Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Women at the Workbench

By Andy Fein, Luthier at Fein Violins,
Mikaela Marget, and Ivana Truong

Do female violinmakers even exist?? 
del Gesu scroll



One difficult aspect of researching female violin makers pre-20th century is that there were strict laws across Europe that forbade women from owning individual property or having control of their own income. In addition, pre-20th century stigmas about what instruments were considered "proper" for women to study may have made women uncomfortable about publicly working on or playing violins, violas, or cellos. In many places, it wasn't even acceptable for women to carry a stringed instrument in public! 

Monday, March 9, 2020

Round or Octagonal Bows- Which Are Better? The Definitive Answer

By Andy Fein, Luthier at Fein Violins and
Ivana Truong

A round bow or an octagonal bow- Which is better???? 

The absolute, definitive, very, very correct answer is...