William Castle - Violin Maker

Name: William Castle - Violin Maker
Address: 8 Welsh End, Whixall, SY132NU, GB
Telephone: +441948880608
Price range: ££

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William Castle - Violin Maker

I make violins, violas of various sizes, and an occasional cello. Here you can see some pictures of

16/12/2025

Last week I had a violin, which I made ten years ago, come in the workshop for a bit of maintenance and adjustment.
Sometimes when I see one of my older instruments, I think perhaps I would do something a little differently now, but with this violin; well, I just like it!
For a maker, just as for a player, liking an instrument is ultimately the most important thing; you can analyse what an instrument is doing in different registers, its response and a whole load more considerations, just like a maker can review arching shapes or edgework, but if you don’t like it, you don’t like it.
I like this violin both for its look and, especially now I have adjusted it, its sound.
To read more, go to my website https://williamcastle.co.uk/heres-a-violin-do-you-like-it/

17/09/2025

Just working on the edges of this 15 1/4" viola. It's all about line.

13/02/2025

Last Sunday I spent the day in London at the BVMA’s, ‘Musicians meet the Makers.’ Amongst the cacophony of dozens of instruments being played in different keys all at the same time, I had some good conversations with musicians and other makers. Two makers, both with extensive experience of old instruments and who really know good stuff when they see it, were visiting the event and made short comments on my instruments. Both were said with a meaningful nod of approval, ‘this is the best cello in the place,’ whilst the other, looking at my Andrea Guarneri model violin, uttered just two words, ‘very nice.’
Having your instruments played by good musicians is still the best part of this job, but otherwise, much of the motivation and enjoyment one has to generate oneself, but it is nice to receive affirmation by highly knowledgeable colleagues too.

16/01/2025

Another violin sized viola in the sunlight. Some of my previous ones are played by teenagers which is why I started doing it, and some by those in their seventies who were struggling with the C strings on normal size violas. But last week I did an interesting experiment with this viola, partly because I am thinking of making a 5-string, I took off the viola strings and strung it like a violin. The result- it sounded like a viola, which shows I must be doing something right! At least for a viola.

18/12/2024

Sometimes the glory of an instrument is in the making, more often it is in the playing or listening, but sometimes it is in the materials, such as this back on my recent viola, now ready to be varnished. The downside with this back was the interlocking figure slowing down the work and the sheer hardness of this piece of wood, but it was worth it.

26/09/2024

Slow video of real time rib bending

24/09/2024

Last month I spent some time with an excellent violinist doing the final adjustments on this Andrea Guarneri model violin which I made earlier this year. This is not the biggest instrument but it has great quality, having 'biscuit' which is how another customer described the resistance you get with good instruments, which indicates that the sound doesn't collapse under the bow. But it also describes the 'classy' quality, a term my erstwhile mentor Roger Hargrave used, particularly with classical Italian instruments.
Whether biscuit is term often used in this context, I don't know.

01/08/2024

The right weather for hanging things out to dry, trousers, towels and a 15 3/8" Bellosio model viola.

06/07/2024

Many years ago, I got talking to a guy at a party who was involved with promotion and marketing. Back then, that sort of thing seemed like the dark arts to me- not my natural stamping ground, but one question he asked stuck in my head – why should someone want to play one of your instruments? At that time, I was mostly doing repair work, some making in between, making some nice stuff too, but I didn’t have a clear answer to his question.
Nowadays, I absolutely know why.

I know my instruments are comfortable and easy to play. You might think that was just a matter of getting a load of measurements right, but it is more than that, it is a subtle thing, a balancing of many variables and understanding how an instrument should feel, not just under the hands, but also how that instrument responds to produce the sound. I know this is from my own, albeit somewhat limited abilities as a musician, and because so many musicians have told me so - my instruments are very comfortable and easy to play.
The other reason why someone would want to play one of my instruments is the sound, and here I am not especially talking about the details, the immediacy of response, the richness of tone, the power or the clarity, but the core quality of an instrument, the reason you want to dig deep to find out what an instrument can do and find out what you can express with that instrument.

Photo - Karin Leishman and Matthew Souter of the Alberni quartet, both playing on my instruments.

05/06/2024

After a month of not working, due to having covid, I am finally back in the workshop, today starting to antique this Andrea Guarneri model violin. The early stages make the whole thing look dreadful, but a bit of water over the top gives a hint of how it will look when finished.

18/04/2024

After a dozen years of using scrub planes, my small one with a rounded sole had worn down so much I needed to make another. Yesterday I sandwiched the sides round the centre, but this time I made it with harder wearing beech, with the end grain on the sole. Today I did the shaping and put brass pins through to help resist the pressure of the wedge. I expect I will have to adjust the curvature of the sole once I have tried it and then I will be set for another decade!

05/04/2024

Just finishing the woodwork of this slightly smaller than usual Andrea Guarneri model violin with nature's sandpaper, usually known as shaving grass, Dutch Reed or equesetum.

Address

8 Welsh End
Whixall
SY132NU

Telephone

+441948880608

Website

http://www.williamcastle.co.uk/

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