Upgrade to Chrome Upgrade to Firefox Upgrade to Internet Explorer Upgrade to Safari

Reference Library Articles

A Stradivari Cello

A Stradivari Cello

Stradivari – a magical name for wooden boxes called violoncellos.

Alembic History

Alembic History

An 'alembic' is defined in the dictionary as "anything that refines or purifies;" more specifically, it was the vessel in which medieval and Renaissance alchemists combined the base metals they sought to transmute into gold.

Alessandro Gagliano

Alessandro Gagliano

Alessandro Gagliano is the beneficiary of one of William Henley's most imaginative and romantic essays.

An important Spanish guitar by Antonio de Torres

An important Spanish guitar by Antonio de Torres

This guitar is an incredibly preserved and unopened example of the famed makers work, retaining all the original components.

Andrea Guarneri

Andrea Guarneri

In the pantheon of great Cremonese violin makers, it sometimes seems that some do not get the credit they deserve.

Andrea Guarneri Violin

Andrea Guarneri Violin

This beautiful violin, with its original label stating 'Andreas Guarnerius fecit Cremonae / sub titulo Sanctae Teresiae 1684' is fully characteristic of the Guarneri workshop at this time.

Anthony Carroll Madigan

Anthony Carroll Madigan

Anthony Carroll Madigan, a musician, composer, artist, actor and teacher, was an avid collector of fine musical instruments, almost all of which he played, often in concert performances. At the time of his death last year, he had more than 80 instruments

Antonio de Torres Jurado (1817–1892)

Antonio de Torres Jurado (1817–1892)

The nineteenth century saw the important birth of the modern Spanish guitar.

Antonio Gragnani

Antonio Gragnani

Antonio Gragnani was one of the most elegant and stylish of eighteenth century Italian makers.

Camillus Camilli

Camillus Camilli

Camillus Camilli is a delightful maker. His instruments are blessed with classical style and proportion, and the most charming of scrolls, yet are very distinctive and recognisable.

Carlo Landolfi

Carlo Landolfi

Italian violin making benefited from a great many immigrant craftsmen in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, and Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi, to judge from the many variations of the spelling of his name on Milanese documents, was one such

Chapman 'Stick' History

Chapman 'Stick' History

The Stick is an ingenious and versatile stringed instrument with a substantial base of players throughout the world

Count Ignazio Alessandro Cozio di Salabue

Count Ignazio Alessandro Cozio di Salabue

Count Ignazio Alessandro Cozio di Salabue, to give him his full title, was the first great connoisseur and collector of violins, among the first to recognise the unique value of the work of the luthiers of his own country

Daniel Parker

Daniel Parker

Daniel Parker is one of the best and most mysterious makers in the English tradition

David Tecchler

David Tecchler

The Roman school of violin making is one of the most overlooked of the classical Italian period.

Dom Nicolo Amati

Dom Nicolo Amati

Dom Nicolo Amati of Bologna causes a lot of confusion. Firstly, he had nothing to do with the illustrious family of the same name from Cremona

Domenico Montagnana

Domenico Montagnana

Domenico Montagnana, 'the mighty Venetian', as he was dubbed by the Edwardian writer Charles Reade, was born in the village of Lendinara close to Venice, in about 1687

Epiphone History

Epiphone History

Epaminondas ('Epi') Stathopoulo (1893-1943) became President of his father Anastasios' New York-based instrument building company, the House of Stathopoulo, in the 1920s.

Fabrizio Senta

Fabrizio Senta

The early period of violin making in Turin is very interesting and not often considered.

Fender History - Part 1: The Early Years

Fender History - Part 1: The Early Years

Clarence Leonidas Fender (known as Leo to friends and associates) was born near the town of Fullerton, California, some 25 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, on 10th August 1909.

Fender History - Part 2: CBS and After

Fender History - Part 2: CBS and After

The Electric XII was one of the last models to be developed by Fender's original management.

Fender History - Part 3: Leo Fender's Later Career

Fender History - Part 3: Leo Fender's Later Career

Leo Fender's departure, in 1965, from the company that bore his name did little to dampen his creativity.

Ferdinando Gagliano

Ferdinando Gagliano

The Gaglianos were possibly the longest and most prolific dynasty of all the Italian violin making clans.

Francesco Rugeri

Francesco Rugeri

It sometimes seems impossible to imagine life in seventeenth century Cremona.