All Lutherie articles
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Premium ❘ FeatureThe Fulton collection: Magnificent obsession
For decades, top soloists would visit the home of David Fulton to sample the treasures of his legendary collection. Now dispersed, the instruments have been brought together again in book form. The collector shares some of the highlights with Christian Lloyd
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Premium ❘ FeatureFilippo de Filippi: From Vatican to varnish
The 19th-century violin maker Filippo de Filippi had an unusual route to his chosen career, taking in the Papal court, the Risorgimento and Rome’s cultural milieu. Stefano Pio explores his intriguing life
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Premium ❘ FeatureCopying a Montagnana cello: The Full Monty
For the past few years, the attendees of the annual Oberlin Violin Makers Workshop have set themselves increasingly challenging group projects. Robin Aitchison explains how 30 luthiers collaborated on their latest task: to copy a Montagnana cello with pinpoint accuracy
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Premium ❘ FeatureNorwegian Wood: The history of the Hardanger fiddle
Regarded as Norway’s national instrument, the Hardanger fiddle is the product of a long evolution beginning in medieval times. Wiebke Lüders presents a history of the instrument’s development, profiling some of the most notable artisans
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Premium ❘ Feature‘Be the person to teach them how to learn’ - Training an apprentice
Sarah Kluge explains her method of training an apprentice from scratch, including an essential list of dos and don’ts
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Premium ❘ FeatureMarino Capicchioni: A one-of-a-kind luthier
Self-taught and living far away from any centres of lutherie, Marino Capicchioni became famous in his time for the superb quality of his instruments.
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Premium ❘ Feature1709 ‘King Carlos IV’ Stradivari violin: A crown jewel
Florian Leonhard reveals the history behind the 1709 ‘King Carlos IV’ Stradivari violin
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Premium ❘ FeaturePlate archings and tone - part 2: a question of tone
Nigel Harris shows how close control of the arching shape of the plates can influence tone
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Premium ❘ FeatureLuthiers sans Frontières: Beyond the limits
Peter Somerford speaks to representatives of Luthiers sans Frontières
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Premium ❘ FeatureValue judgements: What is your time and labour worth?
Benjamin Schilbach gives a guide to determining an hourly rate as the cost of living rises daily
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Premium ❘ FeatureHow did Cremonese luthiers use consistent measurements?
Simone Zopf argues that there was in fact a single unit of measurement from which most of the rest can be derived
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Premium ❘ FeatureLutherie in Argentina: New world wonders
Lionnel Genovart profiles some of the best-known names in the country’s violin making history
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Premium ❘ FeatureThe art of Computer Numerical Control arching
Yann Poulain reveals his method for roughing out the arching of the front and back plates using the technology
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Premium ❘ Feature1694 Stradivari ‘Benecke’ violin: Unconventional Beauty
The 1694 ‘Benecke’ violin is a masterpiece of Stradivari’s ‘Long Pattern’. Andrea Zanrè and Rudolf Hopfner take a look at this exquisite example, detailing its provenance and revealing what CT scans can tell us about its construction
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Premium ❘ Feature‘An appearance of delicacy’ - Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ 1736 violin: Beauty from the Beast
Although Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ is best known for his wild, unruly later masterpieces, the 1736 ‘Cessole’, ‘Teja–Ferni’ violin reveals his softer side, as Carlo Chiesa explains
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Premium ❘ Feature‘Makers have been working blind’ - Cremonese archings
Gareth Ballard presents a detailed method for analysing the various curves of archings
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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 ❘ 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 ❘ 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