All Making articles

  • Huehner l
    Focus

    Ask the experts: What should a luthier look for when choosing tonewood?

    2024-04-30T08:35:00Z

    For a beginner luthier, choosing the perfect spruce and maple for an instrument can be a confusing process. Three experts in wood selection offer some guidelines

  • Notch
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    Baroque Set-up: In a Land without Rules

    2022-05-18T10:00:00Z

    With the growth in popularity of historically informed performance, more players are requesting Baroque-style instruments – but the process of converting an instrument is fraught with uncertainty. Sarah Peck presents an overview of the Baroque set-up process, and corrects some common misconceptions along the way

  • IMG_3078
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    Lutherie Collectives: The Wisdom of Crowds

    2020-07-13T14:46:00Z

    Violin making is traditionally a solitary career, so why are so many luthiers and bow makers choosing to join collectives? Peter Somerford talks to the founders and members of such groups around the world to discover the benefits of pooling resources, knowledge and time

  • 14 Weird glasses
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    Luthiers and RSI: Taking the Strain

    2020-04-19T16:43:00Z

    For instrument makers, repetitive strain injuries can mean untold pain and misery – and possibly the end of their career. Luthier Cameron Robertson explains how, with the help of occupational therapist Sara Propes, he adapted his work process to guard against the problems of RSI in the future

  • Scrolls
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    Pöpel and Kurzendörffer: The Mists of Time Demystified

    2020-03-04T11:57:00Z

    Just three Vogtland instruments exist from before 1700. All violas, they were made by two of the founders of the region’s first violin making guild.Klaus Martius  explores what we know about the mysterious Johann Adam Pöpel and Johann Adam Kurzendörffer

  • digital 3
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    Digital Amati: project luthier

    2020-01-20T17:17:00Z

    A decade ago, François Denis’s Traité de Lutherie showed how the old Italians used Euclidean geometry to design their instruments. Now a computer program based on these principles allows luthiers to construct and adapt patterns quickly and easily. Its creator, Harry Mairson, explains the genesis of Digital Amati

  • 800px-Violin_bridge
    Focus

    9 tips on working with violin bridges

    2019-12-20T15:11:00Z

    Advice on how to fit, adjust and design your bridge from The Strad Archive

  • Madder root
    Article

    The alchemy of the madder root

    2019-12-19T11:41:00Z

    Madder root has been used since ancient times to create a deep red pigment – but the making process remains enigmatic

  • Plowden Del Gesu
    Focus

    I shy away from copying models that are too individual, says violin maker Sam Zygmuntowicz

    2019-10-25T15:00:00Z

    The luthier's favourite instruments provide ideal models for his own making

  • Voller
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    When does a violin copy become a forgery?

    2019-10-02T13:00:00Z

    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

  • Tim Phillips Revolin 2
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    Life out of balance

    2019-07-31T15:25:00Z

    While many luthiers are happy making stringed instruments to the standard form, others are keen to explore the possibilities of alternative patterns. Peter Somerford discovers how asymmetric designs can affect tone quality, projection, acoustics and player comfort 

  • Rose
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    An unexpected twist

    2019-07-31T15:10:00Z

    The few remaining guitars by Antonio Stradivari have distinctive characteristics – which proved useful when another example came to light recently in a museum collection. Emiliano Marinucci and Lorenzo Frignani tell the story

  • Dai Ting Chung
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    The Jewel of Taiwan: The Strad Calendar 2020

    2019-07-31T15:00:00Z

    The Chimei Museum in Taiwan houses the largest collection of stringed instruments in the world.The Strad Calendar 2020 marks 30 years since its founding, as Dai-Ting Chung and Andrew Guan highlight some of the remarkable treasures within its walls

  • Scanner-2
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    Should violin makers embrace cutting edge computer analysis?

    2019-07-31T12:00:00Z

    Violin maker Sam Zygmuntowicz explores how high-tech ways of analysing violins and their sound could help makers and even influence the future forms of instruments

  • Dmitry Badiarov
    Video

    Closer to Nature – a documentary about violin maker Dmitry Badiarov

    2019-07-08T17:09:00Z

    The Russian violin-maker Dmitry Badiarov (based in the Netherlands) developed his love for carving wood after deciding to build his first sailing ship, aged 5. Since then his love for making violins has co-existed with his passion for sailing and the sea. In this film, which was presented at a ...

  • View from Alan Beavit's workshop
    Focus

    Alan Beavitt: how I became a violin-maker on a remote Scottish peninsula

    2019-06-24T18:06:00Z

    The luthier shares his experience of living and working in Scorraig, a remote peninsula in the north-west Scottish highlands, recently featured in the news

  • Photo of Heifetz with Michael Yurkevitch (left) and Mr Rosenthal (right) from PM, 22 April, 1941
    Focus

    Jascha Heifetz – champion of modern violins

    2019-05-15T13:00:00Z

    Dario Sarlo reveals a lesser-known passion of the great violinist, and how it led him to start his own lutherie competition

  • Schwarze
    Video

    Making fine violins out of fungus-treated wood

    2019-03-05T11:04:00Z

    In this video we hear from the researcher Francis Schwarze, who, together with a Swiss violin maker has treated wood used for instrument making with Physisporinus vitreus, a white-rot fungus that attacks and destroys certain structures in spruce, in order to build violins that sound as fine as antique masterpieces.

  • John Jordan
    Video

    The most exotic violin woods

    2019-02-04T17:46:00Z

    California-based electric violin maker John Jordan introduces us to some of his most exotic woods, ranging from the pricey Tasmanian tiger rose myrtle to the Swamp Kauri, which is dug up from bogs in New Zealand and is certified to be a minimum of 30000 years old. ...

  • Carbon Cello
    Video

    Making a cello from carbon

    2019-01-29T13:45:00Z

    In this video Tim Duerinck demonstrates how to make a cello from carbon by hand. The music to the video is also performed on the carbon cello. To read his article investigating the possibilities of flax, carbon, aramid and more in violin making click here.