The pandemic has had a substantial impact on how we can do business. We have instituted a near-contactless protocol for pickup and delivery of instruments, weather permitting. Visits are by appointment only, and face masks are required. For the time being, in-shop adjustments are on hold. We have not raised our prices because we understand that a lot of string players are also facing difficult times. In fact, we have not had a price increase in over two years.
The effect of the covid-19 pandemic has had less of an effect on our online business, but it has had a great effect on many of our suppliers. All items are not always available all of the time, so if you are in need of something special, please send us an email and we will help out as best we can.
The company that has supplied us with New Family strings for more than forty years has closed its doors. We have invested a great deal of time locating and assembling good-quality substitute strings and string sets for the Contrabass, Bass, Baritone, Tenor, Alto and Mezzo violins. The two top strings for the Soprano and Piccolo (Treble) violins are limited to remaining stock for the foreseeable future. We are currently negotiating with selected vendors about producing these strings for us, but we do not expect any definitive results until late spring or early summer, 2021. If you are in need of special strings, please send us an email and we will do our best to help you.
We have been working with Marc Salter of New Harmony Music to provide endpins specifically for the alto violin. The resulting assembly is beautiful, functional, and wonderfully made. It features an end plug milled from solid Delrin, so it will never warp, and the pin is a light and stiff carbon fiber rod that retracts fully into the body. The hardened steel tip can be resharpened, and it comes with a replaceable rubber cap. The adjustment and tightening of the pin length is smooth thanks to a special collar milled into the plug, and a fitted form grips the carbon fiber rod so that the screw does not damage it. The assembly is also a great fit for tenor violins and other smaller instruments played vertically.
