Can an American Shop Do Repairs on a Hardanger Fiddle?
There are very few shops or individual repair people in America with experience with Hardanger fiddles. Consult the Other Resources page to contact someone. Even if that person is far away, and you decide not to take your fiddle to him or her, he or she may be able to give good advice. A normal quality American shop will be able to do some kinds of work (gluing cracks, for example) just fine, but will probably not be as good at adjusting the bridge and sound post to get the best sound out of the instrument as a shop in Norway. A quality shop in America will not damage your instrument. Repairs in Norway seem to be somewhat cheaper than in America. If you have a crack or an open seam (“seam” means the join where the top or bottom meets the sides), then there is no reason not to get it taken care of here. In other cases, you will have a decision to make. For example, if everything seems in order, but you suspect the instrument could sound better, then you should probably wait until you ca
