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Premium ❘ FeatureIn a spirit of collaboration: Brandenburg experiments
Makers at the annual Brandenburg violin making workshop joined forces on a two-year project to build and test two identical violins, one of which was made with treated wood. The results were intriguing. Adam Winskill reports on the methodology and findings
Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Even split, even grain
A simple method for joining plates with even grain orientation
Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A c.1880–90 viola by Enrico Marchetti
Sean Bishop examines the late-nineteenth-century instrument
Premium ❘ FeatureIberian lutherie guilds: Tradition and Innovation
Instrument making in the Iberian peninsula was once tightly controlled by a network of guilds. Pablo Soriano examines regulations and personal documents to reveal the details of luthiers’ working lives
FocusThe Strad Calendar 2026: 2019 Octobass
Standing 11 feet 8 inches tall, the instrument was built by luthier Jean-Jacques Pagès and is now played by Eric Chappell of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra
FocusThe Strad Calendar 2026: 1712 ‘Viotti, Hottinger’ Antonio Stradivari violin
’The noble beauty of its tone seems to us to echo the elevated style of Viotti’s compositions’ said the Hills of this violin
- Premium ❘ Feature
Iberian lutherie guilds: Tradition and Innovation
Instrument making in the Iberian peninsula was once tightly controlled by a network of guilds. Pablo Soriano examines regulations and personal documents to reveal the details of luthiers’ working lives
- Focus
The Strad Calendar 2026: 2019 Octobass
Standing 11 feet 8 inches tall, the instrument was built by luthier Jean-Jacques Pagès and is now played by Eric Chappell of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra
- Focus
The Strad Calendar 2026: 1712 ‘Viotti, Hottinger’ Antonio Stradivari violin
’The noble beauty of its tone seems to us to echo the elevated style of Viotti’s compositions’ said the Hills of this violin
- Premium ❘ Feature
In a spirit of collaboration: Brandenburg experiments
Makers at the annual Brandenburg violin making workshop joined forces on a two-year project to build and test two identical violins, one of which was made with treated wood. The results were intriguing. Adam Winskill reports on the methodology and findings
- Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: Even split, even grain
A simple method for joining plates with even grain orientation
- Premium ❘ Feature
In Focus: A c.1880–90 viola by Enrico Marchetti
Sean Bishop examines the late-nineteenth-century instrument
My Space: Nurgül Çomak’s Istanbul workshop
The Turkish maker presents her workshop in the cosmopolitan city
My Space: Francisco Núñez Gómez’s Santa Ana workshop
The maker presents his shop, located in Costa Rica
’A distinctive golden aura’: cellist Jamie Walton on the 1642 Nicolò Amati cello
Jamie Walton, the current custodian of the Amati cello, reflects on its sound and projection
Premium ❘ Feature
In Focus: An 1822 violin by Georges Chanot I
Jonathan Marolle examines the French maker’s early instrument
Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: Making a paper template for a scroll
A procedure that allows for accurate reproduction as well as being a stimulant to creativity
Premium ❘ Feature
Bending the rules: arching constructions
How can luthiers create an instrument’s arching from scratch? Sebastian Gonzalez presents a possible solution to an age-old dilemma, using simple formulas and the latest technology
Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: Extending the reach of metal F-clamps
Making wooden jaws for a lighter, safer long-reach clamping alternative
Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: Cutting the f-holes
The traditional method adopted by the luthiers of the old Mirecourt school
Premium ❘ Feature
In Focus: A c.1690 violin by Giovanni Maria del Bussetto
Aidan Mullerkin examines the elusive maker’s instrument
Premium ❘ Feature
A master of his craft: Simone Fernando Sacconi
Born 130 years ago, Simone Fernando Sacconi was a brilliant violin maker and restorer, a respected teacher and, latterly, a celebrated author. Friends, colleagues and former students share their memories with Peter Somerford
Focus
The Strad Calendar 2026: 1767 Nicolò Gagliano cello
Formerly owned by Roger Smith of the Gagliano Trio, this fine example of Gagliano’s work is now played by Thomas Mesa
Focus
The Strad Calendar 2026: 1713 ‘G. Schönau’ Antonio Stradivari violin
This fascinating example of Stradivari’s work is played by Nikki Chooi, the current concertmaster of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
Focus
The Strad Calendar 2026: 1741 ‘Bohrer, Baumgartner’ Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ violin
Currently played by Kerson Leong, this is an ‘outstanding concert instrument in excellent condition’
Focus
The Strad Calendar 2026: 1699 ‘Dubois’ Antonio Stradivari cello
With a fine red-brown varnish, this cello may have been made with wood from the same tree as the famed ’Cristiani, Stauffer’
Focus
The Strad Calendar 2026: 1773–78 ‘Crafoord’ Guadagnini viola
The back of this viola is made from two pieces of bird’s-eye maple cut on the slab, with a faint figure running more or less horizontally
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