Making your own you can also end up with utter crap after a lot of hard work. Or worse yet, and instrument that's perfectly fine but doesn't sound like you want it to.

Lots of good advice here. I think you should also familiarize yourself with common construction and repair problems so you can judge whether or not said crack or split or odd angle is something easily and cheaply fixed -- or something you should stay away from.

After much frustration being in the same spot as you, I literally stumbled across a guy that did restoration of big batches of auction fiddles and sold them out of his barn. His selection was FAR superior to any of the shops and his prices were killer. Shopping with him did require a basic knowledge of instrument problems. I was fortunate enough to have good advice regarding my final selection, but also had a big leg up understanding some basics when I was choosing which ones to bring home for the final audition and review.

Play everything you can get your hands on and try to get an idea of the tone and character you are looking for so when you find it, you know it.

Keep an eye out for that special deal. If you find THE one... don't wait for the PhD, okay?