The Steve Mason Luthiers

12/12/2023

10/20/2023

06/25/2022

I used to, infrequently, write messages of value under the fingerboard tongue before I glued the neck on. This guitar, Mossman serial number 72-50 is in my shop in Lawrence, Kansas, for restoration for display at the 50th Annual Walnut Valley Festival, in Winfield, Kansas. Imagine my surprise when I removed the neck and found a message from myself 50 years ago: This guitar was awarded to the winner of the First National Flat Picking Championship, Winfield, Kansas 1972. Among the restorations were a major rebracing of the neck block which left a nice clear surface upon which I wrote: Restored for 50th Anniversary 2022. Then my partner, Harris Tate and I signed our initials, like on the Mossman labels. The old writing goes on top of the new writing. There is still a lot of work to do but it will be ready by September.

05/07/2021

Spotted at a violin shop in Copenhagen - a double-sided double bass. A Quadruple Bass. This instrument could be played by two people facing each other. Billy Barte, the guy who used to jump out of the door in the back of the bass in the Spike Jones show would be totally confused.

05/03/2021

The charming sound of the Baroque theorbo...

This 'Allegro' was penned by 18th-century German lutenist Ernst Gottlieb Baron.

04/20/2021

What can you do if your full size (4/4) violin is too small?
The truth is that a violin is the perfect size, to sound like a violin. The standard length of a violin back is 14″. A viola back is between 15″ and 17″. I play a 14″ five string violin. I experimented a lot to decide between a 14″ violin with the fifth string a viola C, or a 15″ or larger viola with the first string a violin E. The viola was bassier and the violin was clearer. I went with the violin because the viola made my head look small. A customer came to me with your exact question. I put a viola G D and A string and a violin E string on a 15.5″ viola. It looked and sounded like a violin but 1.5″ bigger. If you have a tailpiece with fine tuners, a standard E string should be long enough. If not, D’Addario makes an extra-long E string, or use a .010″ guitar string. There is a huge difference between guitar and violin wound strings, but the plain strings are all music wire.

03/19/2021

Nineteen thirty-five was only three weeks old but it already looked to be one of the snowiest years on record. A winter storm had come down from Canada, dumping a foot of snow on the Northeast before moving out to sea a few days later. By January 23, some businesses in eastern Pennsylvania remained....