This morning at my workbench on the verandah of my workshop…retouching a violin restoration in the daylight. The fully loaded mandarin trees add a lovely feel to my work day.
Tag: travelling violinmaker
40 year old bridge blank…
I was just cutting a bridge for one of my own older, fully handmade by me, violins. Using the best bridge timber, which is now a minimum of 40-50 years old. The finished bridge is promising to be of the highest sound quality. I am very much looking forward to hearing this violin again after a good service.
In 1982 the wood of these bridge blanks was already well seasoned and cost around $7. If I would have invested the same money in gold or houses I would now roughly end up with a return of 400-500% valued at $28-35, which is equal to the inflation rate from 1982 until now.
However over time gold, houses and most other investments are not improving in quality the same way that violin timber does. This is why most of the violin wood saw mills in Germany raise the price of older wood by 10% per year of storage, which means the accumulative price doubles every 7 years. Looking at a price of $7 for this bridge blank in 1982, it would be 7.70 in 1983, 8.47 in 1984, $9.317 in 1985 and so on and just under double by the year 1989. In 1989 I would pay $14, in 1996-$28, 2003-$52, 2010-$104, 2017-$208 and by next year, 2024 I would be paying $416 for the same piece of timber for which I paid $7 forty two years ago. Can you imagine paying around $400 for the same bridge blank, the small piece of well seasoned maple in the right of the photo, and this is only the wholesale price.
The bridge on the left beside the blank is fully cut and ready to be used on this beautiful violin. When all the work is done, including putting strings on and adjusting the sound, it will have taken anywhere between 3 and 4 hours of my personal labour. I would end up at a very high price for one of those bridges.
This brings me right back to why I am doing this beautiful work… sure it is for money to live and support my family… but it is more for the love of beautiful violins, violas, cellos and basses and the love of good music played on well serviced instruments. Even after 40 years of working as a violin maker as my only source of income I still get excited with every instrument on my workbench to create the most beautiful sound it is capable of.
This also applies to professional musicians who never get paid for the years of hard work, often from as young as 5 years of age, with daily practice, often for hours after school.
I own a substantial amount of violin, viola and cello wood which I purchased in Germany between 1982 and 1994 relatively fresh (5-10years seasoned) for anywhere between 150-500 for a set to make one violin. Imagine the value of a hand made violin adding 160-240 hours of labour.
The Stad Magazine finally arrived
You cannot imagine my joy when I walked into the local post office today, where I am well known and was greeted by: “Guess what is in your Po Box…” After month and month of waiting for the October issue of The Strad magazine, I think maybe 15 emails to the publisher, as well as driving everyone crazy with my daily question about those magazines, I am happy to finally see this article in print…
The keys on my piano are stuck
Here is a little hobby Sunday project. The keys of our student piano are stuck. I first thought it might have been due to high humidity as this piano lives nearly outside. It ended up to be cockroach dirt stuck in between the keys. It was fairly easy to clean all that. Now the keys are working again. Soon I will have to tune it.
The apprentice’s studio violin
“This was the first instrument I fully tonally adjusted, and it is the one that I am now personally playing, at least until I make something that I like more.“ – Reuben Grawert
“I had a lot of fun adjusting, setting up, and varnishing this instrument, and even if I made a couple of mistakes along the way, I absolutely love how it plays.” – Reuben Grawert
“Kaffee Kantate” by J.S. Bach
“Coffee…Coffee…I must have….” Lieschen, Schlendrian’s daughter
“…if three time a day I can’t drink my little cup of coffee then I would become so upset that I would be like a dried up piece of roast goat…”
“Ah! How sweet coffee tastes! Lovelier than a thousand kisses, smoother than muscatel wine.”
I totally agree…without coffee life is only half as good. But swapping coffee for a marriage…?…I don’t know…
But then Lieschen lets everyone know ”No suitor of mine should come to the house unless he himself has promised and it is written also in the marriage contract that I shall be permitted to make coffee whenever I want.”
Johann Sebastian Bach: “Kaffee Kantate” BWV 211
Just imagine Johann wrote this piece in 1732-35. Stradivari could have listened to it in the last years of his productive life. Maybe not on YouTube..this is the privilege of 2022
Weekly wisdom 30
Clean your violin every time after playing with your microfiber cleaning cloth.
If you clean your violin everyday after playing you will save money
- your strings will last longer
- your bridge will stay straight longer
- the violin does not need to be professionally cleaned by a violin maker as often
- the bridge feet are less likely to get stuck on the varnish, better sound for longer
- you will always enjoy your violn more, which means you play more and have more fun
Baroque violin made by Ilja Grawert
Finally we got around to taking some beautiful pictures of the baroque violin I made years ago and never offered for sale before. This violin has been fully handmade by me following all the old traditions of how the instruments were made 300 years age. It has a couple of hand forged nails through the top block into the neck which is sitting on top of the ribs instead of being fitted into them. The neck has been straightened over the pins in the back and top plate before drawing the out line. The varnish is an old traditional recipe with only natural colours. This is a beautiful violin to play original baroque music.
“I loved making this baroque violin as it is so intriguing to build an instrument the same way the old Italian masters did.” Ilja Grawert
- has been fully handmade by me
- contact me for the price
- Baroque violin
- open gut strings
- beautiful tone
- carvings on the back of the scroll
- traditional varnish
- European maple & spruce
- a truly unique violin
Please contact me for the price of this beautiful baroque violin
click on the image below for shop view
Beautiful small 7/8 violin ground varnish pictures
Another beautiful studio violin in the making. With a few foundation layers you see the fire in the maple back.
The coloured varnish layers will be first orange red over-layed with a few layers of darker brown (photos still to come)
I painted some Fleur de Lis in the corners. The violin is fully plate tuned to insure the even, carrying, cremonese sound. For sale available in two weeks
New Studio violin model ‘Fleur de Lis’
Have a look at the video clip painting of my latest Studio violin. It is so much fun painting and varnishing
