violins

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Violin

Suzuki

The Suzuki Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company was established in 1953 in Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki has grown into an international manufacturer with major production facilities in Japan, Korea, China and the United States. Suzuki is one of the world's leading suppliers of musical instruments for education.

See also Kiso Suzuki and Nagoya Suzuki, which also guitar makers but not related to Suzuki Musical Instrument Mfg. Company. If you have a Suzuki instrument, check the label as it may be made by Kiso or Nagoya Suzuki.

Source: about Suzuki Music - archived 2011

Source: Suzuki Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company website

Kiso Suzuki

The Suzuki Violin Company was established in 1887 by Masakichi Suzuki and has been making guitars since the early 1900s. Following the second World War the company was restructured into two parts: the Suzuki Violin Company, which later became the Kiso Suzuki Violin Company (run by one of Masakichi's sons Kikuo) and the Suzuki Violin Manufacturing Company came to be called the Nagoya Suzuki Violin Company (run by another one of Masakichi's sons, Umeo).

In 1951 Kiso Suzuki started making guitars. Kiso Suzuki often made acoustic and classical guitars for other brands and distributors including: Iwama Trading; CSL Gypsy; Tomson; Kansas; Takeharu; Halifax. Kiso Suzuki finally stopped trading in 1987 and ESP bought their machines and wood supplies.

Doina

Doina guitars were made in Bucharest, Romania. The Doina Engineering Factory in Bucharest was founded in the interwar period and was active until the 1980s. Doina made pianos, drums, accordions, wind instruments and various stringed instruments including guitars. A Doina is also a type of vocal improvised lyrical folk song unique to Romania -  coincidentally Hora the other main Romanian brand was named after a traditional folk dance.

Source: Ebay Doina guitar auction.

Holzapfel

Carl C. Holzapfel (1874 to 1963) was a Baltimore luthier who made some of the earliest 12-string guitars around 1900 to 1910. Though Holzapfel guitars are rare, they were the 12-string of choice for Mike Seeger, Dave “Snaker” Ray and Eric Darling. Holzapfel was born in Germany and studied under Carl Scheytt. He moved to the USA and established his own shop in Baltimore where he made violins, mandolins, bows and guitars.

Source: Fretboard Journal. September 2008 - Holzapfels from the collection of Fred Oster.

Source: Tarisio Carl C. Holzapfel

Meinel & Herold

Meinel & Herold was a German musical instrument maker in Klingenthal, Saxony from 1893 until 1973. Both the Meinel and Herold families were active in violin making in Klingenthal from the 1700s.

Musima

Musima was an East German instrument manufacturer located in Markneukirchen. This southern part of Saxony (the Vogtland), near the Czech border, has a long history as a centre of luthiery due in part to the nearby forests of spruce perfect for violins. The area was settled in the late 1600s by Protestant violin makers. Escaping persecution in their native Bavaria they established a violin makers' guild and by the mid to late 1800s Markneukirchen was the largest producer of violins.

GB&A

GB&A is a brand name of Bhargava's Musik in Mumbai. GB&A offer traditional Indian instruments as well as guitars and other stringed instruments. The GB&A brand was created by Mr. Govind Bhargava, Mr. Brijesh Bhargava and Mr. Ashish Bhargava.
 

Source: GB&A website (10 July 2017)

Meisel

Meisel Stringed Instrumwents was a US distributor of orchestral stringed instruments and classical guitars. The Meisel name has been associated with stringed instruments since 1659, when Karl Meisel began hand-crafting violins in Germany.  Since that time generations of Meisel artisans dedicated themselves to making high quality stringed instruments. Meisel violins, violas, cellos and basses were made in the European tradition, and most were constructed with full ebony trimmings, full corner blocks, full neck and endpin blocks, full inside lining and inlaid purflings. Their instruments exceeded the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) specifications.  Each instrument was finished at the Meisel violin shop. Bridges were individually cut, fingerboards were  shaped and aligned, and pegs are fitted to turn smoothly and hold tension. In addition to stringed instruments, Meisel offered a wide selection of strings and accessories.

Venlonia

Venlonia was founded by Hay Schreurs (1921 - 2002), a violinist and woodworker who started building mandolins and violins at the age of fifteen. In 1939 he decided to set up a company which from 1945 onwards mainly produced guitars. The workshop was located first on Molenstraat and then on Hoeschoorweg in Venlo. In 1959 he moved to a large woodworking workshop in 4, Millenstraat where at its peak the company employed 16 staff making thousands of guitars per year. Venlonia produced their guitars under other brand names including: Magic, Top Tuner, Unicorn and Famos. The Famos brand name alluded to the better known German Framus brand, with a similar name and logo. Many of Velonia's guitars were made for export but by the 1970s competition from Japan became so great that Schreurs sold the business.

Source: The history of guitar making in the Netherlands (24 April 2017)
 

Eastman

Eastman Guitars is the guitar division of Eastman Music Compnay, which also owns the Eastman Strings, Eastman Winds WM. S. Haynes, S. E.Shires and Backun Musical Services brands. Eastman Strings was founded in 1992 by Qian Ni as an orchestral stringed instrument maker and in 2004 they began to make guitars as well. Eastman instruments are made in China.

Source: Eastman Guitars website (30 March 2017)

Dyer

William John Dyer was born in London, England, in 1841 but emigrated to Faribault, Minnesota, in 1869 where opened a music store with his brother. Two years later, the brothers moved to St. Paul. The Dyer music store grew quickly to become one of the largest west of Chicago and also had music teaching and performance facilities. WJ Dyer & Brothers sold their own line of Dyer branded instruments, although  they were built by other companies. The Dyer range included Symphony brand harp-guitars which were made by Larson.

Source: HarpGuitars.net - Dyer (29 March 2017)

Trinity River

Trinity River is a house brand name of M&M Wholesalers / Stenzler Musical Instruments of Fort Worth, Texas. Trinity River began as a budget acoustic instrument brand, around 2004, with a range of acoustic guitars and bluegrass instruments. Electric guitars and basses were added later. Trinity River acoustic guitars use James Oliver's JLD Pinless Bridge System which prevents the bridge from pulling up and causing the top to belly.

Source: Trinity River website (27 March 2017)

Davis (Mervyn)

South African luthier Mervyn Davis' interest in instrument building was inspired by his father who started his career by building a mandolin in an Italian prisoner of war camp during Second World War. While studying architecture at the University of Port Elizabeth (1974 - 1978), he started receiving commissions from local musicians to build guitars and other instruments. He was also paid to maintain the instruments belonging to the University's music conservatoire.

KOPO

Kopo is the brand name of French luthier Frédéric Pons. Pons apprenticed with violin maker Christian Boyer from 1981 to 1982, and then studied for a diploma in guitar making at the London College of Furniture from 1982 to 1985. He established the Kopo workshop in 1988 in Rue Descarte, Rennes. Since that time, hundreds of instruments have come out of this workshop. Kopo always seeks to effectively combine design, sound, and comfort through his use of woods, metals, and composites to create guitars that are both great sounding and ergonomic.

Source: KOPO Guitars website (25 February 2017)

Cremona

Cremona was founded in Schönbach in Czechoslovakia in 1922 as a stringed instrument manufacturer. Following World War II in 1946, as Schönbach was renamed Luby, Cremona became a cooperative of 40 instrument makers. The Communist government nationalised the Cremona cooperative in 1950 and it became a state owned enterprise, with a main plant and warehouse divided into many small workshops. Cremona made classical and acoustic guitars as well as electric guitars and basses, and orchestral stringed instruments.

In 1992 Cremona was privatised and renamed Strunal Schönbach.

Michelutti

Carlos Roberto Michelutti was born in Cordoba, Argentina, in 1959. As a child he learned flamenco and classical guitar and became interested in instrument making. He made his first instrument at 14, an electric guitar for his friend Jose "Pepe" Figueroa. He learned musical instrument construction and restoration with Felix T. Garzon at the University of Cordoba. At 20, he attended the the workshop of Stelvio Jersey, the official luthier of the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.

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