Violin makers in Edinburgh

Service

trade, repair

Particularities

Stringers is a well-known dealer of stringed instruments with shops and violin making workshops in London and Edinburgh.

The staff at Stringer Edinburgh's workshop

• Judith Blackwell – Senior Restorer
• Russel Redpath – Restorer
• Joe Lotito – Restorer
• Stuart Reid – Restorer

Qualification

violin maker

Service

new building

Particularities

Steve Burnett is a contemporary Edinburgh based violin maker, whose unique projects attract public interest even beyond the musical scene:

• Il Mare is a violin built from a popla driftwood log Burnett found on a East Lothin beach and was played by violinist Daniel Safford in a concert at Scotland’s International Marine Conference in Glasgow, giving a political statement on the situation and the protection of the marine environment.
• The Wilfried Owen violin and the Siegfried Sassoon violin are paying tribute to the war poets who were treated for shell-shock at the Craiglockhart psychiatric hospital. Burnett used a humble branch from a sycamore tree in the hospital gardens where Owen and Sassoon spent many hours while recovering from his war trauma. Both violins reflect their poetic relationship with their different and somehow complementary tonal characters.
• An artistic "extension to the literary world" is Burnett's Emily Bronte violin, a contribution to the 200th anniversary of the writer that was crafted from a tree which grew close to the place where she wrote her famous novel "Wuthering Heights". A similar approach to literature is represented by the Sherlock violin made from a tree at Dunedin School, where Arthur Conan Doyle was living as a child.

Steve Burnett's violins, violas and cellos, crafted in traditional Italian style especially following the model of del Gesù, are highly regarded by both classical and folk musicians.

Qualification

master violinmaker, restorer

Service

new building, repair, restoration

Particularities

Neil McWilliams studied at the Newark School of Violin Making and after graduating worked for three years in a Cambridge workshop gaining experience in repair and restoration of fine violins. In his Edinburgh workshop he is providing luthier and bow rehairing services and builds violins, violas and cellos for advanced players and professionals, mainly to commission.

Service

trade, leasing

Particularities

Tim Wright Fine Violins was founded by the professional violinist Tim Wright who had worked for leading musical instrument auction houses after having graduated from the Royal College of Music in 2012. He is offering a selection of fine violins, violas, cellos and bows, both modern and period instruments, with special rental programs for student and fine violins. Repairs are conducted by a network of trusted independent workshops.

Qualification

violin maker

Service

trade, repair

Particularities

Scayles Music shop offers various musical instruments online and in Edinburgh, including a wide range of violins and fiddles, both classical and electric. The shop opens 7 days a week.

Opening hours

Monday open, Saturdays open

Qualification

bow maker

Service

trade, new building, repair, restoration

Particularities

Alessandra Paradiso studied bow making at the Bow Making School of Cremona, Italy, and graduated as a master bow maker. After gaining working experience in several renowned international workshops she opened her own atelier in Edinburgh, where she provides bow maker services to professional musicians of the main Scottish orchestras, chamber ensembles, soloists and folk players.

New works by Alessandra Paradiso are mainly copies of classical French masters of bow making such as Sartory, Peccatte and Lamy as well as works in the English Tubbs and Hill traditions.

Qualification

master violinmaker, restorer

Service

new building, repair, restoration

Particularities

The atelier of master violin maker Colin Charles Adamson is situated not too far from Edinburgh in North Berwick. Adamson graduated with merit from Newark School of Violin Making and subsequently worked for violin makers in Canada, Finland and Germany as a maker and restorer. Today he predominantely builds new stringed instruments to commission. His instruments are regularly presented at exhibitions throughout Scotland, London with the British Violin Making Association (BVMA) and in Manchester at the Royal Northern College of Music. His violins are played by professional musicians and members of renowned orchestras in the UK and abroad.

Qualification

master violinmaker, restorer

Service

new building, repair, restoration

Particularities

David Rattray's atelier is situated a 45 minutes car ride away from Edinburgh on the north side of the Firth of Forth. Rattray is Honorary Associate and Instrument Curator at the Royal Academy of Music since more than 25 years, a member of the Ente Triennale Scientific Committee and jury member of the Antonio Stradivari International Violin Making Competition 2009 in Cremona. As a luthier and restorer he is well-renowned among international violinists and as an expert he published several books about the historical masterpieces of Italian violin making and the luthier tradition of Scotland.