About

Craftsmanship You Can Hear

William Koucky Violins serves northwest Michigan with a balanced focus on violin sales, repair, and restoration. The business is built around careful listening, honest guidance, and instruments prepared to support students, families, professional musicians, and collectors.

Whether someone is choosing a first violin or bringing in a treasured instrument for service, the goal is the same: thoughtful work, dependable communication, and results that help each instrument perform at its best.

William Koucky started his career in 1980 building his first violin. He studied for a year under the tutelage of Paul Bickle in Alton, Hampshire, UK. Paul was a graduate of the Newark School of Violin Making. He returned to the US and applied to the Violin Making School of America. He was accepted to the school, but the school didn’t start for almost a year, in the meantime, he studied with Ed Campbell at the Chimney’s Violin Shop. Mr. Koucky graduated the Violin Making School of America in 1988. In the summers he studied bow making at the Violin Institute at University of New Hampshire. He studied six summers with William Salchow of NYC. He taught traditional French bow making techniques. Mr. Koucky made many bows while studying but considers himself a violin maker more than bow maker although the experience has aided Mr. Koucky in his current business as he does bow repairs and rehairing as well as violin restorations and sales. After graduating Mr Koucky worked at M. Becker Violins in Chicago for two years before opening his own shop in 1990.

Today, Mr. Koucky works on restorations and repairs but still finds time to build new instruments.