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Technical
Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: Replacement of pearl eyes in a bow
Sarah Bystrom shares a method for a common task in bow restoration that respects the intention and style of the maker
Premium ❘ Feature
Hard and fast rules: tonewood selection
What should luthiers look for when selecting spruce for their next violin top? Jiri Povolny examines the variables and discovers some useful guidelines to take out the guesswork
Premium ❘ Feature
In Focus: A 1753 viola by Carlo Antonio Testore
Sean Bishop takes a look at a relatively rare example of an 18th-century Italian viola
Premium ❘ FeatureTrade secrets: External crack repair using silk
Sharon Que provides an innovative solution to a common – and tricky – repair problem
Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Varnish retouch
A method for layering pigments and shellac to reproduce the exact colour and thickness of an instrument’s varnish
Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: An 1893 violin by Alexander Smillie
David Rattray presents a late 19th-century violin by the Scottish maker
Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: The ‘Doratura Cremonese’ ground method
How to make and apply a ground coat with a deep golden yellow colour
Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: 1877 double bass by Gand & Bernardel
René Zaal examines the Parisian violin making house’s 19th-century bass
Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: A new approach to bracing flat-back instruments
This system of ‘responsive bracing’ allows for the natural movement of the wood
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
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 ...
Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1937 violin by Giuseppe Castagnino
Alberto Giordano examines a 20th-century violin by the Chiavari-based luthier
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
Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1924 violin by János Spiegel
Zoltán Délczeg examines a 100-year-old instrument by Hungarian maker János Spiegel
Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Making a wooden peg shaper
A method for creating a model with an interchangeable blade
Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A c.1740 viola by Johann Christian Hoffmann
Alex Krieger examines a viola by one of the best-known German luthiers
Premium ❘ FeatureIn the zone: a one-person double bass repair method
For luthiers working alone, double bass repair can be a difficult task to take on. US bass maker Nick Lloyd presents his ‘Zone method’ for re-gluing a bass top using just one pair of hands
Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A c.1750 violin by Michele Deconet
Peter Koerner examines the French maker’s mid-century instrument
Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Preparing the wood surface before varnishing
Samuel Peguiron shares a method involving a bespoke mixture and wood shavings
Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Purfling and edgework after closing the box
A method that allows for more aesthetic freedom than completing the plates before finishing the soundbox
Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: An 1845 violin by Johann Georg Stauffer
Jakob Nachbargauer and Adrian Elschek examine a mid-century violin by the successful Austrian guitar maker
Premium ❘ FeatureCentre of attention: centring and alignment
Inspired by the work of the Cremonese masters, David Folland explains his method for finding the centre line of an old instrument
Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1796 viola by Sebastian Dalinger
Rainer Michael Cocron examines the Austrian maker’s late 18th-century instrument
Premium ❘ FeatureWhere science meets art: Positioning the f-holes
Inspired by the work of the illustrious Cremonese masters, Alvin Thomas King presents a practical method for modern-day luthiers to position the f-holes on an instrument
- Premium ❘ Feature
Trade secrets: External crack repair using silk
Sharon Que provides an innovative solution to a common – and tricky – repair problem
- Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: Varnish retouch
A method for layering pigments and shellac to reproduce the exact colour and thickness of an instrument’s varnish
- Premium ❘ Feature
In Focus: An 1893 violin by Alexander Smillie
David Rattray presents a late 19th-century violin by the Scottish maker
- Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: The ‘Doratura Cremonese’ ground method
How to make and apply a ground coat with a deep golden yellow colour
- Premium ❘ Feature
In Focus: 1877 double bass by Gand & Bernardel
René Zaal examines the Parisian violin making house’s 19th-century bass
- Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: A new approach to bracing flat-back instruments
This system of ‘responsive bracing’ allows for the natural movement of the wood
- Premium ❘ Feature
Stars 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
- Premium ❘ Feature
A 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 ...
- Premium ❘ Feature
In Focus: A 1937 violin by Giuseppe Castagnino
Alberto Giordano examines a 20th-century violin by the Chiavari-based luthier
- Premium ❘ Feature
Trade 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
- Premium ❘ Feature
In Focus: A 1924 violin by János Spiegel
Zoltán Délczeg examines a 100-year-old instrument by Hungarian maker János Spiegel
- Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: Making a wooden peg shaper
A method for creating a model with an interchangeable blade
- Premium ❘ Feature
In Focus: A c.1740 viola by Johann Christian Hoffmann
Alex Krieger examines a viola by one of the best-known German luthiers
- Premium ❘ Feature
In the zone: a one-person double bass repair method
For luthiers working alone, double bass repair can be a difficult task to take on. US bass maker Nick Lloyd presents his ‘Zone method’ for re-gluing a bass top using just one pair of hands
- Premium ❘ Feature
In Focus: A c.1750 violin by Michele Deconet
Peter Koerner examines the French maker’s mid-century instrument
- Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: Preparing the wood surface before varnishing
Samuel Peguiron shares a method involving a bespoke mixture and wood shavings
- Premium ❘ Feature
Trade Secrets: Purfling and edgework after closing the box
A method that allows for more aesthetic freedom than completing the plates before finishing the soundbox
- Premium ❘ Feature
In Focus: An 1845 violin by Johann Georg Stauffer
Jakob Nachbargauer and Adrian Elschek examine a mid-century violin by the successful Austrian guitar maker
- Premium ❘ Feature
Centre of attention: centring and alignment
Inspired by the work of the Cremonese masters, David Folland explains his method for finding the centre line of an old instrument
- Premium ❘ Feature
In Focus: A 1796 viola by Sebastian Dalinger
Rainer Michael Cocron examines the Austrian maker’s late 18th-century instrument
- Premium ❘ Feature
Where science meets art: Positioning the f-holes
Inspired by the work of the illustrious Cremonese masters, Alvin Thomas King presents a practical method for modern-day luthiers to position the f-holes on an instrument
-
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- Archive of digital issues from January 2010
- Unlimited access to all premium subscriber online content
- Two detailed instrument posters a year
- Interviews with star string players
- Masterclasses with commentary
- Sheet music annotated by international concert artist
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