Olaf Grawert Violin – NOW available!

After many months of work from Olaf this master violin is ready for its new home. 

A violin made entirely by Olaf Grawert

This violin was handmade by Master violinmaker Olaf Grawert.  It is the kind of project he returns to whenever the workshop schedule allows. Every stage, from the selection of the wood through to the final adjustment, has been carried out by Olaf personally.

See and hear the instrument

The wood

Olaf  chooses each piece of tonewood to make sure it is the highest quality.  All his tonewood is seasoned for at least 10 years.

The making

He uses an old plate tuning technique that has been used for hundreds of years.  No high tech – just knowledge of the acoustics of instruments.

The sound

The instrument speaks extremely easily, and you don’t have to “fight” the instrument – it just rings.

The instrument has also got a beautiful clear carrying tone, with a nice richness to it.  This instrument will be perfect for solo playing because it could easily carry above an orchestra.

This violin would suit a professional, an up-and-coming young musician looking for a big sound, or a dedicated amateur player who simply loves to sound wonderful.

Set up to play

The violin comes with Olaf’s Master Set-up, and is fitted with Evah Pirazzi Gold strings.

It is ready to play from the moment it arrives.

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.

Come and try it

We would be glad to have you visit the studio and play this violin for yourself. Please contact us so we can set aside the time properly and you are not rushed.

If you are not able to come to Brisbane, we can still help you get a real sense of the instrument. We are happy to provide additional photographs, video, and sound samples recorded in the studio, so please let us know what would be most useful to you.

Olaf is also very glad to talk with you directly, whether in person, by telephone, or online. A violin at this level is a decision worth taking time over, and a conversation about your playing, the sound you are looking for, and where you want to take your music will tell both of you a great deal about whether this is the right instrument for you.

Would you like one made for you?

If this violin is not quite the right instrument for you, Olaf takes a small number of commissions each year. You can read about how that works on the Have a Violin Made page.

Email us to find out more,  it is ready for its new home.