Since its completion in 1988 this manual has become the world's leading source for information on violin repair and restoration. It contains 41 chapters of detailed repair description, 125 photographs, 60 technical illustrations and 18 patterns. My congratulations for a marvelous publication - an enormous contribution to our trade. -- Helmuth Keller, Philadelphia Thank you for making such a valuable resource available to the violin world. -- Amos Hargrave This book should rapidly become a vital reference work for violin makers everywhere. -- The Violin Society of America, Newsletter September 1989 What a help for the future generation when at 60 like me, I am still amazed. -- Bernard Millant, Paris You have truly made a tremendously interesting work, which will be of value to all violin makers. -- Mads Hjort, Denmark This book presents the art and science in violin repair in a clear step-by-step manner. Co-authored by Hans Weisshaar and Margaret Shipman, the manual has gained a world wide reputation as the standard bearer in its craft. It is hardbound and contains 41 chapters, 125 photographs, 60 drawings and 18 patterns. Hans Weisshaar and I took on the big project of Violin Restoration because there had never been a comprehensive working manual written in our field. Nine years, 42 chapters of step-by-step instruction and 18 patterns later, it was available in the summer of 1989. We thought that the 2000 copies we printed would satisfy the world market for restoration. What we had not realized is how much of it can be applied in new making and in everyday "set up" work-- making bridges, planing fingerboards, etc. So as the years have passed, proprietors of shops that sell trumpets as well as violins have been asked by their string repairmen to invest in this book. It is heartwarming to see that as we intended, our book is really turning out to be what we had hoped it would be--a gift to our craft. Hans Weisshaar was born August 25, 1913 in Wildberg, Germany. Even as a very young child he wanted to become a violin maker. His father, a fine painter, was apprehensive of violin making as a profession, but his mother was more sympathetic and Hans was allowed to go to the Fachschule fur Geigenbau in Mittenwald, where he earned a journeyman's degree. Hans worked in Germany, Switzerland and Holland before coming to the United States in 1937. For the next ten years he saw and repaired many fine instruments and bows while working in New York with Simone Sacconi (at Emil Herrmann) and at Lewis & Son in Chicago. In 1947 he moved with his wife and two children to Hollywood, California and established his own business. His keen memory and creative thinking became useful practical tools-- perhaps best exemplified by his restorations of the "Red Diamond" Stradivari violin and the "Bass of Spain" Stradivari cello. Hans has lectured, judged international competitions and taught extensively. He passed on the art of restoration on to more than 40 young people who worked in his shop. In 1980 Mr. Weisshaar suggested forming the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers, a national organization for professional makers. He was instrumental in its development and served as its president for five years. In 1987 he was elected president of the Entente Internationale des Maitres Luthiers et Archetiers d'Art. He was also a member of the German Violin Maker Association and the Appraiser's Association of America. Margaret Shipman began her music career at an early age. Born in Denver, Colorado on October 7, 1046, she began studying piano when she was 10 and cello when she was 11. While still in high school, she traveled regularly to the University of Colorado in Boulder for cello lessons--250 miles each way by bus! She attended the Eastman School of Music, where she earned a Bachelor of Music degree in cello, and went on to take a Master's Degree in Performing Arts at the University of Southern California. In 1969 Margaret took her cello to the Weisshaar shop for repair. She was astonished to find that the work resulted in "a year's progress without practicing". Fascinated, she began an apprenticeship with Mr. Weisshaar and has been with the firm ever since. In 1982 she became a member of the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers and served on its Board of Governors from 1985-87. She won a gold medal for craftsmanship and a certificate of merit for sound in the 1978 international competition sponsored by the Violin Society of America. In 1987 she joined the Entente Internationale des Maitres Luthiers et Archetiers d'Art. She became the president of Hans Weisshaar, Inc. upon Mr. Weisshaar's death on June 24, 1991.