Description
New / Handmade
Ebony Fittings
Exceptional Tone
This new Evan Smith Strad model with orange/amber varnish finish is a fine violin. Completely handmade by the noted luthier, Evan Smith, with no pre-cut components.
Evan Smith personally harvests his own local Engelmann Spruce from his home state of Idaho, with much of it coming from the wilds of the Salmon River valley. From these same forests Mr. Smith also collects the essential tree resins and pitch for his own handmade varnish. He casts a wider net for the sources of his Maple. And, of course, the Ebony parts are from around the world.
Evan has a loyal following among serious players that range from noted regional swing players, teachers and contest players around the western U.S., to Emily Franz, of “Watch House” fame (formerly Mandolin Orange).
Tonal Projection:
These violins are famous for blending well with other instruments while exhibiting a pureness of vibrational strength that allows them to be heard distinctly over distance without the definition diminishing. I am not stretching things about this quality of tone. I have personally attended many important festivals/contests/instrument shows, and witnessed good players on an Evan Smith trying it out. We have become used to the sound making its way out of our display room, travel down a hallway, enter another room, travel across that room, and then excite the ear of a violin maker (or player) who then tracks down our Evan Smith. Usually then they gush about how great it sounded, even from how far away they were from the source.
The irony is that the initial player of the Evan Smith cannot fathom that the violin they played could produce a note that could travel so far, and around corners and down hallways, to still be heard, because they say things like, “but it sounds so lovely under my chin”. We have even been accused of “being in cahoots” with the person who came in search for the violin that sounded so good from such a distance… but the truth is, we are usually just meeting that person for the first time!
The answer for how such a lovely sounding violin can be heard over distances without being explosively loud is simple. The vibrations are emitted with such a purity that they don’t waver during their journey to your ear… even as they travel out a room, down a hall and into another room at a busy festival or show!
These violins are a culmination of decades of tonal voicing by Evan Smith.
