All luthier articles
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NewsLuthier creates tiny playable violins during lockdown
Bavarian violin maker Maria Sandner’s creations can be just 10cm long
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Video
An interview with luthier Renato Scrollavezza
The violin maker, who died in 2019, was one of the leading figures of Italian violin making in the 20th century
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Premium ❘ Feature
When does a violin copy become a forgery?
There's a fine line between copying an instrument and forging a masterpiece. Alan Coggins offers a humorous perspective on the perils luthiers face when interpreting past masters
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Video
BBC Radio 4: The Instrument Makers
In this radio programme, cellist and presenter Verity Sharp hears the stories of four very different instrument makers
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News
Italian violin maker and teacher Francesco Bissolotti has died aged 89
The influential luthier was respected for his technical skill and use of Cremonese making techniques
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Focus
Making matters: ground prep
Since time immemorial, makers have searched for the perfect varnish recipe, and take great care of the ground – but often fail to realise the importance of preparing the wood first. Christopher Jacoby gives a crash course in ‘ground prep’
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Video
Upton Bass: Laminated or Solid Double Bass Ribs?
’When you get inside an old old instrument, you’ve got grafted pieces of wood, you’ve got linen cloth… it’s essentially bad plywood’. Gary Upton of Upton Bass in Mystic, Connecticut, explains the benefits of plywood ribs on a double bass.
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News
Violin maker Neil Értz dies (1966–2016)
The lifelong luthier, researcher and teacher was highly respected in the violin making world
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Focus
Patrons should buy modern instruments for young musicians, says violin maker Stefan-Peter Greiner
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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Focus
The violin making principles of Nicolas Lupot
Born into a turbulent period of history, the 18th-19th century maker was among the first French luthiers to appreciate Stradivari's radical ideas
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News
Violin maker Josef Kantuscher has died aged 91
The Slovenian luthier was born on 23 December 1923 and died on 6 October 2015
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Focus
'Violin making has much further yet to go' - Peter Prier
Paul Prier's tribute to his father, the late Peter Paul Prier, founder of the Violin Making School of America
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Blogs
Making a bow - from start to finish
French bow maker Roch Petitdemange is filmed by Baptiste Buob while making a violin bow at the Museum of Violin and Bow Making in Mirecourt. Watch Baptiste Buob's film of violin maker Dominique Nicosia making an instrument in Mirecourt - a revealing half-hour insight into the complicated ...
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Blogs
Making a violin - from start to finish
Dominique Nicosia makes a violin at the Mirecourt Museum in France
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News
US violin maker Edward Campbell dies aged 86
US violin maker Edward Campbell died on 18 July at the age of 86. A founder member of the Violin Society of America (VSA), he made more than 180 instruments during his long career, while the apprenticeship programme he set up at his shop in Boiling Springs, PA, ...
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News
Renowned American violin maker Luiz Bellini dies aged 79
Brazilian-born US luthier Luiz Bellini died on 4 June at the age of 79. Musicians such as Yehudi Menuhin, Gidon Kremer, David Nadien, Glenn Dicterow and Berl Senofsky all owned and played Bellini instruments during their careers. Born on 25 November 1935 in SÁo Paulo, Bellini originally trained ...
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News
Ealing Strings director Alan Mann dies aged 71
Alan Mann, co-founder of Ealing Strings music shop in London, has died aged 71. For more than four decades he attended to the instruments of string players from around the globe; regular customers based in the British capital included Gyorgy Pauk, Robert Smissen, Paul Silverthorne and Thomas Gould. ...
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News
Violinist Leonidas Kavakos sues luthier for snapping $80,000 bow
The artist took his bow to a violin shop in California to investigate the cause of a curvature
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Blogs
Making a double bass
Constructing a double bass brings with it challenges of design and method, size and sound, cost and travel – as experienced German-based British luthier Roger Hargrave found when making his first bass
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Article
Swiss violin maker identifies rare Bergonzi violin
A violin maker and dealer based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, has identified the only known full-size violin by Zosimo Bergonzi (1724–79). Zosimo was the son of the great Cremonese luthier Carlo Bergonzi, and the brother of Michel Angelo Bergonzi. Up until now the only evidence of Zosimo's ...
