Lutherie
-
Premium ❘ Feature
A Stradivarian bow: a jewel of four facets
Recent research on the 17th- and 18th-century bows in the collection of the Musée de la Musique in Paris led to the attribution of a bow stick to the Stradivari workshop. Marie-Ève Geeraert and Jean-Philippe Échard shed some light on their discovery of this one-of-a-kind artefact
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: Bow tip replacement – part two
How to shape the new tip after having replaced the ebony and ivory
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Where science meets art: Positioning the f-holes
Inspired by the work of the illustrious Cremonese masters, Alvin Thomas King presents a practical method for modern-day luthiers to position the f-holes on an instrument
-
Premium ❘ Feature
In Focus: A 1796 viola by Sebastian Dalinger
Rainer Michael Cocron examines the Austrian maker’s late 18th-century instrument
-
Premium ❘ Feature
My Space: Peter & Rory Boardman’s Donaghadee workshop
The father and son duo present their Northern Ireland workshop
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Making Matters: the story and influence of bow maker Joseph Arthur Vigneron
Marking the 100th anniversary of André Vigneron’s death, Hamilton Caswell considers the influence he and his father Joseph Arthur have had on the generations of bow makers that followed, particularly on bass bows
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Raising the bar: Bass-bar experiments
Joseph Curtin reports on a series of experiments at the 2023 Oberlin Acoustics Workshop, which attempted to ascertain the acoustic effects of altering the height and scoop of the violin’s bass-bar
-
Premium ❘ Feature
In Focus: A 1969 viola by Gio Batta Morassi
Yuri Pochekin examines his own mentor’s viola
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: Bow tip replacement – part one
Jenelle Steele explains a detailed method to remove an old tip and fit a new one, before shaping
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Making Matters: applying the ground coat to a violin
Making and applying the ground coat is a crucial stage of the varnishing process. James Ropp reveals his own method for a preparation containing no oil
-
Premium ❘ Feature
My Space: Daniela Gaidano’s Meltina workshop
The Italian luthier presents her forest-surrounded shop
-
Premium ❘ Feature
A closer look: Examining the ‘Salabue, Martzy’ violin
The Strad’s lutherie consultant Philip Ihle put together this month’s poster of the ‘Salabue, Martzy’. Here he points out several extra details to help luthiers make an exact copy of the instrument
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Resplendent harmony: Carlo Bergonzi ‘Salabue, Martzy’ violin 1733
The 1733 ‘Salabue, Martzy’ is one of the finest instruments by Carlo Bergonzi in existence. Jason Price examines the violin and looks at its travels over the past 300 years
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: A workshop facility to measure violin family acoustics
Creating an apparatus for routine quick and easy measurements while making and setting up the violin and related instruments
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Bridging the decades: Bridges from the archive
Instrument bridges have become pretty much standardised in the modern era, but in days of yore they came under as much scrutiny as strings, mutes and chin rests. These advertisements taken from the first half of The Strad ’s history testify to their designers’ ingenuity
-
-
Premium ❘ Feature
In Focus: A 1927 violin by Evasio Emilio Guerra
Andrea Schudtz examines the Turin maker’s early 20th-century instrument
-
Premium ❘ Feature
Making Matters: Bridge position of the pochette instrument
One of the most unusual stringed instruments, the pochette can be found on show in many museum collections – but is it being displayed properly? Wim Raymaekers argues that the bridge position needs to be rethought
-
Premium ❘ Feature
‘He was taking a very large elephant to America’ - From the archive: June 1904
Violinist Archie Easton presents some ‘reminiscences of John Frederick Lott’ (1804–70), including his brief spell as an elephant trainer for a circus
-
Premium ❘ Article
Auction Report June 2024: Like father, like son
An Omobono Stradivari and two Vuillaumes were the standout lots during a varied spring auction season in London, as Kevin MacDonald reports