¾ size Vintage Violin Sebastien Kloz An 1700 by Jerome Thibouville-Lamy Mirecourt France
This is a ¾ size Violin hand made by the esteemed French firm, Jérôme Thibouville-Lamy. The label reads, “Sebastien Kloz An 1700” accompanied by the JTL trade mark.
This is a superb violin by any measure with a voice that is strong, yet even across its dynamic range. Marginally smaller than a typical ⅞ size Lady’s violin”, this instrument would serve both the advancing student and an adult of smaller stature.
We chose against refinishing this violin deciding instead to clean and polish it, showing off the superb tonewoods used in its construction while retaining its wonderful, original patina.
Having undergone a thorough inspection and setup in our workshop, there are no splits or loose seams. The carved European Spruce top, Maple ribs and one piece carved Maple back are in excellent condition given the age of this fine violin.
The ebony fingerboard was spoke shaved, radiused, a fine slow drying varnish applied and polished. The nut was then reshaped and the string slots recut to optimise the playing action at the first position and beyond.
The original European Maple bridge was cleaned, shaped and radiused to facilitate easy bowing and playing at the upper end of the fingerboard.
The original chin rest and tailpiece were both refurbished and refitted.
Wittner Finetune Pegs
In order to ensure that this beautiful violin would be easy to tune – and keep in tune, a set of Wittner Finetune pegs have been fitted. We have fitted Wittner Finetune pegs to countless violins and cellos – much to the absolute delight of their owners.
Made from a light alloy material, these state-of-the-art pegs look like traditional wooden pegs and make tuning your violin a breeze. All of the hassles associated with regular pegs such as pegs slipping or getting stuck due to lack of peg paste, improper fit or climatic changes in temperature/humidity and string breakages due to ‘over tuning’ disappear.
Tuning is performed by turning the peg head/button, however the peg shaft stays in place which means there is no friction between the peg and the peg box. Only the button and the geared middle section of the shaft on which the string is wound, moves.
Pirastro Obligato Strings
Finally, we have strung this beauty with Pirastro Obligato Strings and made any final adjustments required. Obligato strings respond beautifully across all registers with excellent playability and an expansive dynamic range.
We suggest personal shoppers – it seems that almost every violin sold online is touted as “the best in the world”, of course that is nonsense and we urge seriously interested buyers to make an appointment to audition this instrument – Sebastien Kloz Ano 1700 simply has to be played to fully appreciate what is on offer.
The company that was Jérôme Thibouville-Lamy (JTL)
The Jérôme Thibouville-Lamy (JTL) workshop was a cradle of violin-making excellence
From their base in Mirecourt, France, the J.T.L. workshops were not merely production sites of mass goods (an oft mistaken impression where Jérôme Thibouville-Lamy was compared to other large European companies in this period). Rather, J.T.L. was a site where the technical knowledge acquired over generations was concentrated — knowledge which outstanding violin makers brought to the company, as well as knowledge which radiated from there by masters who completed major phases of their training at J.T.L.
A salient example is the Zurich-based violin maker Karl Siebenhüner, whose father Anton Siebenhüner studied under Gabriel Lemböck and worked as an employee of George Gemunder in New York for many years. In other words, even the son of an internationally experienced and highly awarded master was sent to Mirecourt so that working at J.T.L. would prepare him to take over the family atelier. The list of great luthiers is practically endless – Marius Didier, Charles Fétique and almost countless others. These masters ran ateliers which confirmed that even in light of the exponential growth of an instrument-making town such as Mirecourt, there would always be room for traditionally-oriented businesses run by master craftsmen.
Jérôme Thibouville-Lamy became well known for their “tributes” to famous violin brands such as Stradivari, Guarneri, Amati and Klotz. While not exacting “copies”, these are fine instruments to be judged in their own right. Some “artistic licence” was often employed with the labelling so as not to appear to be a forgery so, “Klotz” became “Kloz”.
This is a fabulous opportunity to buy a well sorted and genuine, vintage French made violin for the price of a better made Chinese violin. Your choice.
