Lutherie – Page 34
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NewsViolin found in attic identified as Guarneri ‘filius Andreae’
Dendrochronology study confirmed the date of the wood on the basis of a WhatsApp photo
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FocusHow I repaired a cello splattered with hand sanitiser
When a cello suffered a calamitous hand sanitiser accident, it looked irreparable at first sight. John Simmers explains how he restored it to the way it was pre-Covid
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Focus‘Is $16 million for a violin too much to pay? Not these days’
In the 1998 movie The Red Violin, a great violin maker named Nicolo Bussotti, based on the real-life luthier Antonio Stradivari, supposedly mixes the blood of his deceased beloved wife into the varnish of what is to be his most precious creation. The violin’s journey, from its creation in Cremona ...
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Premium ❘ NewsAnalysis May 2021: Seeing the wood for the trees
A new campaign is under way to save Brazil’s endangered pernambuco tree, the wood most favoured by bow makers. The goal is clear, but the devil is in the detail. By Anthony Fort
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Gluing the linings with counterforms and springs
An efficient method for a complex process, which allows freedom of movement
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Premium ❘ FeatureMaking Matters: A cautionary tale for our times
When a cello suffered a calamitous hand sanitiser accident, it looked irreparable at first sight. John Simmers explains how he restored it to the way it was pre-Covid
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Premium ❘ FeatureAzzo Rovescalli: The cream of Crema
The city of Crema has a unique violin making tradition, and Azzo Rovescalli was its most prominent maker in the 20th century – even though it never made him rich. Lorenzo Frignani and Vittorio Formaggia examine his life and work, along with the instruments of his sons
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Premium ❘ FeatureTracing the truth: Stradivari’s early cellos
What cello moulds were used in the Stradivari workshop? The question has long gone unanswered, despite the number of artefacts – and even intact moulds – that survive. Philip Ihle examines 17 of the cellos made before 1700 to find out how many moulds may have been used before the ...
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Premium ❘ FeatureSong of the gut string makers
In 1877, Markneukirchen in Germany was at the heart of the world’s string making industry. The townsfolk were so proud, they even composed a drinking song all about it. Kai Köpp explains what the lyrics (translated into English for the first time) reveal about this convoluted process
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Focus’You’ll slime them in and slime them out’ – song of the gut string makers
A new translation of a celebratory song brings to life the grisly business of gut string manufacture
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NewsLuthier William Monical has died
The New-York-based luthier was an expert on bowed string instruments, particularly those of the Baroque period
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NewsFrench luthier Philippe Dupuy dies aged 88
The grandson of Eugène Sartory, Dupuy was an accomplished violin maker and author in his own right
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NewsQueen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust offers up to £18,000 for young luthiers
The scholarships are intended to further luthiers’ training through college courses or one-to-one sessions with master craftspeople
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BlogsDesmond Cecil: my search for the perfect violin
Excerpt from Desmond Cecil’s newly published memoir: ‘The Wandering Civil Servant of Stradivarius’
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ArticleA beginner’s guide to identifying a Stradivarius
Figuring out the maker of an unknown violin takes a trained eye and a detective’s skill, says luthier John Dilworth. Here he gives his personal perspective on the clues and processes of elimination that help experts pinpoint an instrument’s origins.
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Reinforcing a cello bridge
A method of inserting carbon-fibre rods to ensure the bridge retains its shape
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