Violin Forum/Message Board

[BK]

Hello All,

I was wondering what the market is like for violins these days.

For instance, if you were to become a full-time luthier (if there is such a thing), is the market for violins strong enough to consistently sell your product, within a year's time, say?

Or, I wonder, if violins are a difficult item to sell due to a lack of a consumer base. I recognize that markets vary depending on many different factors, such as location, advertising, price, demand, reputation and the quality of the product, to name a few. But I was just interested in getting a sampling of a few people's personal experiences with the "violin market", for lack of a better phrase. Are you able to sell your product easily? Or is this somewhat of a challenge? If it is a challenge, have you found ways to overcome it?

Thanks,
BK

[Mat Roop]

Bk... that all depends on your reputation with respect to your instruments... you could starve or you could make a nice living... its up to you!
Cheers... Mat

[Dave Chandler]

Without the formal education or at least an apprenticeship for a few years, you'll spend the first five or six years struggling to produce an instrument that will exceed the factory made violins that sell for under $1000. That means you're working at a Chinese factory wage of about a dollar an hour. (And before someone jumps on me about this statement let me add "THERE'S ALWAYS EXCEPTIONS" and many read this forum).

Its like visual artists -- you may have to starve a few years, then hope you get discovered (if you're exceptional).

That said, here's my experience thus far -- I've made 14 in a 6 year period, have sold 4 or 5, and have 3 out on consignment in local shops, two at home that I'm still fine-tuning setup issues. I've given several away, and stripped parts off the first 3 or 4 and burnt the carcasses. Apparently, I'm not exceptional.

I have no delusions of making a living at this endeavor in the near future. In fact, I put my fiddles out on consignment primarily to get them out of sight of my wife, otherwise she won't let me buy more wood with all these fiddles laying about.

Most people in my region (I'm in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina) are looking for local hand-made, so that's where I get a bit of an edge over the factory models. Mine have tool marks and they don't look spray varnished.
_________________
Dave in the Blue Ridge
Southern Violin Association

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm" Winston Churchill

"I took the road less travelled, and now I don't know where I am." Marco Polo

[BK]

Great! Thank you all for the replies. It's good to get an idea about these things.

I can certainly understand your wife's beef. I've recently been piling up quite a bit of wood and miscellaneous luthier tools around the house. I think I'll be sleeping on the couch pretty soon.

[Dave Chandler]

BK,
Just don't put a TV in your workshop, that'll really get'em going.
_________________
Dave in the Blue Ridge
Southern Violin Association

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm" Winston Churchill

"I took the road less travelled, and now I don't know where I am." Marco Polo

[mr_violin]

"BK,
Just don't put a TV in your workshop, that'll really get'em going."
_________________

Best if you can teach your wife to work on violins with you!

That is what I did. Now my wife and I watch TV as we work.

Only problem, I spend more time sharpening the tools!

[BK]

Hi Dave,

I was thinking about a comment that you had provided in a previous post:

"Without the formal education or at least an apprenticeship for a few years, you'll spend the first five or six years struggling to produce an instrument that will exceed the factory made violins that sell for under $1000. That means you're working at a Chinese factory wage of about a dollar an hour. "

It got me to thinking that perhaps I should attempt to gain some sort of formal (or quasi-formal) training in violin making before I attempt to make (and especially sell) an instrument.

I have read all of the books, and watched all of the DVDs and experimented quite a bit with bending ribs, making forms, ect. I see how these ideas can be applied to actually constructing an instrument. My fear is, that like learning to play a violin, you can learn on your own... but you can also pick up bad habits! I try to balance my natural do-it-yourself spirit with my perfectionist spirit... and on this issue, they seem to be clashing a little bit.

I think Michael, in one of his posts, mentioned that one of the great benefits that he had to learning the art of violin making was that he did not know anything about violin making before he was taught. Therefore, he didn't have to "unlearn" bad habits.

So, with that being said, perhaps I should attempt to gain some sort of formal (or pseudo-formal) training in violin making before I pick up bad habits. My two ideas for this were to become an apprentice or take a class. Becoming an apprentice might be ideal, as I assume you would learn things slowly and carefully; however, the time commitment might be quite great, and I'm not sure that I could afford that type of a time commitment at this point in my life. So, taking a class might be the more rational/pragmatic approach. Would you agree?

If my stream of reasoning seems logical, and people would advise taking classes, perhaps people may have suggestions/recommendations about how to proceed with selecting a class? Are some better than others? Have people had a particularly good experience with a class? How long should they last (1 week, 2 weeks, a month)?

My other thought about taking a class, is that when you get to the point where you are actually selling instruments, you can reassure your buyers that you did, in fact, have formal training and you are basing your work off of formal education that you received. I know, that would make me feel a little bit better before I made an investment in an instrument.

Thanks!
BK

[Dave Chandler]

BK,

By all means, you should give it a go, but keep expectations realistic.

I've had no formal training, have lots of bad habits, and after about 5 years and more than a dozen instruments, I'm still too critical of my skills to think that what I produce is any better than a factory made violin. My first four or five have been stripped of parts, and get used for varnish practice.

But, I love the making and I'm not concerned with the selling (except to clear out space), and I have only one standard that I demand of myself, and that is that each must be better then the previous.

I'm hoping that next year, for the first time, I'll have the time and opportunity to attend several week-long courses on basic making and more importantly (to me) set up. Hoping to attend some of the courses available in Tucson next April. I think they are the "Chimney's Workshops".
_________________
Dave in the Blue Ridge
Southern Violin Association

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm" Winston Churchill

"I took the road less travelled, and now I don't know where I am." Marco Polo

[BK]

Hey Dave,

That Chimney's workshop looks pretty darn good! I checked out the website.

Maybe I'll try to stash away some money under my pillow and check it out next year or something. Thanks for the tip!

Ya, I like the advice though. I guess there's really no one perfect way to learn. Just jump in there and get your hand dirty, right?

Thanks!

[SooT]

Michael Darnton teaches a top quality workshop, can highly recommend it. You have to book early, it fills up fast.

http://www.scvmw.com/