I think your luthier is trying to tell you that your money would be better spent on another instrument, as politely as he knows how, simply because from his point of view, this fiddle will never be tonally correct and he can't do anything about that. That's how he looks at it. In guitar terminology, he can't imagine Andres Segovia playing the Recuerdos de la Alhambra on a National Duolian. I have a VERY old record of Enrico Caruso from the days when bowed instruments did not record properly - he is accompanied by a plectrum banjo, rather than a cello. If the repairman can't understand that there are horses for courses, you can try explaining that you are not seeking that dense classical tone he seeks. As long as he gives you what you want, keep going back - but let him know there's another way of looking at it. As for the banjo - the band have persuaded me to play the damn thing when I wanted to put it in the dumpster!