After a great four years in the previous workshop, Emmett Violins have relocated to new premises at 35 Horsley Hill Road, South Shields, NE33 3ER. In time there will be a dedicated reception room kept separate from the dusty woodworking, but for now the workshop is largely as it was but in a new location. We’re now about a 10 minute walk from Chichester Metro station for those travelling by public transport.
New Workshop
Emmett Violins moved to a new location in the summer of 2015, and things have been sufficiently busy since then to postpone the posting of this news beyond the new address details until now. The new location is close to both the centre of South Shields and to the seafront, being approximately a five minute walk from the Metro station towards the sea along Ocean Road. The new workshop has more space, and a small display area with room to try out instruments.
Display cabinet – an instrument to suit all tastes
April 2014 – Ultra-violet light box
Emmett Violins now has a bespoke ultra-violet light box at its disposal, giving much greater control over the processes of wood ageing and varnish drying now they are no longer weather dependent processes. The cabinet is large enough for a cello or up to four violins to receive a uniform exposure. For the technically curious the light source consists of four Sylvania BL368 T12 4ft 40w blacklight fluorescent tubes, curing a coat of the oil varnish we use in under 24 hours.
January 2014 New model
Emmett Violins is pleased to announce a new violin form is available, based on the Guarneri ‘del Gesu’ instrument ‘Il Cannone’ of 1743 and famously the favoured violin of Paganini. This violin (now housed in the Paganini museum in Genoa) is renowned for its power and dark tonal qualities, and has the distinctive gothic f-holes and unusual scroll carving common to del Gesu’s late instruments. The Emmett Violins version has retained the dimensions, character and strong lines of the original whilst ironing out some of the eccentricities of workmanship seen in late del Gesu. Continue reading
October 2013 Workshop Completion
The workshop at 4 Tynedale Road, South Shields is now fully operational, complete with a shiny new bench built to cover all the demands of lutherie work. For those interested in such things the top is made of 3” thick steamed beech, laminated to prevent twist and finished with linseed oil, and it incorporates a standard carpenter’s vice (from Axminster) at one end, and a wagon vice built into the bench top at the other using a Veritas shoulder vice screw. Hopefully it should see both the birth and the rebirth of many fine instruments. Continue reading