Peghead Nation Old-Time Fiddle instructor Bruce Molsky has owned several fiddles during his career, and for many years, he primarily played a fiddle made by Bruno Stefanini (check out Bruce’s demo of the instrument here). Bruce still owns and plays the Stefanini, but more recently, he’s become enamored of a fiddle built by Shetland Islands luthier Ewen Thomson. Bruce first became aware of Ewen’s instruments during a trip to the Shetlands, where he heard several of the local fiddlers. “All of their fiddles had a similarity that really attracted me,” he recalls. “There was something in the tone, some kind of depth and overtones. I thought, ‘maybe that’s Shetland fiddling, and I just need to learn more about it,’ and I’m sure there is some of that, but it turns out a lot of it was that they were all playing fiddles made by Ewen Thomson.” Bruce received his own Ewen Thomson fiddle in 2015, and it has become a favorite. “I played it very hard for a couple of years, and it woke up, as new fiddles do, and it has a really distinctive tone.”

Bruce’s fiddle is styled after a 1704 Pietro Guarneri design. He strings it with D’Addario Helicore G, D, and A strings, but has been experimenting with different E strings. “Presently, I’m using a W.E. Hill, because it has a little bit deeper texture; it’s not quite as strident.”

Besides discussing the instrument and demonstrating it by playing Bob Walter’s “Adrian’s Hornpipe” and Eck Robertson’s “Wagoner,” Bruce also talks about his CodaBow Luma carbon-fiber bow, which he likes because it’s dependable and strong, and it mimics traditional Parisian-style bows. 

Ewenthomsonviolinmaker.com

Check out Bruce’s Old-Time Fiddle course on Peghead Nation!

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