Lutherie – Page 13
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Premium ❘ FeatureCuriouser and curiouser: the 1672 ‘Gustav Mahler’ Stradivari viola
Was the 1672 ‘Mahler’ the first viola ever made by Antonio Stradivari? As Jonathan Marolle explains, this is just one of the unanswerable questions that arise when studying this fascinating instrument
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Making a soundpost jig
A useful device to help luthiers cut a soundpost to its correct length, and to make its top and bottom angles
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: an 1810 violin by Nicolas Lupot
John Dilworth examines an instrument by the French maker
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A c.1920 double bass by Cesare Candi
René Zaal examines the 20th-century instrument
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Premium ❘ FeatureEarly Russian bow: From Russia with love
Gennady Filimonov reveals the origins of a bow made entirely from ivory
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Premium ❘ FeatureMore than 18 arm-aching inches: Jacob Stainer’s tenor viola
The only remaining tenor viola made by the Tyrolean maker Jacob Stainer reveals the maker’s painstaking attention to detail and offers tantalising clues about Italian influence on his style, as Darren Freeman explains
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Premium ❘ FeatureThe makers’ instrument: the 1735 ‘Plowden’ violin by Guarneri ‘del Gesù’
The 1735 ‘Plowden’ violin by Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ has been talked about, pored over, and photographed time and time again, but there is still plenty more to discover about this celebrity of the violin world, as Sam Zygmuntowicz reveals in this article from 2011
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Premium ❘ FeatureMaking copies: Sounds like a match?
If someone makes an exact copy of a Stradivari, will it sound like a Stradivari? Sam Zygmuntowicz attempts to answer the question by making duplicates of the ‘Titian’ and ‘Willemotte’ Strads, as well as the ‘Plowden’ Guarneri ‘del Gesù’
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Premium ❘ Feature1726 ‘Saveuse’ Stradivari cello: Small is beautiful
The 1726 ‘Saveuse’ is one of the smallest cellos Antonio Stradivari ever produced. John Dilworth discovers the unique characteristics of this rare model
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Premium ❘ Feature‘Timbre and brilliance are not static, but dynamic’ - Making Matters: Sound ideas
Violinists and brothers Arne and Jens Rossbach share their experiments in sound and timbre
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Fitting a bridge to a violin belly
A detailed account of a process that revisits a fundamental skill for luthiers
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Premium ❘ FeatureThe most important violin in the world? - The 1716 ‘Messiah’ Stradivari violin
Stradivari’s 1716 ‘Messiah’ violin has beguiled with its pristine condition for 300 years, despite having remained mute for most of that time. John Dilworth examines the mystique surrounding this enigmatic instrument that still refuses to give up its secrets
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Premium ❘ FeatureCT-Scanning the ‘Messiah’ Stradivari violin
In 2016 the ‘Messiah’ Stradivari was the subject of an extensive CT scanning project. Francesco Piasentini and Gregg Alf examine the resulting data, discovering repair work in the neck, and attempt to determine how it had originally been set
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1756 baroque cello by Robert Duncan
David Rattray on the Scottish maker’s mid-18th-century baroque cello
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Premium ❘ FeatureAn outstanding piece of work: exploring the 1865 ‘Sheremetev’ Vuillaume cello
The sheer quantity of J.B. Vuillaume’s instruments has led to a certain prejudice against them. But as John Dilworth explains, his finest creations, such as this 1865 ‘Sheremetev’ cello, rank almost as high as those of the Cremonese masters
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Premium ❘ Feature‘The great artistry of history’s most important bow maker’ - François Xavier Tourte
Paul Childs compares and contrasts two very late violin bows by François Xavier Tourte
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Premium ❘ Feature‘I do pretty much everything in this one room’ - My Space: Steve Burnett
Take a trip into Steve Burnett’s Edinburgh workshop
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Premium ❘ FeatureThe world’s most expensive violin: the 1741 ‘Vieuxtemps’ Guarneri ‘del Gesù’
Terry Borman discusses the ribs, purfling and scroll of this unique instrument in our June 2018 issue
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Premium ❘ FeatureAntonio Stradivari ‘Harrison’ violin 1693: The start of something big
Andrew Dipper shows how the 1693 ‘Harrison’ violin signifies the start of a critical phase in the master luthier’s career
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Premium ❘ Feature‘Portions of the book will hardly appear satisfactory’: From the archive: December 1902
The Hills’ book Antonio Stradivari: His Life and Work is now seen as a seminal landmark in Stradivari scholarship. The Strad ’s reviewer didn’t view it quite that way.
