Hans Weisshaar (Continued from page 3)
material comes from Germany and Bosnia. Flamed maple is used for the back and ribs (sides) of a violin, while spruce makes up the front. Ebony is used for the fingerboard. According to Eittinger, it can take six to eight years to become a master violinmaker, or luthier. Eittinger spent three and a half years at the German State Violin Making School, which earned him a journeyman degree (Gesellenbrief in German). Apprenticing with a master is another way to earn a journeyman degree. After working another three to five years with an accredited master, a journeyman can return to school for the master course and final test. The master degree also allows a violinmaker to take on apprentices.
THE SCROLL is made of flamed maple.
OCtOber 2017
How it began Hans Weisshaar, the original founder of the violin shop, graduated from the state violin making school in Mittenwald, Germany and worked in Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1937, where he worked in Chicago and New York. He heard there was a need for a luthier and restorer in Los Angeles and landed on Larchmont Blvd. in 1947, where string instruments have been repaired, restored and crafted ever since. Tradition Over the decades, Hans Weisshaar became the destination for many professional string musicians, including Jack Benny, Jascha Heifetz and Isaac Stern. Weisshaar even “wrote the book” on violin restoration when he co-authored “The Manual of Violin Restoration” with Margaret Shipman, who took over the shop in 1991 when Weisshaar died. In 2004, Georg Eittinger, who had mentored at Hans Weisshaar in 1991 and 1992, bought the shop. In 2005 he opened a branch in Berlin, and more recently he opened a shop in San Marino. Eittinger also teaches a biannual restoration course for professional violinmakers and lectures and writes articles on (Please turn to page 22)
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