Important Announcement: 2022 UNH Violin Craftmanship Institute will be held online.
This course is a deep dive into the complex and inventive world of fretted instrument repair. While we will focus on the finer points of setup and maintenance, this course really aims to demystify some of the more complicated techniques performed on valuable vintage instruments.
Topics addressed will include:
Since the internet is full of general repair videos, this workshop aims to showcase the more complicated repair techniques that advanced luthiers rarely share with the public.
Every morning session will consist of a demonstration on a vintage instrument brought by the instructor, while the afternoon and evening will be dedicated to students’ projects. This is an excellent opportunity to dust off the family heirloom and bring it back to life under the guidance of a master luthier.
After earning a philosophy degree from Boston College back in 1995, Chuck packed his car and headed out to the Roberto-Venn school of lutherie in an attempt to find a worthwhile career path. Building and repairing musical instruments just seemed like an idyllic life for a creative soul who lived for music. 24 years later he’s still at it, building 4 pieces of functional art each year in a historic one-room schoolhouse nestled in the Green Mountains of Vermont - most notably for legendary Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. This long and rewarding career has included a restoration apprenticeship at the Music Emporium, many years at Tippin Guitars (building and restoration), rising to become rental workshop manager at Johnson String Instrument, training luthiers in China on 5 occasions in both guitar and violin repair as well as design & product development, studying with maestro Hans Nebel of the Wurlitzer workshop, and currently as the master luthier for Juzek Stringed Instruments/Metropolitan Music in Stowe, Vermont. The challenge of repair and restoration work has always been a motivating force, and he especially enjoys restoring family treasures.
