Lutherie – Page 45
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Premium ❘ FeatureFingerboards: The lighter option
While the acoustics of the violin soundbox have undergone rigorous testing, the neck and fingerboard have been virtually ignored. Joseph Nagyvary reveals the results of experiments showing that a lighter material might be preferable to the standard ebony
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Premium ❘ ArticleTrade secrets: making and fitting purfling
A solution to the awkward problem of how to insert strips around the neck heel area, by Hans Pluhar
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Premium ❘ ArticleIn focus: Paul Dörfel
A 1920 violin made by the Markneukirchen-based luthier Paul Dörfel. Written by Bruce Babbitt
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Premium ❘ FeaturePersoit, the illusion solution
One of the most mysterious French bow makers, Persoit had a number of idiosyncrasies that give his works a uniquely light appearance. Through a detailed study of a single bow, Paolo Sarri shows his creative answer to the problem of bulky heads
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Premium ❘ FeatureAt the dawn of it all: making in Füssen
Nowadays best known for its neo-Gothic castles, the town of Füssen in southern Germany has possibly the oldest lutherie tradition of any in the country. Thomas Riedmillertraces its influence, from the foothills of the Alps to England, Vienna and Prague
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Premium ❘ FeatureVuillaume's Early Years: The Making of a Master
Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume was the most successful French luthier of his time, but the first years of his career are still shrouded in mystery. Jonathan Marolle examines some of his earliest instruments to uncover the evolution of his technique and style
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Premium ❘ FeatureMichel Collichon: The Magnificent Ten
Just a handful of instruments by Michel Collichon have survived to the present day – but they demonstrate the skill and techniques of a master innovator. With a tenth example recently identified, Shem Mackey explains the appeal of the 17th-century viol maker to modern-day luthiers
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Premium ❘ FeatureJacob Stainer: reviewing the situation
It has long been assumed that Jacob Stainer received some training in Cremona – but the theory rests on slim evidence. Rudolf Hopfner explores a middle-period violin using micro-CT technology to cast doubt on what we think we knowWolfgang Schneiderhan
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Premium ❘ ArticleTrade secrets: cutting f-holes
A methodical way of completing this elegant but delicate part of the making process by WILLIAM CASTLE, luthier based in Whitchurch, Shropshire, UK
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Premium ❘ ArticleIn focus: a 1937 violin by Paolo De Barbieri
Paolo De Barbieri was born in 1889 in Genoa. In 1902, aged 13, he left a note on the kitchen table which read ‘Back in a minute’: he left home for about six years to work as a cabin boy. He completed his military service in the navy and in ...
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Premium ❘ FeatureVarnish analysis: shining examples
Identifying the varnish recipes of the early makers has been a long-held dream among researchers. Now, a team at the Arvedi Laboratory of Non-Invasive Diagnostics, headed by Marco Malagodi, has used a new form of micro-CT scanning to delve further into an instrument’s coatings than ever before
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Premium ❘ FeatureStradivari’s moulds: Variations on a theme
Twelve violin moulds from Antonio Stradivari’s workshop still survive, but how do they correspond to the master’s oeuvre? In the first of two articles,Philip Ihle and Andrea Zanrè present the results of an exhaustive survey to match forms to finished instruments
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Premium ❘ FeatureStradivari’s corners: Music of the spheres
The publication of high-accuracy violin photography has opened up new possibilities for researching Cremonese masterpieces up close and en masse. Philip Ihle examines Antonio Stradivari’s purfling corners across 136 examples and reveals their relationship with the luthier’s forms
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ArticleGiuseppe Sgarbi - an overlooked individualist?
In an era when luthiers were not precious about putting elements of their own personality into the models to which they referred, the 19th century maker Giuseppe Sgarbi created instruments that have a unique vibrancy and individuality
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Article‘When you are on a hill, the sound is good’
Luthier Stefan-Peter Greiner on the mysterious art of sound-adjustment
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ReviewBook review: Eugène Sartory: Documents and photographs concerning his life and work, presented by his grandson Philippe Dupuy
Philip Brown reviews a book of memories on the great 20th-century bow maker
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Premium ❘ FeatureStefan-Peter Greiner on individuality in violin making
For Stefan-Peter Greiner, instrument making is not about copying; it’s about individuality, experimentation and intuition. In conversation with Pauline Harding, the German luthier discusses his ideas on sound adjustment, ‘Stradivari frequencies’ and creating the ideal working environment
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FocusAre contemporary violin makers limiting their potential to develop new ideas?
A key aim of the VSA/Oberlin Workshop ‘Obie 1’ project was to create a good original violin design that was not directly derived or copied from a previous instrument
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Focus9 tips on working with violin bridges
Advice on how to fit, adjust and design your bridge from The Strad Archive
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Premium ❘ NewsAuction Report: January 2020
Old Italians and a modern bow proved popular at this autumn’s auctions, as Kevin MacDonald reports
