Posted on January 14, 2010March 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: Baxter’s Database of Violin and Bow Makers v3.0 by Edward D. Baxter Review: Baxter’s Database of Violin and Bow Makers v3.0 by Edward D. Baxter Reviewed by Randy DeBey Originally published in American Lutherie #84, 2005 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Five, 2008 Baxter’s Database of Violin and Bow Makers v3.0 Edward D. Baxter CD-ROM, 2002 www.violinmakersdb.com. On the rare occasions that I need information about the maker of a particular instrument, I don’t like to spend a lot of time getting it. Due to the ridiculously high prices of violin-maker reference books, I have to get whatever I can from the web, and sometimes that’s a complete waste of time. Now there’s another option that’s less expensive than buying books, and likely more productive than web searching. Edward Baxter of West Camp, New York, has compiled a database from twenty-four violin and bow maker references. He actually started his database several years ago, and the version reviewed here (v3.0) was released in June 2004. It contains information for 19,506 makers. The ViolinMakers Database software was created for PCs running Microsoft Windows (sorry Mac users). It comes on one CD and is easy to install. It includes a stand-alone version of the Microsoft Access database query engine dedicated to searching this database. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on January 14, 2010March 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Review: The Setup and Repair of the Double Bass for Optimum Sound by Chuck Traeger Review: The Setup and Repair of the Double Bass for Optimum Sound by Chuck Traeger Reviewed by James Condino Originally published in American Lutherie #84, 2005 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Five, 2008 The Setup and Repair of the Double Bass for Optimum Sound Chuck Traeger with David Brownell and William Merchant Henry Strobel ISBN 1-892210-06-1 www.henrystrobel.com Every once in a while a book comes along in a particular field that sets a new standard for future titles to strive for. Chuck Traeger’s The Setup and Repair of the Double Bass for Optimum Sound is one of those gems. As a regular gigging double-bass player and luthier, I have been waiting for this text since I first picked up the instrument. Failed neck joints, broken scrolls, huge moisture cracks, and the general wear and tear of dragging around a very fragile refrigerator-sized item are part of daily life for the bass player and repairman. Chuck Traeger, who is referred to as “the Mercedes-Benz of (bass) repairmen” by his longtime friend and customer Ron Carter, didn’t come upon this overnight. He made his first professional jazz recordings in 1945 and played the double bass for over twenty years prior to becoming a repairman who specializes in the bass. His customer base and writing cover both the jazz and classical sides of the instrument. Chuck is a trained civil engineer from Columbia University. As such, his approach is that “there is a reason for everything. I want people to think in a different way about... the instrument, its repair, and setup.” To him it is a specialized art. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on January 13, 2010February 6, 2024 by Dale Phillips Violin Q & A: Cost of Opening a Violin Shop Violin Q & A: Cost of Opening a Violin Shop by George Manno Originally published in American Lutherie #10, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 My wife and I are thoroughly fascinated with the violin; we both play professionally in the local orchestra. We have enjoyed all of your repair articles and look forward to meeting you. We have often considered opening our own violin shop but have no idea how costly and, furthermore, how profitable such a venture could be. We wouldn’t want to offer the most expensive instruments, but would like to have a better-than-ordinary inventory. Can you give us a rough estimate of what it might cost us? Portland, Oregon, needs another violin shop like Hawaii needs another volcano! It seems the Northwest has become an attractive setting for violin shops, and, although competition can help stimulate business, oversaturation of any market can cause all participants to suffer. Your best bet is to find a location where there are no violin shops at all, but where there are people who are interested in playing the violin. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on January 13, 2010February 6, 2024 by Dale Phillips Violin Q & A: Violin by John Ericson Violin Q & A: Violin by John Ericson by George Manno Originally published in American Lutherie #10, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 We have an old violin that just came into our shop. It is handmade and has a label that states it was made by John Ericson, Hammond, Indiana, in 1929. We cannot find this maker’s name listed in any of our reference books. We have Henley’s & Woodcock’s. Since you live in the Midwest, do you know of such a maker? Thomas Wenberg’s book, entitled The Violin Makers of the United States, lists the aforementioned maker on page 93. He was born in 1893 in Sweden, and trained with Walter Goss in Boston. Over 400 instruments bear his label. A dealer in New York told me that he recently sold a viola made by Mr. Ericson for $9,500. He died in 1975. Also, I knew Mr. Ericson personally. The instrument should be branded “ERICSON” on the back of the scroll.
Posted on January 13, 2010February 6, 2024 by Dale Phillips Violin Q & A: Limits of Regraduation Violin Q & A: Limits of Regraduation by George Manno Originally published in American Lutherie #10, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 I recently regraduated the top, back, and sides of a violin. I took the top down to 2.5MM in the center, the upper and lower bouts down to 2.2MM, and the ribs down to .9MM. I refit a new bassbar and put the instrument back together. The instrument sounds so much better after this tonal adjustment, but I have to keep fitting a new soundpost every month or so. I have noticed a slight bulge in the soundpost area of the top. My question to you is, should I remove the top and put in a soundpost patch, or treat the underside of the table with potassium silicate to stiffen up the wood? What you did to the violin in question is not considered by most makers and repairpersons to be a “tonal adjustment.” What you have done is to prepare the instrument for an early grave. Nothing you do now is going to save it. Forgive me for coming down so hard on you, but regraduating an instrument to such radical proportions leaves the instrument, in my opinion, unplayable, unrepairable, and worthless. I hope that the violin we are speaking of does not belong to a customer of yours. I suggest to anyone reading this to remember that, when repairing an instrument, keep in mind the factor of irreversability in your work. Wood does not grow back once it is carved away!
