was not ideal for my style of playing. I went back to pick up my violin later the following week and could barely recognize it- it looked pristine and almost brand new. He had also picked out 3 bows for me to try out, each with a different weight balance. His intuition is truly unbelievable, as I ended up purchasing the bow that he predicted I would like best even before I had tested them. The sound that came out was so much cleaner and well rounded than anything I had ever played on my violin before.
Before I left, he took the time to explain some of the ways I could better take care of my violin to prevent such extreme repairs. The most interesting thing I learned was from his expertise in tonal adjustment and how switching between brands while changing the strings myself had led to a deterioration in tone, since the sound post and bridge should be adjusted each time as well. I will definitely be taking my violin here for tune-ups and string changes from now on!