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There are a lot of contemporary luthiers producing one-off instruments of superlative quality. These luthiers don't receive anything near the respect or remuner

There are a lot of contemporary luthiers producing one-off instruments of superlative quality. These luthiers don't receive anything near the respect or remuneration they deserve, because of the irrational veneration of old instruments. Worse, innovation of any kind is utterly stifled. I simply refuse to believe that the art of luthiery was definitively perfected in Cremona circa 1700. For as long as we're arguing about whether a modern instrument can ever match a Stradivarius, we can't move towards exceeding their work. The classical guitar world is batshit insane for a whole different set of reasons, but at least innovation exists, even if it's massively controversial. Luthiers like Smallman and Dammann can make genuine efforts to advance the state-of-the-art without dooming themselves to penury.

jedc 8y ago
+1 I read this book years ago, which follows a violin maker in building a custom instrument. It's fascinating - https://www.amazon.com/Violin-Maker-Centuries-Old-Tradition-Brooklyn/dp/0060012676 https://www.amazon.com/Violin-Maker-Centuries-Old-Tradition-...
analog31 8y ago
But there have been some innovations, as evidenced by the Stradivari instruments themselves having received subtle upgrades over the years. Strings have been modernized twice: First with steel, and now with a lot of contemporary strings having synthetic cores, all within the past century. And then there's the bow. Stradivarius could not have known what one of his fiddles would sound like in its present form under a modern bow.