Description
This is an almost new condition Evan Smith violin, handmade in Idaho. Evan sources most of his Maple from out of state, but cuts much of his own Engelmann Spruce from the local forests. He also uses locally sourced pitch and resins to formulate his own violin Varnish.
It is a traditionally built violin of fine figured Maple for the back, sides and neck and Engelmann Spruce top and Ebony fittings.
*Peghedz geared tuning pegs mounted in pegbox. These resemble Ebony violin pegs but are actually 2-shaft planetary tuners. Players who use them don’t have to rely on fine tuners as much and they make using gut strings much easier.
Currently set-up with good bridge and very nice gut strings. It plays and sounds great. Great presence and projection.
Comes with a nice case.
Lovely woods coupled with old-world lutherie. We’ve been very impressed with Evan Smith’s violins for 20 years years. These violins are great for their “old” appearance, but are highly regarded for clear tones that travel well over distance. What do I mean by that? I’ll explain below. Often we are presented with a new violin from a maker. Often the violin will have a nice tonality and seem to speak out a bit… but when you begin to walk away from the violin, say, 25-30 feet, many times the core of the sound becomes greatly diminished, with the defining ‘edge’ of each note losing strength and focus quickly. Violins from Evan Smith are not like that. Instead, their sound seems to travel through open air while still retaining a crispness of the attack of each note. We have demonstrated many times that his violins can send very defined sound 175 feet (55m), while still allowing the listener to hear subtlety and nuance to the attack from the bow. At the same time, the violin is giving the player a nice sound that is not shrill or overly powerful.
Every aspect of these violins are created from high-grade raw materials by Evan Smith, with the able assistance of his two older daughters. Evan cuts his own Spruce, and collects his own wood resins and pitch for cooking his own varnish. For about 20 years Evan Smith violins have been in use in combo bands and in symphony orchestras in several states. In his area serious violinists tend to collect violins by Mr Smith because of how great they are and because of how underpriced they are. This violin I am offering for sale here would compare closely with other maker’s violins that sell $10,000 to $14,000 today.
