A lot of the tools that I use are built here in the shop to meet some specific need. This is one of the more amusing ones. It actually works, although it could benefit from a more powerful laser so I wouldn't have to use it in nearly total darkness.

Any guesses?

The silver tags that accompany each instrument continue to evolve. Here is the latest one.

After being prodded and cajoled for a number of years, I've given in. From this week on I will be working on cellos as well as violins and violas. It seems like a small thing but everything is different with cellos and there's a whole bunch of new tools I will get to play with. It's a little like learning to drive again; excitement mixed with a little terror.

Portland was a wonderful weekend. Tons of people playing tons of tunes, a visit to David Kerr's violin shop in the rain (wonderful people there) and an over-the-top dinner on Saturday night/Sunday morning at the Gilt Club that changed my understanding of cuisine.

Ela (a Strad model) found a new home in Berkeley in the same house that Rosalie (a D'Egville model) lives in.

Heading down to  the Old Time Gathering in Portland this weekend to play some music and visit violin shops. Traveling with at least four and maybe five violins so if you're in Portland and want to play one, look for the fiddler with too many cases. If you go to the gallery of available instruments you can see the one's I'll be carrying: Novinha, Quara, and Ela, as well as the two I usually play.

Here's the scroll I've been working on, a slightly scaled up version of an Andrea Guarneri  violin scroll to go on a viola.

This is the new sticker. Tom designed it based on the original logo. The same image will be on t-shirts, too.

If you play one of the violins I've built, and if you send me a picture of you holding it or playing it, I'll put it in the gallery of fiddles and their owners.Or, if you prefer, stop by the shop and Tom, of Tom Collicott Photography, will take a picture of you with your fiddle suitable for use as a publicity image. Let us know that you're coming by so we can have some lights set up.