Pascal Gilis comes from a family of musicians, and at the age of 20 he was accepted into the highly renowned International Violin Making School in Cremona, Italy. After completing his training in various European workshops, he opened his own workshop in Brussels in 1985.

For over 40 years, the Meteny Quartet Instruments workshop has specialized in setup, restoration, and the sale of both new and old instruments. For more than thirty years, Pascal Gilis has also been making his own instruments. Well known among professional musicians, his instruments are always inspired by the great Italian masters.

While giving violin‑making courses for amateurs in Romania, Pascal Gilis discovered Reghin, the cradle of Romanian violin making: its small Italian‑style workshops, and the availability of magnificent wood from the Carpathians… the place was found!

The idea was to offer discerning amateurs and young professionals high‑quality instruments, marked by our luthier culture, at accessible prices, and produced in Europe.

In 2008, he started a small workshop with luthiers from Reghin, trained according to his own construction techniques acquired over more than twenty years.

Today, Pascal Gilis offers violins, violas and cellos in three different ranges.

The entry‑level Atelier de la Dyle instruments, produced in Romania, are finished and varnished in Belgium, which gives them genuine European luthier quality. The mid‑range Meteny instruments are partially made in Romania and completed in our workshop in Belgium to fully develop their sound. Our top‑of‑the‑range Gilis Frères instruments are made in Belgium. Each range increases in quality through the choice of wood and models, the search for style, and the quality of the varnish – from simple spirit varnishes to hand‑made oil varnishes for the “Gilis Frères” copies. The woods used come from the Romanian Carpathians and are naturally seasoned.

The maples are beautifully figured and the spruce, with its ideal medium density for our production, results in a dynamic and warm sound.

For our high‑end Gilis Frères instruments, we select rarer, particularly resonant woods from French, Swiss or Italian suppliers.

Atelier de la Dyle

Good‑quality, moderately flamed wood

Standard models

Standardized arching and thicknesses

Spirit varnish (alcohol: benzoin, mastic, shellac)

Made in our workshop in Romania, varnished in Belgium

Meteny

First‑quality wood with strict density control: Carpathian maple, spruce from the Dolomites or the Jura

Refined stylistic research in the models offered

Mixed varnish: alcohol and Venice turpentine

Made in our workshop in Romania; tonal and aesthetic finishing, as well as varnishing, carried out in Belgium

Gilis Frères

Exceptional wood, chosen to suit the instrument being copied, from our French, Swiss or Italian suppliers

Copies of well‑known instruments

Thickness graduation by tuning the frequency modes of the top (including bass‑bar adjustment) and the back

Oil varnish applied in our workshop

Made collaboratively by several luthiers

Sold fully set up and adjusted to guarantee an optimal sound result