- More from navigation items
- Home
- News
- For Subscribers
- Student Hub
- Playing Hub
- Podcast
- Lutherie
- Magazine
- Magazine archive
- Whether you're a player, maker, teacher or enthusiast, you'll find ideas and inspiration from leading artists, teachers and luthiers in our archive which features every issue published since January 2010 - available exclusively to subscribers. View the archive.
- Jobs
- Shop
- Directory
- Contact us
- Subscribe
- School Subscription
- Competitions
- Reviews
- Debate
- Artists
- Accessories
Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Replacement of pearl eyes in a bow
Sarah Bystrom shares a method for a common task in bow restoration that respects the intention and style of the maker
Premium ❘ FeatureHard and fast rules: tonewood selection
What should luthiers look for when selecting spruce for their next violin top? Jiri Povolny examines the variables and discovers some useful guidelines to take out the guesswork
Premium ❘ FeatureMy Space: Wai Yong Tham’s Singapore workshop
Explore the home workshop near the centre of Singapore
Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: Masonic symbols on 19th-century French bows
The frogs on 19th-century French bows feature several common motifs that recur in the work of several makers. Michel Samson shows how they correspond to the principles of Freemasonry
Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1753 viola by Carlo Antonio Testore
Sean Bishop takes a look at a relatively rare example of an 18th-century Italian viola
Premium ❘ FeatureLeading the way: the ‘Baron d’Erlanger’ Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ violin 1732
Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ made the 1732 ‘Baron d’Erlanger’ violin near the start of his most productive period. Florian Leonhard explores how it shows the maker’s early style and reveals the history of its most famous owner
Premium ❘ Feature‘To my surprise I found it to be a splendid Strad’ - From the Archive: April 1925
In his recently published memoir, the Scottish instrument dealer David Laurie (1833–97) recalls finding a Stradivari cello in the attic of one of his friends, and obtaining it for a song
Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1923 violin by Michael Dötsch
Rainer Michael Cocron examines an early 20th-century instrument by the German maker
Premium ❘ FeatureDual accomplishments: the makers of Markneukirchen
The workshops of Markneukirchen and its environs made thousands of violins per year – but many were crafted by true artisans. Bruce Babbitt explains how these violins became the basis for a new book and exhibition charting their evolution
Premium ❘ FeatureTrade secrets: External crack repair using silk
Sharon Que provides an innovative solution to a common – and tricky – repair problem
Premium ❘ FeatureMy Space: Bernhard Ritschard’s Lübeck workshop
Take a look around the northern German shop
Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: Making instruments with tulipwood
A case of mistaken identity left luthier Sibylle Ruppert with a batch of untested tulipwood – but a few experiments showed its high potential for instrument making
Premium ❘ FeatureFranz Geissenhof: the Viennese Stradivari
Franz Geissenhof’s instruments have always been highly regarded, but how far was he influenced by his Cremonese predecessor? Rudolf Hopfner compares a typical Geissenhof violin with Stradivari’s work to find out
Premium ❘ FeatureViolin maker Antonio Bagatella: First among equals
Despite few of his violins surviving today, Antonio Bagatella is important in violin history for writing one of the first treatises on instrument design. Christian Pabst examines his work and shows how his methods stand up to scrutiny
Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Varnish retouch
A method for layering pigments and shellac to reproduce the exact colour and thickness of an instrument’s varnish
Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: Using various technologies for restoration
Luthier Giovanni Lazzaro recalls the extensive restoration of an 1876 cello by Raffaele Fiorini which required the use of a number of different technologies
Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: An 1893 violin by Alexander Smillie
David Rattray presents a late 19th-century violin by the Scottish maker
Premium ❘ FeatureMy Space: Camille Dolibeau’s Amsterdam workshop
The maker presents her workshop in the bustling capital
Premium ❘ FeatureBow maker James Tubbs: London Calling
The British bow maker James Tubbs was born 190 years ago this month. John Basford looks back at his life, work and legacy to the bow making community
Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: ‘Cryo-treatment’ of violin wood
What effect would subjecting spruce and maple to ultra-low temperatures have on their sound quality? Oliver Radke presents the results of an informal study into the ‘cryo-treatment’ of violin wood
Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: The ‘Doratura Cremonese’ ground method
How to make and apply a ground coat with a deep golden yellow colour
Premium ❘ FeatureDance of the swans: the bows of Charles Nicolas Bazin
The Tourte-model bows by Charles Nicolas Bazin represent the pinnacle of elegance and refinement in the history of French bow making. To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the swan-head model, Richard Morency examines some of the finest examples
Premium ❘ FeatureMy Space: Russell Stowe’s Woodbridge workshop
The maker presents his Suffolk atelier
Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: 1877 double bass by Gand & Bernardel
René Zaal examines the Parisian violin making house’s 19th-century bass
Premium ❘ Feature‘Master of the violin, artist of the soul’: Władysław Baczyński
Władysław Baczyński overcame a life of tragedy to become one of Poland’s most highly regarded 20th-century violin makers. Grzegorz Kaproń tells his story
Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: Strategies to fix wolf notes
Eliminating a wolf note can be the bane of every luthier’s life. Linda Lespets passes on four methods that can help to solve the problem
Premium ❘ FeatureMy Space: Dínçay Gülenç’s Istanbul workshop
The luthier takes us on a tour of his Turkish workshop
Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: A new approach to bracing flat-back instruments
This system of ‘responsive bracing’ allows for the natural movement of the wood
Premium ❘ FeatureStars of Africa: South African tonewood
Wood physicist Martina Meincken presents the results of a study investigating whether indigenous woods of southern Africa might be suitable for use as tonewood for instruments
Premium ❘ FeatureA unique poster: ‘Paderewski, Wendling’ violin – part two
Expert and conservator Balthazar Soulier has curated this month’s poster which, for the first time, features an ‘original composite’ violin: the ‘Paderewski, Wendling’, made by Montagnana and Guarneri ‘del Gesù’. Here he places this unique instrument in context and highlights complementary information to enable a better understanding of the poster ...
Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1937 violin by Giuseppe Castagnino
Alberto Giordano examines a 20th-century violin by the Chiavari-based luthier
Premium ❘ FocusAuction Report January 2025: The nice and the good
Kevin MacDonald finds a wealth of interesting lots at the October sales in London, from fine old Italians to a fiddle by a Cumbrian farmer
Premium ❘ Feature‘Through how many hands an instrument has to pass’ - From the archive: December 1904
Felix Herrmann reports on the violin making methods of Markneukirchen, and how the work is divided up among the neighbouring villages
Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Repairing a bow stick
François Louant presents a method for attaching new wood to the stick at the frog end, when the original material is unsalvageable
Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1924 violin by János Spiegel
Zoltán Délczeg examines a 100-year-old instrument by Hungarian maker János Spiegel
Premium ❘ FeatureMy Space: Mensur Avdić’s Tuzla workshop
The maker presents his workshop in Bosnia & Herzegovina
Premium ❘ FeatureFive generations of the Weidhaas–Finkel bow making dynasty
Gennady Filimonov continues his survey of the great 20th-century German bow makers with a look at the Weidhaas–Finkel dynasty, which now boasts five generations in the profession
Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: Speed of sound in bow wood
Why is it that a violin’s sound quality can change so radically with a different bow? Massimo Lucchi explains the principle behind the speed of sound in bow wood
Premium ❘ FeatureMerchants of Venice: Venetian lutherie
In the 16th century, the Republic of Venice was a hotbed of innovation for stringed instrument makers – and the members of the Linarol family were at the heart of the trade. Stefano Pio explores the archives to reveal their fascinating and often colourful lives and careers
Keep informed
- Issues
- Contact us
- Contributors
- © 2025 The Strad
- Topics A-Z
- Terms of use
- Privacy policy
- Cookies
- FAQ
- Published by Newsquest Media Group Limited, registered in England & Wales with number 01676637 at 1st Floor, Chartist Tower, Upper Dock Street, Newport, Wales, NP20 1DW - a Gannett company