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Laurie Niles

Improving the Violinist.com Luthier Directory

March 7, 2006 at 10:40 PM

One of the most important possessions to a violinist is...well, his or her violin!

Today Robert and I were putting our heads together about how to improve our Luthier Directory, and we thought we'd enlist all of you to help.

Luthiers are the people who make our violins and keep them in good repair. The directory has both violin makers and dealers. We put our Luthier Directory online at Violinist.com in September 2004, and at this point we have 208 luthiers from 24 countries listed. I've been receiving good feedback from luthiers, that the directory is really helping people connect with them.

Our plan is to redesign the Luthier Directory in the next month, but we'd like your help as we decide what features to include and improve.

For those of you who are searching or have searched for a violin and are using the Internet to help: what is the kind of information you are looking for? How could the listings best help you in your search?

And for luthiers, our first priority in the redesign is to enable each luthier to edit the entry for his or her own shop, and also to provide a way for people to e-mail you directly through the site. We will let everyone know how to “claim” their entry when the redesign is complete. Currently, the only way to edit your entry is to e-mail me, which you can do by clicking on my name

In addition to having the information listed that appears now, we'd also like to add some premium features for luthiers who would like to include more information in their listing. Our question to you is, what kind of extra features would you want? You can either leave your comment or e-mail me with suggestions.

From Jonathan Frohnen
Posted on March 8, 2006 at 2:12 AM
I say you first develope the violinist.com chatroom, then we can all chat about how to improve the Luthiers area :-)
From Pauline Lerner
Posted on March 8, 2006 at 3:57 AM
I will contact the luthier whom I recommend and ask for their input. This is a very good opportunity for all concerned.
From bill _
Posted on March 8, 2006 at 6:33 PM
I say Luthiers make lutes (and their relatives, the guitars)...but violins are made by Violin-makers, or Geigenbaumeisters.

Examples of well known makers and shops *not* using the term luthier, or more specifically calling themselves "violin shop" or "violin maker":

Greg Alf
Ute Brinkmann
Ifshin
Thomas Metzler
Kenneth Warren & Son
Fritz Reuter & Sons
Michael Darnton
David Kerr
Machold
Potter's
David Burgess
Joseph Curtin
David Michie
Charles Magby
David Lloyd Rivinus
David T. Van Zandt
Moes & Moes
Thurmond Knight
Lawrence Wilke

the list goes on...

So, what do you say..shall we have violin maker?

From Mendy Smith
Posted on March 9, 2006 at 4:01 AM
When I'm shopping online I look at a few things before I make up my mind at what shop I'm going to visit and in what order:
location
brands/makers
prices
store hours
in-store try-out/practice room

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