Georg Hoffmeister Violin Outfit

The Georg Hoffmeister really celebrates the age old tradition of German violin making. I have always loved the look and feel like some of the famous old 18th and early 19th century German violins. So I developed an instrument that really looks and feels very much like these old instruments without all the cracks, repairs and restorations…

A couple of years ago I was unhappy with the violins you could get, so I set out to travel the world and find a violin workshop that could produce a really high quality instrument at a reasonable price.  After looking at the work of hundreds of different makers, I finally came across a small family of luthiers that made beautiful instruments that met my fussy expectations. I worked together with them to make a special model of violins exactly to my specifications. We just finished developing the Georg Hoffmeister violin in early 2021.

There are so many Chinese makers flooding the market with cheap to average instruments, that the really good makers often get overlooked.

But quite a few makers there have won International violin-making awards in Europe, the US and Asian countries, so there are definitely makers of quality… Why China? I did also find some good European makers that made similar quality… BUT THEY WERE  3 TO 4 TIMES THE PRICE FOR EXACTLY THE SAME QUALITY OF WORK AND MATERIALS! That really didn’t seem like good value to me! This maker I found really takes his art seriously… he would carefully choose timers of great quality and beauty and hand craft instruments that not only sound great and are easy to play. His wife makes the varnish. When I last went there, she had lots of bottles of fine Italian recipe varnish curing in the sun on the roof of the workshop.

The great thing is: They look like a really beautiful antique instrument!

• The Hoffmeister violin is easy to play, because I personally do my Master set-up, and it has an amazing sound.  It is a known fact that many string players fail because the instrument they are playing are not been set up properly, and will not do what they need it to do. This can lead to problems with playing in tune, and in extreme cases, even RSI!  It’s just not worth taking the risk of buying a badly set up instrument.
• The Georg Hoffmeister violin is designed by me
• the violin has been lovingly handcrafted using only the best quality materials. Everywhere you look on the violin you see perfection. From the masterly handcrafted scroll to the beautifully antiqued varnish after the recipe of the great Italian masters.

• Once you play your Georg Hoffmeister violin you will find out why most people can’t make their violin sound good… The Hoffmeister violin makes a much better sound than most instrument 3 times the price!
• Impress the other string players in the Orchestra:  The Georg Hoffmeister just looks like a famous old violin. It is authentically antiqued, which makes it look like you are actually playing a 150 to 250 year old violin.
• The instrument has antique marks to celebrate the age old tradition of violin making by giving the instruments an authentically older look.

Over the years I have seen people make the wrong decision and be stuck with just awful sounding instruments, or instruments that needed to have hundreds of dollars of work done before you could even play them!  When I finally found the violin-maker that makes the Salvatore Lombardi violin, I could not believe my luck… after looking at the work of literally hundreds of violin-makers, I finally found one that made exceptional quality and beautiful instruments out of great quality timber! I picked up one of the violins that he just makes and drew a bow across the strings and it just produced the most beautiful rich tone. This is before I even got around to getting him to make my model, setting it up to my standards, and it was already producing a great tone. When I got back to Australia I got to work on the instrument and brought every aspect of it up to professional standard, and the result was just astounding! The violin just sang!!  I immediately realized that this would be a perfect instrument for a lot of string players! I knew I had to do everything in my power to get some more of these instruments back to my studio so more people could get to play them.

• The Georg Hoffmeister violin is easier to play that most other instruments under $10,000… in my opinion this is one of the best sounding violin under $10,000
• It will take you to the next level of playing
• The Hoffmeister will allow you to really move ahead

It is made to my specifications from all the right timbers in the traditional way that has been used since the 16th century in Italy. It uses the old Italian varnish recipe that has been antiqued to give you the feel of a real antique Italian instrument. Quick preview of what you will get:

• You will get a masterly hand crafted sound optimized Georg Hoffmeister violin.
• Case
• Good quality Bow

Olaf Grawert Master Set-up

Instrument:

• Top is made from good quality
  spruce
• Back, sides and scroll are made of nicely flamed Maple
• Quality ebony fittings
• Light weight carbon fibre tailpiece
• Quality traditional finish
• Excellent Sonorous tone
• Set up like a professional instrument
• Obligato Strings

Bow

• Quality Wood veneer carbon fibre Bow
• German silver and Ebony fittings
• Good action
• Quality hair

Case

• Good quality case
• Pockets for rosin and other items
• Pocket for music on top
• Space for 2 bows
• Water resistant cover

Olaf Grawert Master Set-up

My instruments are easier to play, because I personally do my Master set-up. It is a known fact that many string players fail because the instrument they are playing has not been set up properly and will not do what they need it to do. This can lead to problems with playing in tune and in extreme cases even RSI!  It’s just not worth taking the risk of buying a badly set up instrument.

• Plane the Fingerboard to a professional
  standard. This means that you will have a fingerboard that has the same shape as that of most instruments that you will hear in concert halls around the world
• I will fit a professional quality French bridge crafted by a master violin maker with specialized acoustic knowledge to make the instrument sound the best that it can.
• Fit a professional quality soundpost to really bring out the rich tonal qualities. There is a reason that in many languages the soundpost is called the “Soul”. It takes a master to fit and move the soundpost into the right position to really make the instrument sing.
• I always fit the Instruments with great quality strings for that rich sound.
• Each peg is carefully refitted to make sure that if is very easy to tune the instrument using the pegs.
• The tailpiece is checked and refitted to make sure it is in the best acoustical position
• I check and recheck the string height and spacing to make sure it is absolutely perfect. It is only easy to play the violin when the string height is absolutely right.
• I always play each instrument and adjust it until I’m so happy with it that I want to keep the violin myself. I always try out the instruments far too long, because they are so much fun to play. This way you can be sure that when your instrument leaves my workshop, everything about it is perfect.