Lutherie – Page 32
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Premium ❘ Feature‘And the thieves got clean away’: From the archive: June 1892
An anonymous article entitled ‘Fiddle Dealers, Beware!’ reveals how two of London’s best-known violin dealers were swindled by a pair of European con artists
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Premium ❘ ArticleAuction Report: June 2022
Kevin MacDonald finds some unusual offerings, including an interesting quartet of bows, at the capital’s March auctions
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Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: Historically Informed?
Are the gut strings used in HIP really true to those used by 18th- and 19th-century players? Kai Köpp examines the technical reasons why today’s strings might sound quite different from their predecessors
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VideoThe Essence of a Sound: luthier Hans Johannsson at TEDx Reykjavik
Icelandic violin maker Hans Johannsson gives a talk exploring ‘a fascinating juxtaposition of an age-old traditional craft on the one hand and the pursuit of science and technology on the other’, filmed at a TEDx event at the Tjarnarbíó theatre in Reykjavik on 4 November 2018. The listing for the ...
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NewsObituary: Tom Blackburn (1944-2022)
The London-based luthier and restorer ran Blackburn Stringed Instruments for more than 50 years
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GalleryPhoto gallery: Guy Johnston granted use of ‘Segelman’ Stradivari cello
Take a close-up look at a cello made during 1692, when Stradivari was 48 years old
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Premium ❘ FeatureAugust Rau: The old-fashioned way
At a time when bow making in Germany was leaning towards industrialisation, August Rau kept up the tradition of independent craftsmanship. Gennady Filimonov tells the story of his long career and examines several examples of his work
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Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: Shaping the head
Violin makers have always been aware of physical issues like repetitive strain injury – but it’s just as important to take care of their mental health and wellbeing. John Beames examines some of the most common problems, and suggests some ways to combat them
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Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: Hidden in plain sight
The Stradivari moulds preserved at Cremona’s Museo del Violino still have secrets to give up. David Beard re-examines all 17 survivors to find how they reveal details from rib heights to the maker’s working method
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Premium ❘ FeatureViolin making in Seoul: Gangnam style
Over the past decade, a wide community of violin and bow makers has grown up in the Seocho district of Seoul. Luthier Hagit Gili Gluska speaks to colleagues young and old, both local and from overseas, who have made this area their home
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1911 cello by Guglielmo Secondo Camillo Mandelli
Lionnel Genovart looks at the Italian maker’s instrument
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FocusOvercoming our addiction to tropical hardwoods: the latest alternatives
As ebony and rosewood become endangered, the likes of spruce, maple and boxwood are being scientifically modified to offer luthiers alternatives. Tom Stewart explores the brave new world of sustainable fittings
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Premium ❘ Feature‘The kind of varnish used is simply a matter of taste’: From the Archive: May 1932
US violin maker Edward Hellier-Collens gives readers of The Strad the benefit of his expertise: good violin tone lies not in the varnish after all, but in the ‘filler’ (ground coat)
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Carving a ‘Hill-style’ saddle
Care and accuracy are needed to make a two-piece ebony saddle – in this case for cello
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Premium ❘ FeatureMy Space: Rainer W. Leonhardt
A Mittenwald luthier with an almost 100-year family tradition
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News’My home and my violin shop are completely destroyed’: a call for help from a Mariupol luthier
UPDATE: A GoFundMe page in aid of luthier Oleksandr Smykovskyi has now been launched
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Premium ❘ FeatureJacob Stainer’s birth: A question of dates
For centuries, historians have tried to settle on a definitive birthdate for Tyrolean luthier Jacob Stainer. Heinz Noflatscher explains how we now have an upper limit for his birth year – and why researchers were foxed by the elegant handwriting of the master
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NewsThe String Circle launches in Cremona
The initiative supports both both the art of master luthiers and the needs of young string players in search of high quality instruments
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FeatureAsk the Experts: how to correct a violin bridge position
Three top luthiers answers a reader's query on preserving the correct instrument geometry after changing strings, in this feature from 2014
