A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs

string instrument String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the ...

s that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and comes from the French word for

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

. The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be used already in French for makers of most

bowed Bowed string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by a bow rubbing the strings. The bow rubbing the string causes vibration which the instrument emits as sound. Despite the numerous specialist studies devoted to th ...

and

plucked ''Death Laid an Egg'' ( it, La morte ha fatto l'uovo) is a 1968 ''giallo'' film directed by Giulio Questi. Written by Questi and Franco Arcalli, the film stars Ewa Aulin, Gina Lollobrigida and Jean-Louis Trintignant. Plot Married couple Anna an ...

stringed instruments such as members of the

violin family The violin family of musical instruments was developed in Italy in the 16th century. At the time the name of this family of instruments was viole da braccio which was used to distinguish them from the viol family (viole ''da gamba''). The standa ...

(including violas, cellos, and double basses) and

guitars The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

. Luthiers, however, do not make harps or pianos; these require different skills and construction methods because their strings are secured to a frame. The

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale prod ...

of luthiers, lutherie (rarely called "luthiery", but this often refers to stringed instruments other than those in the violin family), is commonly divided into the two main categories of makers of stringed instruments that are plucked or strummed and makers of stringed instruments that are bowed. Since bowed instruments require a bow, the second category includes a subtype known as a

bow maker A bow maker is a person who builds, repairs, and restores ancient or modern bows for bowed string instruments. These include violins, violas, cellos, double basses, viola d'amore, viola da gamba, etc. The French word for bowmaker (bow maker) is ...

or archetier. Luthiers may also teach string-instrument making, either through

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

or formal classroom instruction.

Plucked strings

Lutes

Oud maker at Mohamed Ali Street in Cairo, Egypt

Early producers of

archlute The archlute ( es, archilaúd, it, arciliuto, german: Erzlaute) is a European plucked string instrument developed around 1600 as a compromise between the very large theorbo, the size and re-entrant tuning of which made for difficulties in the p ...

theorbo The theorbo is a plucked string instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck and a second pegbox. Like a lute, a theorbo has a curved-back sound box (a hollow box) with a wooden top, typically with a sound hole, and a neck extending ou ...

s and

vihuela The vihuela () is a 15th-century fretted plucked Spanish string instrument, shaped like a guitar (figure-of-eight form offering strength and portability) but tuned like a lute. It was used in 15th- and 16th-century Spain as the equivalent of t ...

s include the

Tieffenbrucker Tieffenbrucker is a large multigenerational family of luthiers, originally from Bavaria, active in Venice and Padua, Italy from the beginning of the 16th century till around 1630. Several of their 16th- and 17th-century lutes are on display at the L ...

family, Martin Hoffmann and

Matteo Sellas Matteo Sellas (sometimes also written Mateo Sellas or in original German Matthäus Seelos) was a German luthier born in 1580 in Füssen who worked in Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy an ...

Guitars

Two luthiers of the early 19th century connected with the development of the modern classical guitar are

Louis Panormo Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...

and

Georg Staufer Johann Georg Stauffer (also Johann Georg Staufer; born January 26, 1778 in Vienna; died 24 January 1853) was an Austrian luthier and the most important Viennese luthier of his time. Life Stauffer was born in the Viennese suburb of Weißgerber, ...

Antonio Torres Jurado Antonio de Torres Jurado (13 June 1817 – 19 November 1892) was a Spanish guitarist and luthier, and "the most important Spanish guitar maker of the 19th century." It is with his designs that the first recognisably modern classical guitars a ...

is credited with developing the form of

classical guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...

still in use.

C.F. Martin Christian Frederick Martin Sr. (german: Christian Friedrich Martin I.; January 31, 1796 – February 16, 1873) was a German-born American luthier who specialized in guitars and the founder of C. F. Martin & Company. He made the first guitar in ...

of Germany developed a form that evolved into the modern steel-string acoustic guitar. The American luthier

Orville Gibson Orville H. Gibson (May 1856 – August 19, 1918) was a luthier who founded the Gibson Guitar Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1902, makers of guitars, mandolins and other instruments. His earliest known instrument was a 10-string mandolin-guita ...

specialized in mandolins, and is credited with creating the

archtop guitar An archtop guitar is a hollow electric or semi-acoustic guitar with a full body and a distinctive arched top, whose sound is particularly popular with jazz, blues, and rockabilly players. Typically, an archtop guitar has: * Six strings * An ar ...

. The 20th-century American luthiers

John D'Angelico John D'Angelico (1905 in Little Italy, Manhattan – September 1, 1964 in Manhattan) was a luthier from New York City, noted for his handmade archtop guitars and mandolins. He founded the D'Angelico Guitars company, where other notable luthiers lik ...

and

Jimmy D'Aquisto James L. D'Aquisto (Brooklyn, November 9, 1935 – California, April 17, 1995) was an Italian–American luthier who concentrated on building and repairing archtop guitars. He served as an apprentice to John D'Angelico beginning in 1952 and late ...

made archtop guitars.

Lloyd Loar Lloyd Allayre Loar (1886–1943) was an American musician, instrument designer and sound engineer. He is best known for his design work with the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. Ltd. in the early 20th century, including the F-5 model mandolin an ...

worked briefly for the

Gibson Guitar Corporation Gibson Brands, Inc. (formerly Gibson Guitar Corporation) is an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and professional audio equipment from Kalamazoo, Michigan, and now based in Nashville, Tennessee. The company was forme ...

making mandolins and guitars. His designs for a family of arch top instruments (mandolin, mandola, guitar, et cetera) are held in high esteem by today's luthiers, who seek to reproduce their sound. C. F. Martin apprenticed to Johann Georg Stauffer, a guitar maker in Vienna, Austria and Martin & Co. was born, with the X bracing being developed in the 1850s. Martin & Co still produce acoustic guitars.

Paul Bigsby Paul Adelburt Bigsby (1899–1968) was an American inventor, designer, and pioneer of the solid body electric guitar. Bigsby is best known for having been the designer of the Bigsby vibrato tailpiece (also mislabeled as a tremolo arm) and pro ...

's innovation of the

tremolo arm A vibrato system on a guitar is a mechanical device used to temporarily change the pitch of the strings. Instruments without a vibrato have other bridge and tailpiece systems. They add vibrato to the sound by changing the tension of the string ...

for archtop and

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

s is still in use and may have influenced

Leo Fender Clarence Leonidas Fender (August 10, 1909 – March 21, 1991) was an American inventor known for designing the Fender Stratocaster. He also founded the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In January 1965, he sold Fender to CBS, and later foun ...

's design for the

Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...

solid-body electric guitar, as well as the

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

and

Jazzmaster The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in th ...

. Concurrent with Fender's work, guitarist

Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype ...

independently developed a solid-body electric guitar. These were the first fretted, solid-body electric guitars—though they were preceded by the cast

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

frying pan A frying pan, frypan, or skillet is a flat-bottomed pan used for frying, searing, and browning foods. It is typically in diameter with relatively low sides that flare outwards, a long handle, and no lid. Larger pans may have a small grab han ...

", a solid-body electric

lap steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional ...

developed and eventually patented by

George Beauchamp George Delmetia Beauchamp (; March 18, 1899 – March 30, 1941) was an American inventor of musical instruments. He is known for designing the first electrically amplified stringed instrument to be marketed commercially. He was also a foun ...

, and built by

Adolph Rickenbacher Adolph Rickenbacker (April 1, 1887 – March 21, 1976) was a Swiss-American electrical engineer who co-founded the Rickenbacker guitar company along with George Beauchamp and Paul Barth. Rickenbacker was born in Basel, Switzerland as Adolf Ri ...

. A company founded by luthier Friedrich

Gretsch Gretsch is an American company that manufactures musical instruments. The company was founded in 1883 in Brooklyn, New York by Friedrich Gretsch, a 27-year-old German immigrant, shortly after his arrival to the United States. Friedrich Gretsc ...

and continued by his son and grandson, Fred and Fred, Jr., originally made banjos, but now mainly produce electric guitars.

Bowed strings

Bowed instruments include:

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

crwth The crwth (, also called a crowd or rote or crotta) is a bowed lyre, a type of stringed instrument, associated particularly with Welsh music, now archaic but once widely played in Europe. Four historical examples have survived and are to be foun ...

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

erhu The ''erhu'' (; ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a ''Southern Fiddle'', and is sometimes known in the Western world as the ''Chinese violin'' or a ''Chinese two-s ...

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

hudok The gudok (, russian: гудок), gudochek (, russian: гудочек) is an ancient Eastern Slavic string musical instrument, played with a bow.

morin khuur The ''morin khuur'' ( mn, морин хуур, morin khuur), also known as the horsehead fiddle, is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is one of the most important musical instruments of the Mongol people, and is considered a ...

nyckelharpa A nyckelharpa (, "keyed fiddle", or literally "key harp", plural ) is the national musical instrument of Sweden. It is a string instrument or chordophone. Its keys are attached to tangents which, when a key is depressed, serve as frets to cha ...

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vio ...

, rabab,

rebec The rebec (sometimes rebecha, rebeckha, and other spellings, pronounced or ) is a bowed stringed instrument of the Medieval era and the early Renaissance. In its most common form, it has a narrow boat-shaped body and one to five strings. Origi ...

sarangi The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, and Boro folk music (there known as the ''serja'') – in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. It is ...

viol The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitc ...

(

viola da gamba The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitc ...

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

viola da braccio Viola da braccio (from Italian "arm viola", plural ''viole da braccio'') is a term variously applied during the baroque period to instruments of the violin family, in distinction to the viola da gamba ("leg viola") and the viol family to which the ...

viola d'amore The viola d'amore (; Italian for "viol of love") is a 7- or 6- stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin. Structure and sound The viol ...

, and

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

. The purported inventor of the violin is

Andrea Amati Andrea Amati was a luthier, from Cremona, Italy. Amati is credited with making the first instruments of the violin family that are in the form we use today. Several of his instruments survive to the present day, and some of them can still be p ...

. Amati was originally a lute maker, but turned to the new instrument form of violin in the mid-16th century. He was the progenitor of the Amati family of luthiers active in Cremona, Italy until the 18th century. Andrea Amati had two sons. His eldest was

Antonio Amati Antonio Amati ( – 1607) was an Italian luthier, active from 1560 to 1605. Biography Born in Cremona, Andrea Amati's son and Girolamo Amati's brother, Antonio worked first with his father, then with his brother, in the same workshop. With th ...

(''circa'' 1537–1607), and the younger,

Girolamo Amati Girolamo Amati (1561–1630) was an Italian luthier, active from 1580 to 1630. Biography Born in Cremona, Girolamo was the youngest son of Andrea Amati and brother of Antonio Amati. Girolamo worked, probably from 1575, with his brother, in ...

(''circa'' 1561–1630). Girolamo is better known as Hieronymus, and together with his brother, produced many violins with labels inside the instrument reading "A&H". Antonio died having no known offspring, but Hieronymus became a father. His son Nicolò (1596–1684) was himself a master luthier who had several apprentices of note, including

Antonio Stradivari Antonio Stradivari (, also , ; – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a craftsman of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas and harps. The Latinized form of his surname, ''Stradivarius'', as well as the colloq ...

(probably), Andrea

Guarneri The Guarneri (, , ), often referred to in the Latinized form Guarnerius, is the family name of a group of distinguished luthiers from Cremona in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, whose standing is considered comparable to those of the Amati an ...

, Bartolomeo Pasta, Jacob Railich, Giovanni Battista Rogeri, Matthias Klotz, and possibly

Jacob Stainer Jacob Stainer (–1683) was the earliest and best known Austrian and Germanic luthier. His violins were sought after by famous 17th- and 18th-century musicians and composers including Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and . Stainer wa ...

and

Francesco Rugeri Francesco Rugeri (Cremona, 1628; 28 October 1698), also known as Ruger, Rugier, Rugeri, Ruggeri, Ruggieri, Ruggerius, was the first of an important family of luthiers, the Casa Rugeri in Cremona, Italy. His instruments are masterfully constructe ...

. It is even possible

Bartolomeo Cristofori Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco (; May 4, 1655 – January 27, 1731) was an Italian maker of musical instruments famous for inventing the piano. Life The available source materials on Cristofori's life include his birth and death recor ...

, later inventor of the piano, apprenticed under him (although census data does not support this, which paints this as a possible myth).

Gasparo Duiffopruggar Gasparo Duiffopruggar (1514 – ) was an instrument maker. His originally German family name was also spelled Tieffenbrucker, Tiefenbrugger, Tiefenbrucker, Teufenbrugger, Tuiffenbrugger, Deuffenbrugger, Dieffopruchar, Dieffoprughar, Duyfautbrocard, ...

Füssen Füssen is a town in Bavaria, Germany, in the district of Ostallgäu, situated one kilometre from the Austrian border. The town is known for violin manufacturing and as the closest transportation hub for the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau cast ...

, Germany, was once incorrectly credited as the inventor of the violin. He was likely a maker, but no documentation survives, and no instruments survive that experts unequivocally know are his.

Gasparo da Salò Gasparo da Salò (20 May 154214 April 1609) is the name given to Gasparo Bertolotti, one of the earliest violin makers and an expert double bass player. Around 80 of his instruments are known to have survived to the present day: violins (small ...

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

(Italy) was another early luthier of the violin family. About 80 of his instruments survive, and around 100 documents that relate to his work. He was also a double bass player and son and nephew of two violin players: Francesco and Agosti, respectively. Da Salò made many instruments and exported to France and Spain, and probably to England. He had at least five apprentices: his son Francesco, a helper named Battista, Alexander of Marsiglia, Giacomo Lafranchini and

Giovanni Paolo Maggini Giovanni Paolo Maggini (c. 1580 - c. 1630), was a luthier born in Botticino (Brescia), Italy. Maggini was a pupil of the most important violin maker of the Brescian school, Gasparo da Salò. Maggini's early instruments are now considered very desi ...

. Maggini inherited da Salò's business in Brescia.

Valentino Siani Valentino Siani (c.1595–1672) was an Italian violinmaker who worked in Brescia and Florence. He was a pupil of Giovanni Paolo Maggini Giovanni Paolo Maggini (c. 1580 - c. 1630), was a luthier born in Botticino (Brescia), Italy. Maggini was ...

worked with Maggini. In 1620, Maggini moved to Florence. Luthiers born in the mid-17th century include

Giovanni Grancino Giovanni Grancino (1637–1709), son of Andrea Grancino, was one of the early Milanese luthiers, and may have worked with his brother, Francesco. Giovanni was the most prominent member of the family of luthiers . Other members included Andrea Gra ...

Vincenzo Rugeri Vincenzo Rugeri (30 September 1663 – 4 May 1719) (also known as Ruger, Rugier, Rugieri, Ruggeri, Ruggieri, Ruggerius), was an Italian luthier of string instruments such as violins, cellos, and, violas in Cremona, Italy. His instruments are noted ...

Carlo Giuseppe Testore Carlo Giuseppe Testore (c. 1665–1738) was an Italian luthier, who worked in his later life in Milan. Biography Testore was born in Novara. A student of Giovanni Grancino, he went to Milan in 1687 and set up his workshop at the Sign of the Eagl ...

, and his sons

Carlo Antonio Testore Carlo Antonio Testore (1687–1765) was a Milanese luthier. Life and career Carlo Antonio Testore was born in Milan, the son of Carlo Giuseppe Testore, also a noted luthier, and worked in the family's workshop under the "Sign of the Eagle" on ...

and

Paolo Antonio Testore Paolo Antonio Testore (born 1700 - died 1767) was a Milanese luthier. He was born in Milan, the second son of Carlo Giuseppe Testore, also a noted luthier, and worked out of the family's workshop under the "Sign of the Eagle" on Contrada Larga i ...

, all from

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. From

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

the luthiers

Matteo Goffriller Matteo Goffriller (1659–1742) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian luthier, particularly noted for the quality of his cellos. He was active between 1685–1735 and was the founder of the "Venetian School (music), Venetian School" of luthiers, durin ...

Domenico Montagnana Domenico Montagnana (24 June 1686 – 6 March 1750) was an Italian master luthier based in Venice, Italy. He is regarded as one of the finest violin and cello makers of his time. His pieces, particularly his cellos, are sought after by orchestras, ...

Sanctus Seraphin Sanctus Seraphin (Udine 1699 – Venice 1776), also known as Santo Serafin, was a successful luthier (violin maker), working in Venice. He closed his ''bottega'' (workshop) in 1741 but he continued to work in the bottega of Giorgio Serafin, his nep ...

, and

Carlo Annibale Tononi Carlo Annibale Tononi (1675–1730) was a luthier who trained and worked with his father in the Tononi family workshop in Bologna, Italy until his father, Johannes Tononi, died in 1713. After his father's death, Tononi moved to the more importan ...

were principals in the Venetian school of violin making (although the latter began his career in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

Carlo Bergonzi (luthier) Carlo Bergonzi (21 December 1683 – 9 February 1747) was an Italian luthier and is the first and most prominent member of the Bergonzi family, a distinguished group of luthiers from Cremona, Italy, a city with a rich tradition of stringed instr ...

purchased Antonio Stradivari's shop a few years after the master's death.

David Tecchler David Tecchler, sometimes also written Techler, Tekler, Deckler, Dechler, Decler, TecclerRené Vannes, ''Dictionnaire universel des luthiers'', Bruxelles : Les Amis de la musique, 1951, p. 356 or Teckler, (1666–1748) was a German luthier, best kn ...

, who was born in Austria, later worked in both Venice and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Luthiers from the early 18th century include

Nicolò Gagliano Nicolò Gagliano (active. c. 1730s – 1787 in Naples), although there is some discussion about the exact dates) (also known as ''Nicolo'', ''Nicola'' or ''Nicolaus'' Gagliano - also sometimes known as ''Nicolò I'', to differentiate him from Nico ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Italy,

Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi (c. 1714 – 1787) was an Italian master luthier who was active in the 18th century during the golden age of stringed instrument making. Landolfi is considered among the half dozen finest stringed instrument makers in his ...

of Milan, and

Giovanni Battista Guadagnini Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (often shortened to G. B. Guadagnini; 23 June 1711 – 18 September 1786) was an Italian luthier, regarded as one of the finest craftsmen of string instruments in history. Reprint with new introduction by Stewart Pol ...

, who roamed throughout Italy during his lifetime. From Austria originally,

Leopold Widhalm Martin Leopold Widhalm (October 2, 1722 – June 10, 1776) was an Austrian luthier. Born in Horn, Austria, he worked on many old Bologna lutes that inspired his later work in his manufacture of lutes, violins and cello, violoncellos in Nurembe ...

later established himself in

Nürnberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ci ...

, Germany. The early 19th-century luthiers of the

Mirecourt Mirecourt () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Mirecourt is known for lace-making and the manufacture of musical instruments, particularly those of the Violin family. Inhabitants are called Mirecurtiens. G ...

school of violin making in France were the Vuillaume family,

Charles Jean Baptiste Collin-Mezin Charles Jean Baptiste Collin-Mezin (1841–1923) was a French maker of violins, violas, cellos, basses and bows. He was an Officier de l'Académie des Beaux-Arts and won gold and silver medals at the Paris Exhibitions in 1878, 1889, and 1900. He w ...

, and Collin-Mezin's son,

Charles Collin-Mezin, Jr. Charles Collin-Mezin Jr. (1870–1934) was a French violin maker, and an Officier de l'Académie des Beaux-Arts. He collaborated with his father Charles Jean Baptiste Collin-Mezin, a famous Parisian luthier. When his father died in 1923, the f ...

, Honore Derazey, Nicolas Lupot, Charles Macoutel,

Charles Mennégand Charles Mennégand (19 June 1822 – 9 January 1885) was a French luthier and a repairer of violins, violas, and cellos. He is considered a superb 19th century French maker of cellos and is consistently counted among the handful of great French ma ...

, and Pierre Silvestre. Nicola Utili (also known as Nicola da Castel Bolognese) (Ravenna, Italy, 1888–1962), beside traditional lute works, experimented the making of "pear-shaped" violins. The Jérôme-Thibouville-Lamy firm started making wind instruments around 1730 at

La Couture-Boussey La Couture-Boussey () is a commune in the Eure department in northern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in ...

, then moved to Mirecourt around 1760 and started making violins, guitars, mandolins, and musical accessories.

Plucked strings

Lutes

Guitars

Bowed strings

See also

References

Further reading