What makes a good string instrument maker ?
"Being a string instrument maker is all about passion. It is full of discoveries and demands a lot of creativity to find the wanted result.
What makes it interesting, is that we have the opportunity to work with various types of varnishes, glues or materials (wood, plastic, iron, pearl, electronic, bone...).
It is a skillful work which always renews itself : nothing is acquired, even after 25 years of practice, you can still learn new things.
The main reward being to give his life back to an instrument, even more when it is old or famous. Or seing a customer leaving with a big smile on his face when he retrieves his guitar.
How to become a string instrument maker ?
This profession generally start with a strict professional training for several years. The art of these professionals is starting by choosing which wood to use, decisive for the instrument's esthetic, so as for its sound quality, and it continues with the fabrication of the instrument, strictly speaking, a mainly handmade phase.
The national string instrument making school is located in Mirecourt, a city of 5300 inhabitants located 2h afar from Colmar. It delivers a Diploma in Arts and Crafts after a professional highschool degree in string instrument making or instrument crafting.
"Concerning me, I'm an experimented self-taught-man, but this is the proof that this profession stay open for passionate persons, even without a degree."
Le luthier pose, avance ou recule l’âme d’un violon sous le chevalet, dans l’intérieur des deux tables de l’instrument, un chétif morceau de bois de plus ou de moins lui donne ou lui ôte une âme harmonieuse.