Our Process
The Wood Selection
When hand crafting our instruments, we take our time selecting the highest quality as well as the most unique wood grain in the string industry. We order our European Tone Woods direct from suppliers in Europe.
If you are looking for a complete custom made instrument experience, consider coming to our shop and selecting the specific wood for the the violin you would like.
The Pattern
Pattern for 1733 Kreisler Guarneri used in Greg Marsee's first violin
The next step in the process is selecting the right pattern that best suites the player. Many instrument patterns exist for Italian instruments such as Stradivari, Guarneri and Amati. After the pattern is selected, the luthier can begin to get to work shaping and crafting the ribs, plates and neck of the instrument.
The maple for the ribs are thinned to 1.5mm and hot ironed in to shape before being put on the rib pattern. The ribs are lined and cornered using willow wood due to its light weight.
The Neck and Scroll
Replication of 1942 Gibson violin neck for fiddle player Jay Henderson.
The scroll is carved to match the pattern of the original maker. Many modern makers have experimented with different designs of scrolls ranging from animal carving to heads of famous composers such as Beethoven.
In our shop we typically stick with the traditional scroll and can customize the neck to the player's liking. We have some interesting design ideas we will be debuting in our "Distillery" inspired violins. More to come!
The Varnish
Once the instrument is finshed it's time for the varnishing process. First we seal the instrument in a shellac that is broken down using Kentucky white dog pure grain alcohol that has been darkened using toasted oak shavings from a Kentucky Straight Bourbon barrel from a local distillery. Next we add the colored varnish layer to the customer's preference and finish the process by French polishing the instrument after it has undergone 3 to 4 layers of tinted varnish and 2 layers of clear top coat.
Curing the Varnish
The last process is curing the varnish. We at KSBS do this in our custom made bourbon barrel ultraviolet chamber. At our shop we can say that our instruments mature in a toasted oak barrel, much like our fine Kentucky straight bourbon.
