Stradivarius At His Peak, 1715

By Andy Fein, luthier at Fein Violins 
and Martha McDermott

This year, 2015, marks three hundred years since Antonius Stradivarius hit his peak in craftsmanship and tone quality. That's not just my humble opinion. The period around the year 1715 is called Stradivarius' "Golden Period".

1715 'Hochstein' Violin

 Antonius Stradivarius had been working on violins for about fifty years, he was in his seventies and still very healthy, and he had hit upon a model for his violins that combined the best of tone, playability, and projection.

The Lipinski Stradivarius Violin- A Devil of an Instrument

By Andy Fein, luthier at Fein Violins
and Violinist Joe Peterson

Let's say you're a great violinist in the early 1700s. The repertoire is getting old and is really holding you back (typical). So what do you do to make a huge leap in musicality? You could jot some notes down as you're noodling around on your fiddle or.... you could go to sleep and wait for the Devil to come visit you.