The Perfect Hobby Violin: How I Designed the Piere Lomont And Found A Truly Amazing Maker 

I lived in China for 5 years and when you find a good workshop the ability of their local artisans is amazing. Thank you for sharing your journeys to China to find makers you can work with.

Let Ray Chen play the Pierre Lomond violin and let us listen how good is the sound. Would you?

Hi Olaf ,I have had my piece Lomont for nearly a year now . It is as stunning and beautiful as the day ,you sent it .The sound is incredible and ,it is absolutely a joy to play . Thank you olaf .

Great to hear about your Chinese odyssey, Olaf. Indeed there are a few--no many--but a few really good craftsmen there. Happy you found one of such high quality.

My last blind test ended with my buying a Chinese instrument at below my budget which I don’t expect to outgrow anytime soon. There’s a lot of crap, but there are a few truly beautiful pieces which come out of there

I love my Piere Lomont that was masterfully setup and looks amazing. Your workmanship is terrific. I love learning on a nice instrument with a wonderful and amazing maker, I know what your detail you put into it and survived a 10,000 mile journey and it looks and plays amazing.

11:20 catches fly without skipping a beat.

I love your passion for the violin, Olaf! It was a pleasure to listen and watch as you got carried away at the end.

What a great journey! I too have always seen and admired how amazing Chinese artisans and artistry can be. I'm glad you found the right workshop that would work with you! I want to try a Pierre Lomont.

Wot a lovely vid, Olaf. Your back story made for engrossing listening and your (extended) playing was delightful.

I play cello, and for years I’ve been saying “Don’t poo poo the Chinese cello” 😁 The mid level Eastman and Jay Haide instruments are excellent. I have an upper level Eastman 703. The workmanship is second to none and it is the best cello I’ve ever owned. I enjoy your videos. You know a video is good because even if it’s a bit long, the time sails by.

Nice playing! That instrument really speaks. Love the background story.

Looking forward to this one

Thank you for this video Olaf!

Thanks for such a educational talk about violin making. I always gain so much knowledge (that I don't realize that I need since I don't play 😅) about violin from watching your video

Thanks for sharing your inspirational story of turning an idea into reality and teaming up with people with your standards. It's clear that you have a strong work ethic and a commitment to excellence. Your dedication to your craft is truly impressive.😀

I think I was one of the first ones to get the Piere Lomont. Love the violin, one recommendation I'd have to people is to ask for some pictures of the actual violin before purchasing. There are some artificial aging marks that might be a surprise if you weren't expecting them mostly on the underside. Everyone really loves the look when I show them. The sound will get better when I get more on top of practice 😅

Amazing how just the discovery of the violin that was made came from China, and it was made well. I'm glad you managed to find a great one in that area!

It's starting ladies n gents, it's starting! I hope this is a good'n! They usually are!

Lovely video! Would be also lovely if you could make a video about wooden bows vs high end carbon fiber ones. Now that pernambuco is getting forbidden, what's your opinion on next best material for bows?

Watching your videos makes me wish I was a maker! Hope I get the opportunity to meet you someday and own one of your instruments. :)

Love that arpeggiata you played.

I’ve wanted to buy one for a year now. I don’t play violin but if I can afford to buy one someday, I will want to learn. I only have a $200 one from when I was 9.

Super cool.

I like a redder shade but the intonation was beautiful. Good job! One of your better episodes. You had me at "Summer Time".

That is a really nice sounding violin.

It sounds amazing, I would like to see a professional play one of your instruments and hear their full capabilities. Why don't you ask Brett and Eddy?

Olaf, Do you ever venture into Violas? My daughter is now 16 and has been playing since she was 6. Her skill is now out-performing the quality of the instruments she's been able to get her hands on, and her teacher is telling us that a good quality Viola is going to be needed soon if she is to be able to continue growing her talent... (She's Played in the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra in Canada since she was 9, and last year began to play professionally with the teacher's orchestra.) If you do not, perhaps you could direct me to where to look?

I'm an adult beginner with an inexpensive violin. I've loved watching your videos and learning. I've now got my eye on your instruments, and I'd love to see a more in-depth video about the Georg Hoffmeister as well, should you find the time. Thank you for all the great content! 🙂

Great video, thanks for the insight. There are many great makers in China, I hope they get more recognition in the future. When I was younger and working in engineering I visited a few factories in China that made architectural models. It was a very interesting trip. I did a little bit of business a while ago with a few Chinese guitar making factories, which didn't go so well..... But I am quite aware that there are some really decent workshops / factories out there. You just have to find the right one. A lot of the Chinese workshops are now buying European wood in bulk, mostly to appeal to the American and European market. However, I agree that a lot of indigenous wood in China is perfectly suitable for violin making / guitar making. I have seen / owned some wonderful Chinese instruments.

Que som maravilhoso

I have a violin similar to this and i enjoy it very much.

A pleasure to hear you play more than just a few bars! Really lovely instrument, and thanks for sharing how you came to find it. But one question of mine that you didn't answer is where the name Pierre Lomont came from! Is it just a nice name, or is it an actual person, or what? (Edited to add that I just saw your response to another noter, so I got my answer.)

Very. Nice thank u

How do I keep my d string in tune what could be the problem been using my key board to tune

Did you ever try Ming Jiang Zhu violins from the Noble Heart workshop? I love my MJZ 925 - Italian Spruce and Bosnian maple.

i will buy it,,, thanks

would love to see a review of a dxky-dexinkaiyan violin or cello! have a student cello made by them and its great! it has been setup tho, bought it from a professional player and teacher here in sweden!

I appreciate this video, because I have been consideringthe purchase of one of your Piere Lomont violins and I have been a bit curious about them. It sounds a bit like my Legierski violin. I wonder how it compares to your Salvatore Lombari model?

I play a Piere Lomont in bluegrass and everyone who hears it says it’s top notch quality. It will take a fiddler to Nashville no problem.

Where did the name Piere Lomont come from? Doesn’t it perpetuate the idea that Chinese workmanship is inferior if you won’t put the name of the shop on the label? I appreciate that you’re transparent about their origins in your videos; something in my mind just rebels against the idea of giving it a French sounding name randomly. I’d also want to know more about the wages of the shop’s employees. A good vibe in the shop only tells part of the story. Would you want to work there yourself? I’m not saying you wouldn’t, it’s just another aspect of this I found myself thinking about.

i think i would like to learn to play violin, this has a nice tone and is affordable. i would like to hear it played with a top violinist and see their reaction. as you said before in your other videos, it's the player not the violin. i listen to chet baker regularly, and chet with the problems he had would buy and sell trumpets to feed his habit and still sounded amazing on anything he played.

Do you have any advice or a video on left-handed violins? I'm a left-handed adult beginner hobbyist, and I wouldn't want to start on a right-handed instrument.

Yeah, blatantly plugging your violin, 😊 but I understand why you love what you have now with the time & effort you put in to find such a fine maker. I'm a small time operator (but schools & teachers refer me for repairs & instruments because of my quality of work) & I get my instruments through a certain wholesaler in Sydney with a range from a very good maker in China marketed under a certain brand name ranging from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand. Even the cheapest brand they carry, when set up fully (including rubbing back the neck to finish with French polish) the beginner gets an instrument that is still a pleasure to play on, but the better brand (in the better models) is something advanced students can be satisfied with which also have a rich powerful tone too (after I set them up with my own bridge etc & all the rest to a professional standard). I can't afford to stock the more expensive range being a small operator, but at least I can look after students in my region so they get a fully set up instrument that I am also happy to play on (& demonstrate to clients) so the student doesn't have to struggle to learn on an instrument poorly set up with an equally less than wonderful sound from original tinny strings (as happened to one client recently, just buying 'as is' from a local shop).

I really like the back story, but I have one question that I can't wrap my head around. Why the name choice? Why no Chinese name? I really do enjoy your channel.

I have a question, as a violin maker, does brand matter when we buy a violin?

Can you talk about the tailpiece that you are using on that violin? My violin’s tailpiece is almost identical to that. Is that a good tailpiece or does changing that tailpiece make a big difference on the sound?

What shipping service do you use or recommend for a US bound instrument? Just wondering how such a fine delicate instrument is affected by the harsh realities of that long a journey, inevitable rough handling, temperature and humidity changes, etc. Love your videos and have learned so much from you. Thank you & God bless your continued success

what timbers are the violins made from , have you ever tried any gum tree wood or something like silky oak ,please get Ray Chen to play this violin for us

Oooooo

As a collector of antiques-I've always equated "china" with high quality and craftsmanship.

There was an article in Strad magazine in the early 90s, discussing Chinese highly figured maple and if I remember correctly they concluded it was unsuitable for violin making, deemed not good for tone. I really don't remember if these conclusions were based on the wood used at the time being unseasoned or the species of the tree being slightly different than its European counterpart.

i have a chinese cello but i payed $15k for him and i swear he plays like a strad

Olaf, There are many thousands of violinist in orchestras throughout the world, only a small percentage have ultra expensive instruments but most of them have excellent sounding ones. Are your Chinese instruments on par with those and what do the professionals pay, on the average? Cheers, Rik Spector

What piece did you play?

Do you have a Piere Lomont Cello available?

How about bows?

What are the differences of the Pierre Lamont vs the master other than the pegs?

how do you send them across the world to be sure it survives the trip?

In that tematik i know ther e.piani aas guitar& bass i refernce off a yamha for beginner .

I got 7/8 size JTL ´copie de´made in 1900´s (2500€)

4-5000usd for a student instrument is wow…that is way beyond those mainstream instruments. What’s your opinions on 400-500usd instruments though. Are they any good??

How much the PL violin price?

Nice violin. Do they also make the bows?

What quality of bow are you demonstrating with?

Sounds like hes playing jean luc ponti mahavishnu riff?

those harmonics were destoying that mic.... so rich..... yeh im on the fence about this one

I’m curious. Are the Chinese craftsmen (and women) also players?

How much do you pay for a violin, when you import it from China? I ask it because I’m a violin maker and I’m interested to buy violins in China.

Do you sell your instruments to the US?

Hi Olaf just out of curiosity.. why don't you make the violins? obviously you're a master luthier so why not make it yourself?

Olaf didn't divert his eyes to nab a moth, right around 11:20...

I think my violins are made in china, I started with GEWA L’apprenti violin, nice, clear and loud 400 dollars student violin, made in china designed and inspected by german. My current one is from eastman string master violin I paid 2.2k USD made in china design and inspected by eastman string. Really good chinese violins.

Around the 6:30 minute mark, you begin to discuss a workshop in particular. Would you happen to have the name and address or even a phone number to contact this workshop? It is OK if it is all in Chinese as my wife is a Chinese national. I imagine you may have created a WeChat account or Weibo? That information would work as well.

I need to turn down my treble for (what I assume are) those Aussie insects outside!!!

Who is Piere Lamont anyway? Is that named after a real person?

Honestly the European wood is lighter and stronger than the American and Canadian equivalent. I have many examples. The elasticity and weight are very different tban other figured woods.

I have a luthier friend in the US thats says the same, that the intermediate chinese instruments are superior to similar quality European instruments.

Chinese instruments licensed by Japanese brands can be excellent.

Being fussy about your chosen craft is no vice. I'm a fussy hairstylist 43 years. If I wasn't fussy, I wouldn't have learned as much and settled for much less quality and my business wouldn't be as successful. Being fussy in your profession is a virtue appreciated by customers. I seek perfection, but I never reach it. I am human after all. Perfection is in the seeking, not the finding.

Olaf the chinese are great at making junk look good on the outside. They have a tradition of saving a yen to save their lives. Most of chinese things are made of tofu dregs. Its in their culture.

I think the Chinese vs European timbre is trustworthiness - there's an assumption that with Chinese manufacturing corners will be cut and how does a consumer know for certain the wood really is any good? I'm not questioning whether there is good quality timbre in China, just giving a buyer's perspective I play accordion and the best instruments come from Italy (and a few from Germany). Russia and some other Eastern European countries also can make quality accordions/bayans but they are mostly made and sold for the domestic market. China have obviously been making accordions for decades now but the quality is very low. We could really do with someone like yourself to get a small artisan accordion workshop up to standard because a full sized accordion for classical music from Italy costs €20,000 or more. Even a student model (with free bass, for classical) is going to cost anywhere from €4,000 to €12,000 depending on size - how can we expect parents and adult learners to pay that sort of money for a student instrument? It's really hurting the growth of classical accordion, we need some more economical options other than what the family businesses of Castelfidardo offer

What about the name " Pierre Lomont " ? Why did you choose this name for the instrument ?

Timbers are choking when nearby coals are burning daily :)

Question? Why do all violin builders make up fake names for their products, instruments, instead of using your or their own name?

Don't blame China for people wanting cheap products. The younger generations have less interest in working with tools and their hands. They'll never know the pride and satisfaction they're missing out on. Gotta get your stuff made somewhere.

Your a violin maker why don't you make your own violin oh you want to sell the violin then I get it you want keep cost down

Should be called "China violin."

I think communism must be the worst mindcancer in human history. At least two great powers (RU and CN) have been left a shell of what they once were, nevermind all the other smaller countries which have and continue to suffer. Deng Xiaoping deserves some credit, at least, for undoing the worst of communism in China; I am very happy to hear that you've found someone, somewhere, in China engaged in taking personal responsibility for their products, and earning the rewards of being better than everyone else. Gives me some hope that maybe in 100 years China will be a happier and freer place.

I have no doubts about the quality of the instruments or your expertise other than this aggressive 'TV' style marketing. If the instruments are really this good why are they marketed under a European name and not that of the manufacturer. Aren't they proud of their craftsmanship or are you just trying to disguise their origins for the benefit of your business and the resale value. Yes you personally set the instruments up and guarantee them but even in this video you don't go into any details about the whereabouts of the factory or the real name of it. Scared of competition or just protectionism for your own benefit?