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From Beginners to Professional Players, a Tradition of Excellence since 1996.

Potter Violins is a full-service violin shop run by musicians, for musicians. We offer fine violins, violas, cellos, and bows to players of all levels, a nationwide instrument rental program, and repair and restoration services.Generations of music instructors, students and professionals have come to us with confidence because of our exacting professional standards, high level of service, and reasonable prices.
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Rentals

Our rental program is recognized nationwide for its high-quality violin, viola, and cello rentals.

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Student Instruments

Working with music educators, we constantly refine our entire line of student instruments for optimum ease of play, reliability and tone color.

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Appraisals

Fine Instruments

We offer fine violins, violas, cellos, and bows from contemporary makers to old masters.

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Services

Our highly experienced luthiers perform bowed string instrument repairs to exacting standards using the highest-quality parts and time-tested techniques.

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What Our Clients Say

Thank you for the excellent service and in particular the kind, helpful, and competent service provided by your cello specialist, Louis. I am very happy with my upgraded cello! -Felicia…

Felicia J.

After years of playing on a J.B. Vuillaume lent from the Library of Congress, I wanted to move to a classic Italian instrument.  Jim Kelly and the staff at Potter…

Nurit

Dear Mr. Kelly, Thank you so much for your help and work on my viola. It was a very generous act of yours and I appreciate that you and wor work…

Valeria S.

Dear Potter Violins family, Thank you for hosting us for such a wonderful day of playing and learning about beautiful instruments. We are so lucky to have you in our…

Elizabeth C.

Dear Jim, Thank you so much for my bow! My other one was so heavy. I was having a hard time playing with it. Thank you for the help with…

Eleanor S.

Since my daughter started playing cello in August, I have been to your fabulous establishment 3 times. My experience each time has been wonderful. Everyone is so helpful starting with…

Tina R.

I just wanted to say thank you so much for adjusting my violin. It took some time to adjust to Jacksonville weather, but now my violin sounds better than ever!…

David S.

Dear Mr. Potter, I write to tell you what a kind and valuable employee you have in Melanie. She has helped my son and me with his rentals since 2013,…

Jennette D.

Jim Kelly is my “go-to” person, an adviser that I count on when shopping for violins and bows at Potter Violins. He is welcoming and personable. He can tell me…

Ronda Cole

I visited to fix minor damages to my violin before my deployment to Afghanistan. They happily took it and made these minor fixes in a jiffy with no costs. I…

Jay S.

Thank you so much for your help. I think I received the best service in a while. I know how busy you are this time a year, but you made…

Daniela

Felicia J.

Thank you for the excellent service and in particular the kind, helpful, and competent service provided by your cello specialist, Louis. I am very happy with my upgraded cello! -Felicia J.

Nurit

After years of playing on a J.B. Vuillaume lent from the Library of Congress, I wanted to move to a classic Italian instrument.  Jim Kelly and the staff at Potter Violins, through their network of international sources, managed to secure the G.B. Guadagnini I play on now. I am grateful for their hard work.

Nurit Bar-Josef, Concertmaster
National Symphony Orchestra

Valeria S.

Dear Mr. Kelly,

Thank you so much for your help and work on my viola. It was a very generous act of yours and I appreciate that you and wor work team took the time to work on my instrument. It takes a very special kind of person to care enough to take their time for others, to do whatever it takes to help somebody out. I will always be thankful for the help you gave me. It really means a lot to me. I’ll keep studying and working very hard.

Thank you,

Valeria S.

Elizabeth C.

Dear Potter Violins family,

Thank you for hosting us for such a wonderful day of playing and learning about beautiful instruments. We are so lucky to have you in our neighborhood.

Warmly,

Elizabeth C.

Eleanor S.

Dear Jim,

Thank you so much for my bow! My other one was so heavy. I was having a hard time playing with it. Thank you for the help with my mom’s violin too!

Love,
Eleanor S.

Tina R.

Since my daughter started playing cello in August, I have been to your fabulous establishment 3 times. My experience each time has been wonderful. Everyone is so helpful starting with Derek as greeter, but today I was extremely impressed and pleased with Matt in the service dept. He took the time to discuss re-hairing our bow and all the details involved. His candid discussion helped me understand the process, the cello, and a bit about Potter’s service department. He took the time to really inform me and did so in a friendly, pleasant way. Matt was great! -Tina R.

David S.

I just wanted to say thank you so much for adjusting my violin. It took some time to adjust to Jacksonville weather, but now my violin sounds better than ever! I really appreciated all of your advice and help. See you very soon. -David S.

Jennette D.

Dear Mr. Potter,
I write to tell you what a kind and valuable employee you have in Melanie. She has helped my son and me with his rentals since 2013, and we recently purchased with her and Simon’s skillful guidance. Both Melanie and Simon, and your outstanding location, contributed to a lovely purchase morning – a fun day for both my son and me. Thank you!  -Jennette D.

Ronda Cole

Jim Kelly is my “go-to” person, an adviser that I count on when shopping for violins and bows at Potter Violins. He is welcoming and personable. He can tell me or my student that he has several of the kind of instruments I am looking for… or he may reveal that he is going to Europe on a buying trip in three weeks. I might like to come back when he returns to see what is new.

Jay S.

I visited to fix minor damages to my violin before my deployment to Afghanistan. They happily took it and made these minor fixes in a jiffy with no costs. I really appreciated their customer service and friendly gesture. 100/100 would return to this shop. -Jay S.

Daniela

Thank you so much for your help. I think I received the best service in a while. I know how busy you are this time a year, but you made this experience for me so effortless.

Your service was professional, courteous and more importantly, very prompt.

Millions of thanks [and] Best regards,

Daniela

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Excellence in Preservation Awarded to Potter Violins

Feb 7, 2020
We are honored to have been selected to receive the Excellence in Preservation Award from Montgomery Preservation Inc. in Maryland for preservation, rehabilitation, and adaptive reuse of our historic building!…
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Teacher Appreciation Day 2019

Aug 20, 2019
Join us for all or part of this special day on September 8th, 2019 and find inspiration for the start of the 2019 – 2020 academic year!  There will be…
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Flagship Location
7711 Eastern Avenue
Takoma Park, MD 20912
New Gaithersburg Rental Location
830 Muddy Branch Road
Gaithersburg, MD 20878
A tradition of excellence since 1996
Call us for more information
(301) 652-7070 1 (800) 317-9452
Hours
Tues - Fri

Flagship Location: 10:00am – 6:00pm

Muddy Branch: 11:00am – 7:00pm

Saturday

10:00am to 4:00pm

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