Luthiers

Makers of wooden instruments are commonly called luthiers since they long ago started out as lute makers, when violins did not yet exist. It's not exactly rocket science - it's a lot tougher. A team of ten thousand scientists and engineers help construct a rocket, but one man alone (women, too) constructs a violin. Do modern violins compare favorably to an old Strad or Guarneri or Guadagnini? Of course they do!!! However, as with most things artistic, the public (and musicians as well), have been taught that older is better, though such is not the case. Because precious old instruments are treated like priceless antiques, collectors and auction houses drive prices up, thereby creating a vicious circle of escalating values. Such is the case with Van Goghs and Picassos and a host of other art which is actually not all that good. Nonetheless, art critics and violin experts would have you believe otherwise. 

I copied the following quote from some obscure website - I forgot which: "Jaime Laredo is quoted in a 1991 New York Times article as saying, "I've been shocked when students have asked my opinion of old Italian or French fiddles that cost $50,000 to $60,000. Often, they're just pieces of junk." Isaac Stern, in the same article states, "If musicians can't spend at least $250,000 on a stringed instrument, they'd do better with a fine new one, provided they take the time to test it under battle conditions in a good concert hall." Comparisons have been going on for years and the results are usually the same, with the modern instruments comparing very favorably with the old ones. An example is the comparison which was organized at the Fourth American Cello Congress. An audience of about 140 musicians judged the sound of 12 cellos, six new and six old. The new cellos were the work of contemporary cello makers, one of them a Burgess. The old cellos represented quite an impressive selection: A Gagliano; two Goffrillers; a Montagnana; a Stradivari; and a Tecchler. To keep the comparison as objective as possible, the player was blindfolded, and a large linen screen was placed between the player and the audience. When the audience of cellists handed in their ballots, the top scoring cello was old; the second, third, fourth and fifth highest scores were by new cellos; sixth and seventh were old; 8th-new; 9th-old; 10th-new; 11th-old; 12th-old. An old instrument got the highest score, but famous old instruments also got the two lowest scores. As a group, the modern cellos scored much higher than this collection of famous old cellos. A survey by Strings Magazine found that 58 percent of their readers find the sound quality of modern instruments to be superior or equal to vintage instruments, and that 71 percent find the craftsmanship of modern instruments to be superior or equal to old instruments."

I predict that fifty years from now, perspectives and judgments on art and violins (and their value) will be very different. Nowadays, modern violins are being purchased for a fraction of what they are really worth and violinists are truly fortunate in that respect. The market is so skewered and biased that a modern violin that sounds as good as a Strad can be purchased for about 2% of the cost of the older instrument. In any case, I think the sound any violinist produces is 60% bow arm and 40% instrument. A very partial list of violin makers follows - it really only scratches the surface and probably covers about twenty five percent of the actual number of professional makers around the world (it is anticipated that you, if at all interested in any of these makers, will conduct your own research; in addition, please also be advised that a few of these people may already be dead): (under construction)

A modern mystery

Strads are not the only violins that have gone mysteriously missing. General John T. Honeycutt constructed over sixty violins, having taken up the luthier's craft after his retirement from the military. Almost fifty of them are now missing and there are precious few examples of this master craftman's art, even through photographs. One of the few that I found (#13) is shown in the Gallery, as is a magnificent example of one of his rare violas. I could not locate a sample of his label. Should you come across one of his instruments, his website directs you how to proceed.

The list:  (Bold denotes a photo in the gallery)

A-D: Gregg Alf, Pierre Allain, Michael Altshuler, Dane Anderson, Andrian Andreev, Claudio Arezio, Rowan Armour-Brown, Haldun Arslancan, Dmitry Badiarov, Joe Baker, Emile Baran, Linda M. Bardutz, Dorian Barnes, Armin Barnett, Marco Barrios, William Bartruff, Ray Bastien, Julian Batey, Jacques Bauer, Arthur Bay, Christian Bayon, Gregory Bearden, Charles Beare, Eva Maria Beck, Carl Becker, Michael Becker, Wayne Beckman, Andrzet Bednarski, Volker Beilharz, Conrado Belli, Robert Benedetto, Ricarrdo Bergonzi, Thomas Bertrand, Matthieu Besseling, Francois Bignon, J. Peter Bingen, Luciano Bini, Henry Bischofberger, Bradley Bischoff, Brian Bishop, Claudie Biteur, George Blum, Philippe Bodart, Jaap Bolink, Matthew Bolliger, Gaspar, Borchardt, Antonio Borelli, Terry Michael Borman, Sharon R. Bowen, Paul Bowers, Orrin E. Boyce, Serge Boyer, Andrea Bozzini, Dennis Braun, Celia Bridges, Daniel Bristol, Eduardo Brito, Chris Broadwell, Kenneth Brown, Lawrence K. Brown, Wilhelm Bruckner, Aldo Brugnini, Alceste Bulfari, David Burgess, Phillip Burgess, Jan Hus Bursik, Andrea Cabrini, Luisa Vania Campagnolo, Scott Cao, Virgilio Capellini, Kevin Kardiff, Terry Carlin, Laird Carlson, David Caron, Rafael Carrabba, Jean-Pierre Champeval, Pierre Charette, Patrick Charton, Daniel Chen, Carlo Chiesa, Karsten Brejnbjerg Christensen, Henning Christiansen, Chris Christoff, Bruce D. Clark, Russell L. Coe, Alan Coggins, Anne Cole, Roberto Collini, John O. Collins, Malcolm Collins, Sam Compton, Stefano Conia, Joseph F. Conrad, Amy Contrada, Jonathan Cooper, Robert Copelan, Douglas C. Cox, James Cox, Rowell Creadick, Lee Cronenwalt, Joseph Curtin, Fabio Dalla Costa, Steve Cundall, Friederike Sophie Dangel, Jan Danielsson, Bartlomiej Dankiewicz, Michael Darnton, David Dastous, Jerome David, Cynthia Davis, Ted Davis, Stephen Davy, Peter Dawson, Ernesto De Angelis, Henri Decoin, Christopher De Groot, Michiel de Hoog, Daniel Delfour, Thomas DeLuca, Julia De Lucca, Guy Derat, Philippe Devanneaux, Manuel Diaz, Filip Dobritchcov, William Dodd, Carlo Doria, Rachel Douglas, Barry Dudley (profile on MySpace), Nicole Dumond, David Dunn, Henry Dusek,

E-H: Tunali Ecevit, Gregory J. Eckes, George B. Edwards, Michel Eggimann, Ward Elliott, Adrian G. Elschek, Simon Enke, Charles Ervin, Charles Espey, Alan Esty, Dominic Excell, Michel Faber, Giuseppe Failla, Domenico Fantin, Frederic Fantova, Filippo Fasser, John D. Ferwerda, Wincenty Filipiak, Stanley Filipowicz, Johannes S. Finkel, Michael Fischer, Michael Fleming, Ryszard Florek, David Folland, Rojas Dario Forero, Simeoni Franco, Jonathan S. Franke, Sebastian Freymadl, David Frieman, Lorenzo Frignani, Zdenek Frodl, Andre Gadoury, Richard Gagliardi, Michel Gagnon, Luca Maria Gallo, Luigi Gamba, Marco Gandolfi, Rene Garmy, Christian Garonnaire, Wladyslaw Gasienica, Robert Gasser, Laurent Gayraud, Bernard Germain, Christopher Germain, Andreose Gianni, Salvador Giardina, Nicolas Gilles, Alberto Giordano, Julio Giorgio, Philippe Girardin, Claire Givens, David Golber, Francisco Gonzalez, David Goodrich, Eduard Gorr, Al Gough, Jean Christophe Graff, Fabien Gram, David William Griebel, Barry Griffiths, Novene Grilliet, Marcel Grimsley, Giorgio Grisales, Gerriet Groth, Joseph Grubaugh, Giuseppe Guerrini, Gian Carlo Guicciardi, Pierre Guillaume, David Gusset, Eero Haahti, Leif Haakedal, Jay Haide, Thomas Haile, Roger Hansell, Henner Harders, Burton Hardin, Raymond Hardy, Amos Hargrave, Roger Hargrave, Charles E. Harman, Arwed Harms, Paul Harrild, John Harrison, Paul Hart, Ghaleb Hassan, Mosa Havivi, Harold Hayslett, Lloyd Heikes, George Heinl, Romuald Henglewski, Mary E. Henning, Andras Hepke, David Herman, Scott Hershey, Francisco Hervas, Adrian Heyligers, John A. Hill, Ross Hill, William N. Hockenberry, Andrea Hoffmann, Mark Hollinger, (Major General) John T. Honeycutt, Loeiz Honore, Basil Hooker, Charles Horner, Pascal F. Hornung, Randy Hoshaw, Lambert Houniet, Dayton Howes, Bill Huckaby, Carleen M. Hutchins, Andre Huwyler,

I-M: Jay Ifshin, Hiroshi Iisuka, John Importuno, Phillip Injeian, Masa Inokuchi, Takashi Ishii, Robert Isley, Peter Ivan, Kevin Jackson, Timothy Jansma, Antoni Jassogne, Bob Jiggins, Radovan Jira, Hans Johannsson, Roger Johnson, Timothy G. Johnson, Kurt Jones, Robert T. Jones, John C. Jordan, Peder Kallman, Hideo Kamimoto, Wilhelm Kapfhammer, Laurent Kappler, Martin Karinkanta, Peter Karoly, John Karwandy, Kerry Keane, Helmuth Keller, Beate Kienitz, Stanley Kiernoziak, Norbert Kijanka, John Kim, Andrew Kirk, John Kirk, Walter Kirschfink, Oded Kishoni, Vladimir Kitov, Michael Klein, Otto Klier, Claes Klockar, Ulf Kloo, Tadeusz Kmiecik, Thomas Knatt, Thurmond Knight, Yasu Kobayashi, Johann Koberling, Sam Kolstein, Adolf Konig, Lajos Konya, Michael Kosman, Petro Kostyuk, Shu Kot, Emil Kovacs, Ira Kraemer, Judy Kraft, Jurgen Krause, Patrick Kreit, Udo Kretzschmann, Stanislaw Krol, Anton Krutz (profile on MySpace), Klaus Kuhn, John Kusske, Francis Kuttner, Vilem Kuzel, Jussi Laasanen, Leonard Labram, Serge Lagarrigue, Tokusho Lai, Christoff Landon, Anthony Lane, Vicente Larrain, John D. Larrimore, Daniel Larson, David Lashof, Jamie Marie Lazzara, Nicola Lazzari, Giovanni Lazzaro, Francois Lebeau, Don Leister, Wade Leitner, Carole Lende, Richard LePage, Silvio Leraggi, Andre Levi, Fred Lindeman, Trevor Liversidge, Ivo Loerakker, Vincent Loerakker, Stephen Lohmann, Robert Loska, Eric Lourme, Mick Loveland, Jose Maria Lozano, Leif Luscombe, Ernst Luthi, Peter Mach, Jack Mackin, Edward Maday, Philippe Mahu, Jeff Manthos, Rodolfo Marchini, Paul Martin, Plamen Maslev, Tetsuo Matsuda, Junji Matsuoka, Toshiyuki Matsushita, Claudio Mazzolari, Charles McCalip, James N. McKean, Robert Meadow, Henry Meissner, Raymond Melanson, Fanny Menard, Annamaria Menta, Richard Menzel, Delfi Merlo, Thomas Meuwissen, Barbara Meyer, Joerg Meyer, Helen Michetschlager, David Michie, Juan Pablo Mijares, Richard Hoyt Miller, Marco Minnozzi, Mario Miralles, i, Philippe Miteran, William Moennig, Peter Moes, Rodney Mohr, Alain Moinier, Valerio Mongillo, William Monical, Dalton Montgomery, John Montgomery, Madison Moran, Giovanni Morassi, Jesse Morgan, Yoshio Morino, John Moroz, David Morse, Salvatore Moschella, Albert Muller, Stephane Muller, Tilman Muthesius

N-R: Emery J. Nagy, Vlademir Naidenov, Howard Needham, Massimo Negroni, Jesse Newcomer, Steffen Nowak, David Newton, Colin G. Nicholls, Rosalba Panebianco, Patrick Perrichon, Falk Peters, Jeff Phillips, Peter Psarianos, Christopher Pu, Hans Peter Rast, Roberto Regazzi, E. Reade Rettig, Bruce M. Robertson, Arthur Robinson, Heinrich Roth, Nick Roubas,

S-Z: Martin Schleske, David Schlub, Raymond Schryer, Kelvin Scott, William R. Scott, Geoffrey Seitz, Jeremia Senner, Pietro Sgarabotto, Peter Shaw, Bernard Simond, Scott Sleider, Jaroslav Skora, Jacob Stainer, Bruno Stefanini, Antonio Stradivari, Tapio Vainisto, Gary Vessel, Carlo Vettori, Laura Vigato, John Welch, Philip Wolan, Xiao Wu, Alexander Yurovitsky, Michael Zack, Robert Zuger, Rolf Zurbuchen, Sam Zygmuntowicz.

(under construction)