STUDIES AND RESEARCHES

I have built bowed instruments for many years, and in the beginning (like most luthiers in this business) I spent a long time and traveled many kilometers around Europe to be able to examine original instruments, in public or private collections. Close scrutiny of these originals oftentimes made problems arise, rather than suggesting solutions about the methods used by their builders, therefore at first I simply tried to build replicas, overlooking the fact that building methods may have fundamental consequences on the final sound quality. Later on, both because of explicit requests from customers in search of philological accuracy, and for my own desire of a better or simply different result, I decided to face the problem of "reconstructing" the procedures that were originally used by the old masters.

I put some of my experiences here, to share with colleagues and musicians.

December 2003:
Hypothesis about the construction techniques used on the viol by the masters of the past.

Coming soon:
The baroque mounting: what to ask to your luthier.

All the documents published here and much more will be also available in a printable version with full size pictures. If you are interested, please write me an e-mail

© 2001-2003 Federico Lowenberger