Violin shop strikes a chord with customers
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| Geoffrey Seitz works on a violin at his shop at 4171 Loughborough Ave. |
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Or, where he thinks it came from.
A descendant of Thomas Jefferson's cousin gave Seitz a violin owned by Jefferson's cousin and most likely played by Jefferson."Thomas Jefferson was known to go around and play other people's violins all the time," Seitz said. "He would for sure have played his cousin's violin because he played stranger's violins."
Hearsay gives some value to any violin that has aged past a hundred years. In rare cases, a written document or literary reference will nail down the stories of past famous owners, Seitz said as he stood in his shop with violins lining the walls.
Seitz repairs violins at the shop at 4171 Loughborough Ave., but he also does appraisals and makes his own instruments.
A violin made from scratch averages about $10,000 and takes 400 hours to complete, Seitz said. Every part, from the bow to the sound holes, needs to come together with careful construction. The body of the violin requires a talent for carving in all of the right places-the thickness of the piece affects the quality of the sound.
The bow by itself takes about 200 horse hairs to come together. Luthier Marc Rennard, who works at Seitz's shop, uses a bow jig to pull the strings taut, a process that takes up to a half hour with experience.
"It's a very orderly process, and it has to be done carefully, methodically," Rennard said. "To learn how to do that was one of the more difficult things I've ever attempted. I remember the turmoil I went through learning one of the very first things I had to do."
Violins have kept their popularity for more than 200 years, but while business has changed, the opportunity to pursue the craft of violin making has tapered.
When Seitz became Glenn T. Stockton's apprentice in Spokane, Wash., he was hired under a Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) program, initiated by president Jimmy Carter, in which the government paid half of the wages for someone hired to learn a trade. Seitz said that now, it's hard to hire apprentices and keep his shop doors open.
Lindbergh High School orchestra director Sue Rola plays a Seitz violin and said she prefers a local business over buying instruments online. Rola said she likes older violins and wants to know what she's dealing with. Seitz lets customers take instruments home and try them out, which would be hard to do through a larger company, she said.
"Buying a violin isn't like going to the grocery store and buying a jar of applesauce," Rola said. "You have to feel it and hear what it sounds like because every instrument is so different."
Sola's enthusiasm towards a personalized service may not keep everyone coming through the doors, but Seitz said the art behind violin making takes the forefront in what keeps him producing.
"It is a very competitive field, so sometimes, it gets down to how some people will order a violin from me because they know my artwork, and they want a violin from me," he said.
The violin business has always been tough, Seitz said. After the famous 17th century luthier Antonio Stradivarius died, his family found 90 violins were found laying on tables in the shop.
"Even the greatest violin maker on earth couldn't sell all his stuff," Seitz said.
