Violins

During and after completion of my basic training (apprenticeship and graduation from violin making school) I tried very hard to build copies of instruments as close to the originals as possible. I no longer do this and have many reasons for this change. The first and very obvious to anyone who has studied antique instruments to any degree is that what we study now has in many ways changed from what was built by the masters. Arches have been deformed by years of constant pressure and stress, poorly executed repair work has pushes and pulled the original lines to less grace than at origin; the reasons can go on for quite a while. Whilst I still feel that it is very important to study the great instruments it is also very important to assess alterations to original intent and compensate for them. To build a new instrument with arching that is intentionally deformed so as to simulate the aging process does not make much sense to me. Nor does it provide for the long term health that I wish my instruments to have.

I currently offer 3 models of violins based on the different periods in the work of Guarneri del Gesu; 1735 (the violin that Kyung-Wha Chung plays), 1742 (the violin that Pinchas Zukerman plays), and 1743 (an instrument in a private collection). The differences between the first and second/third are mostly related to size; the 1735 is approximately 2mm shorter in overall dimensions than the 1742 or 1743. All models are smaller than the typical Stradivari model. Sound wise they are all extremely high performing instruments. Visit this link to see how a Borman compares to a Strad in acoustic testing.

Please visit the recordings page to listen to live performances on Borman instruments.