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Artisanal. Small-batch. Boutique. Usually, such adjectives are associated with premium prices in the American market. However, these traits can still be found in competitively priced instruments from the Core Select Series. Over the last 100 years, in every area where there has been a mass production of stringed instruments, a few master makers have broken away from the "factory group" and established themselves in small private workshops. Think of Germans such as Roman Teller, Rudolf Buchner, Bruno Paulus, and a few others. Now, this has happened in China. While the factories make some very nice "step-up" instruments, a few makers who have nothing to do with the large manufacturers have established small workshops where these highly trained masters make very small quantities of artist-level instruments. The Core Select master makers have often trained in Europe or America, and many have earned awards and medals in various global competitions. Their skill and talent are world-class. Their assistants learn the finer aspects of the craft by working alongside the master over years and years. Like anything made by hand, it's not a quick process, and to do it well takes long-term commitment and patience. |
Neck projection, overstand, afterlength, mensur, break angle, bridge mass, post tension, fingerboard concavity, peg taper, string height, plate thickness and bass bar overhang are all common terms for those who work in and around the field of stringed instrument setup and tonal adjustment. However, for those wondering what separates a good violin from a not-so-good violin, it can be an overwhelming amount of information. We must think of it in terms of precise manufacturing and fine tolerances, as we would with any precision machine. Most violin makers strive for exacting detail in their product, sometimes as a result of their own experimentation, and often as acknowledgement of the findings of so many generations of previous makers who've shared in their love of this alluring instrument for centuries before them, but always as a means to creating a beautiful musical instrument with a beautiful voice. Our goal at Howard Core Company then is to reflect that passion in the final stages of preparation before the player actually draws their bow for the first time across their new violin.
