Cello Making

One of my clients (he has commissioned a cello) just dropped in to check out the cello wood that has just arrived. He is a fellow instrument making enthusiast and we embarked on a great discussion about instruments, making techniques and adventures to find interesting

wood suppliers hidden in various beautiful parts of Tassie. Great stuff!  

A good distraction from the cello making itself, which is consuming most of my work time at the moment. Whenever my wife rings and asks "What are you doing?' the answer is invariably "Cello making."

Interview

This week saw travel south to the capital for an interview for a Churchill Fellowship. It was nerve-wracking, to say the least.  This luthier is more comfortable in a workshop behind a plane than making public presentations, but did his best and took the double bass along for moral support. The applicants had to make a ten minute presentation to a panel of 9 people around a boardroom table, after which they are peppered with questions. The reception by the panel was quite warm and most of the questions they fired had been anticipated but who knows? Great references and the double bass hopefully gave me an edge.

This week's musical selection in the workshop is featuring

Alberto Ginastera

,

Variaciones Concertantes

. Check variation 11 for 'shredding' bass solo.

Leave a comment. Any feedback you have on the blog, the work or the official web site will be gratefully received.

Violin No.10 and Cello No. 4 have now been completed and have gone to good homes.  Two more cello commissions have arrived  and two more may be in the wings so the work schedule for the year is filling up fast.

Good news arrived today with confirmation of an interview for a Churchill Fellowship to study bow making in France.  A very exciting prospect so fingers crossed that the interview goes well and I'll be off to France for six weeks later in the year. Sounds terrible, doesn't it!

March Progress

It's been a busy few weeks. Lots of back-to-school repairs and feverishly working to finish the violin and cello.

The varnishing is always tricky but I am pretty happy with the results.

Another cello is underway as the wood arrived from Germany a couple of weeks ago.

The trip to the capital to show off the instruments in the white gave some really positive feedback.

My eldest son has begun his double bass career. He is about to turn 8 and is playing an 1/8th size instrument. So far he has mastered holding the instrument and can play 'Twinkle. Twinkle Little Star' in two lessons.

He's a natural - of course.

Double Dipping

The new web site is up in draft form but not quite fully running (take a look. www.philipsmithluthier.com) hence another blogspot post.

Tomorrow the new violin, cello and I are off to the capital to be tested by some of the state's finest musicians. Access to this kind of feedback is invaluable in the making of my instruments, and provides an excellent day out of the 'office'.

Pencil

Getting the most out of a pencil...

As to the violin, the scroll is finished and the neck is in. Almost done. It is taking on its own identity. Next, it'll be strung up in the white and given to a violinist for playing and feedback. Then to summon all my nerve to take on the harrowing task of varnishing.

Repair work from schools is piling up as holidays are over in a couple of weeks.

A trip to Hobart has renewed the desire to do more playing and more work in our island's capital. The home of the

TSO

and a bigger population certainly provides a lot more musical and professional opportunities than the smaller town in which we live.

Next week it's off to tutor Double Bass at the

Launceston Youth Orchestra Strings cam

p.

Violin No. 10

Now it's looking like a real violin. After the cello, progress on the smaller instruments seems to happen so fast.

With this one the lower bout ribs are in one piece, so it has no join at the lower block. No join should mean no coming apart.

This morning has been spent wrestling with reticent suppliers and recovering from the shock of their post-global-financial-crisis price rises. Now to the task of cleaning up and rubbish removal. The piles of wood shavings are ankle deep around the workbench. Aaaah, a luthier's life ...

Progress is being made on the website www.philipsmithluthier.com with the help of a local photographer, Ben Southam, who has provided some fantastic shots of the workshop and instruments. The site will be updated and launched soon.

January - Work In Progress - Cello and Violin

Great progress has been made working on the commissions through Christmas and New Year. Weather in Tasmania has been unpredictable at best. It certainly hasn't felt like summer yet. This has provided me with good conditions for getting some work done.

Currently working on a cello and its really getting somewhere. This one is my own interpretation of a Mantagnana cello. It has a slightly diminished width yet attempting to retain the essence of the Master's model. I am aiming for a player-friendly version yet retaining the robust, earthy tones associated with Montagnana.

This commissioned violin uses my preferred Guarneri model, the 1742 'Alard'. I am currently tuning the plates and its not there yet but coming along nicely.

Now cello no.5, in the form of tonewood from Germany, is sitting in Customs and I need to fill in forms and negotiate for its early release, not to mention paying them a small fortune for the privilege. One of my least favourite jobs.

Stick Bass

Details:

• Five piece laminated neck-through-body construction
• Made from Tasmanian Blackwood and Huon Pine
• Ebony fingerboard
• Carbon Fibre endpin
• Wilson Individual String pickups

I made this in 2005 for a double bass student of mine. The playing dimensions are the same as a double bass. This makes it easy to swap between playing the two. This bass has a real double bass quality of sound.