Lutherie
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: A new approach to bracing flat-back instruments
This system of ‘responsive bracing’ allows for the natural movement of the wood
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Blogs‘A perfect mind obsessed with understanding the quality of violins’: a tribute to George Stoppani
The Strad’s lutherie consultant Philip Ihle recalls the analytical methods of his friend and colleague, who died on 25 December 2024
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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
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NewsBritish luthier George Stoppani has died
An acknowledged expert in instrument acoustics, he was 75 years old
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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 ...
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1937 violin by Giuseppe Castagnino
Alberto Giordano examines a 20th-century violin by the Chiavari-based luthier
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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
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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
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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
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FeatureThe Weidhaas–Finkel bow making dynasty: an exclusive close-up look at the family’s output
In the December 2024 issue, Gennady Filimonov tells the story of the Weidhaas and Finkel bow making families. Here he examines several bows by three of the dynasty’s best-known archetiers
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1924 violin by János Spiegel
Zoltán Délczeg examines a 100-year-old instrument by Hungarian maker János Spiegel
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Premium ❘ FeatureMy Space: Mensur Avdić’s Tuzla workshop
The maker presents his workshop in Bosnia & Herzegovina
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FocusThe Strad Calendar 2025: 1717 ‘Windsor, Weinstein’ Stradivari violin
The first Stradivari violin to be given to the Canada Council’s Musical Instrument Bank, it remains in top-class condition
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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
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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
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FocusThe Strad Calendar 2025: 1730 ‘Newland’ Giovanni Francesco Celoniato cello
One of only eight cellos known to be made by the Turin-based luthier, it is named after Canadian cellist Christine Newland
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BlogsScottish luthier Robert Duncan and the Joseph Ruddiman London connection
David Rattray examines a firm link between the Aberdeen and London schools of lutherie in the 18th century
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BlogsHow to photograph violins: Tarisio’s Robert Bailey speaks to the VSA
The auction house’s head photographer gives details on his camera set-up, lighting, studio layout and the different requirements of front, side, back and scroll shots
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NewsWinners announced at 2024 VSA instrument making competition
Bow makers Victor Bernard and Emmanuel Carlier were named ‘hors concours’ members, while Canadian luthier Fabienne Gauchet received a double gold for quartet - for the second time
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FeatureLife as a violin maker in 16th-century Venice: an exclusive look
In the December 2024 issue we examine the history of the Linarol dynasty, one of the first violin making families in Venice. Here, Stefano Pio provides some context as to the 16th-century environment in which they worked, as well as a semantic discussion on the terms ‘viole’ and ‘lire’ ...
