Instruments
Andrew Brown's skillset is unique among luthiers today and his instruments attest to it. Combining thorough classical music training and years as a professional performer with violin shop experience, expert knowledge of music acoustics, passion for materials and a serious gift for woodworking, Andrew's instruments are unique among instrument makers today.
As a performer...
...Andrew demands the best sounding, looking and feeling instruments, such as his 1878 Enrico Bajoni double bass (sold 2008) or his vintage Fender Jazz. The bar is high for his own creations, as well as for the set-up on repaired instruments. Finding the perfect balance between elegance and stability, or playability and sound is not a given with luthiers without that performance experience.
As a luthier...
...Andrew worked in the violin shop of Christine Eriks while living in Vienna, Austria for thirteen years. Serving members of Austria's most prestigious orchestras, ensembles and soloists, Andrew studied the instruments of the world's greatest makers, such as Cappa, Ceruti, Grofriller, Guarneri del Jesu, Pressenda, Rocca, and Stradivari, to name a few. This experience coupled with intensive research on stringed instrument acoustics and of the double bass in particular set the scene for his current work as a maker and restoration specialist in Riverdale, Maryland.
As an acoustics expert...
...Andrew spent years working as a researcher for the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Vienna helping to develop the violin measuring system VIAS and completing his Ph.D. in Music Acoustics in 2004. His dissertation compared and contrasted the acoustical properties of flat- and round-backed double basses.
As a wood fiend...
...Andrew has collected materials for years in preparation for small-scale instrument production. His search for the finest-sounding and most interesting-looking woods has led from the Po Valley in northern Italy and the slopes of the dolomites in South Tirol to the east coast of the U.S. You can be certain there is a story behind the material in your AWB instrument. His slavish devotion to materials also extends to hand tools, by the way!
And as a craftsman...
...Andrew has built on the roots of school-boy projects to complete a number of successful double bass restorations, scratch-built instruments and awesome archtop guitars!
You can now own one of these instruments
Now you can own one of these unique instruments at a fair price, fully guaranteed for thirty days, no questions asked, and waranteed against defects for as long as you own it!
Please contact me for further details!