by John Rihani | Jan 20, 2021 | Uncategorized
Another temporary COVID casualty is the production of Sloane bass tuning gears, considered the best available by many people. I am confident that production will eventually resume, but it was difficult to snag this set of Venetian-style tuners for a Jay Haide bass...
by John Rihani | Jan 13, 2021 | Uncategorized
If you’ve been around our page or in the shop, you know I’m a fan of Pegheds – internally geared pegs for cellos. The advantages are many and the compromises are few. My love for these is a departure from my traditionalism in many other areas of...
by John Rihani | Dec 15, 2020 | Uncategorized
You can buy a 1970 Porsche 917 for $14 million dollars or you can come in and pick out one of these beautiful cases for something less than that. Your choice…
by John Rihani | Dec 8, 2020 | Uncategorized
As a cellist and violin shop manager, I’ve seen just about every conceivable product and method for storing and displaying cellos. Stands, boxes, cabinets, carts…there are countless different versions and iterations from which to choose. Each has its...
by John Rihani | Nov 17, 2020 | Uncategorized
Learning to play a violin-family instrument is challenging. Holding the bow, proper posture, tuning the instrument, don’t collapse the wrist, keep your thumb bent, etc. Then…where do you put your fingers? There are no keys, no frets, no markings...
by John Rihani | Nov 10, 2020 | Uncategorized
No, I promise I won’t start singing numbers from “The Sound of Music”, but I have been thinking about my favorite things. As you can imagine, there isn’t as much hustle and bustle at the shop these days as people reduce nonessential travel. ...
by John Rihani | Nov 4, 2020 | Uncategorized
A while ago I wrote about putting a full set of Pirastro Eudoxa gut-core strings on a Jay Haide Vuillaume model cello here in the shop to give us a chance to gain more experience with gut strings. It continues to be a fun and educational journey. While the strings...
by John Rihani | Oct 27, 2020 | Uncategorized
I received a great question recently from a local orchestra director. I believe she fielded the question from a student in her class and it stumped me! What a great question! I’ve been using the same fractional naming system for decades without really...
by John Rihani | Oct 6, 2020 | Uncategorized
Last week we talked a bit about gut strings and mentioned we’d be putting them on one of our shop cellos – well, they’re here and they’re on! Ben adjusted the nut groove thickness a bit to accommodate the thicker strings. We also removed the...
by John Rihani | Sep 29, 2020 | Uncategorized
I love gut strings. Well, I should say I love the SOUND of gut strings. The expense, tuning instability, fragility, longevity…let’s just say there are reasons most people have moved to synthetic or steel core strings. And then you hear Steven Isserlis...
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