GUEST: I inherited it from my grandfather, my mom's dad, my Grandpa Eddie, about 25 years ago.

All my family, they all picked out things, and I'd always really been fascinated by the violin.

I said, well, I would really love to have that of his, so.. so that was how I got it.

I never knew him to play it.I always envisioned him playing it, but I never did get to hear him actually play it.

As a young kid, I played violin.

That was the instrument that I chose.

(chuckling): But they would've never let me use this.

When I first got it, I went online and I got a reply back from somebody in Britain.

They gave me a pretty wide range of somewhere between £1,500 to £2,500.

APPRAISER: Well, as you know, the violin is a bit of a mess.

(chuckling) Right?

GUEST: Yes, we know that.

Yes.

APPRAISER: (laughs) So, the bridge is down here... GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: and it should be up here.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: And the fingerboard is totally loose.

It's ready to fall off any second.

GUEST: Yes, yes.

APPRAISER: It's also missing the saddle up here.

GUEST: Oh... Okay.

APPRAISER: But I wouldn't worry about that.

That's easily repairable, all those things.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: And the label that's on the inside says, "John Juzek, Prague."

And then in English, it says "made in Czechoslovakia."

So that, to me, means that it was made for the American market.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: John Juzek started violinmaking in the 1920s.

GUEST: Okay.

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And in the 1930s, late 1930s, the company moved to the United States.

When do you think your grandfather acquired this violin?

GUEST: My guess, it would probably have been in the '40s or '50s.

APPRAISER: Right, so it's about 75 years old.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: The company has continued on in Vermont, and they make many different levels of violins.

So, our trick is to figure out what level of the Juzek line of instruments this represents.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: So, the first thing I look at is the quality of wood.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: So, the spruce on the top is just a magnificent piece of spruce with absolutely straight, regular grains.

And then, on the back, the maple... Has this beautiful, distinct, pencil-thin flame all the way from top to bottom.

This is not a slouchy piece of wood.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: This is a rare piece of wood that they would have used for their finest instruments.

In today's market, as is, this violin would have a value of at least $8,000.

GUEST: Really?

APPRAISER: Yeah.

GUEST: Really?

APPRAISER: Yes!

GUEST: Wow.

$8,000, in this condition?

APPRAISER: In this condition.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: That's a retail value.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: And to fix it up, you've probably got maybe $500 to $750's worth of repair work.

GUEST: Wow, okay.

APPRAISER: And then it'll worth at least $9,000.

GUEST: Really?

Okay.

APPRAISER: So, it would definitely be worth it to get it into tip-top playing condition.