Coincidentally Ran Into a Real Arkansas Luthier

[Darryl Young]

I'm on FaceBook and a friend from back home in the bluegrass world started a group for buying/selling bluegrass instruments and I joined the group. A few days later a gentlemen posted a fiddle that he wanted to trade for a particular pistol. Well this fiddle had a beautifully maple back and it just so happened that I had an older version of the pistol he wanted (GP100 and he wanted a GP101) so I asked a few question on the post and he private mailed his phone number to talk.

Well I called him and it turns out he is a luthier that lives in SW Arkansas named John Gathright. He is an authorized Martin repairman and has built over 135 mandolins, 37 guitars, and several fiddles. We ended up talking for over an hour that night. I could tell he was a real luthier because as soon as he found out I've been building a guitar the first thing he wanted to know was where I sourced the wood <smile>. His son is a very good bluegrass player who can play anything and has sang/played all over the US. He was a super nice guy and you can tells he loves musical instruments and is very knowledgeable about the history of all bluegrasss instruments.

Turns out an older gentlemen near him buys International Violins in the white and sands and preps them but he doesn't finish them so he gets Mr. Gathright to do the finish and he plays them then sales them to make a few bucks. Gathright uses a special violin varnish that he imports from a luthier in Italy.

Well I didn't have the exact pistol he wanted and I told him my daughter really needs a 3/4 size violin next so that is probably what I should get next. He ponders a bit and says, "You know I have a soft spot for old violins (his son is an amazing fiddle player) and 10 or 15 years ago I found an old German 3/4 size violin with the finish removed and no fingerboard but the wood was beautiful. I traded for this old violin and it's stashed back in my shop somewhere. would you be interested in it?". Well heck yeah!

A couple of days later he calls back and says he found it on a shelf up high in the back of his shop. Funny that he said while looking for it and digging it out he found several violins he forgot he owned. He said that when he brought this violin home the top was partially seperated from the rim so he had pulled the top and stored it like that since. I asked how old the violin was and he said he didn't know exactly but it was likely made around 1910 give or take 10 years. He said the wood was beautiful as he remembered and he said he would put the top back on, put a new ebony fingerboard on it, put a new finish on it using the imported varnish, find a good bow that is suitable for this violin, and throw in a case.......and would trade me even for my pistol. Wow, I'm in!

We ended up talking for another hour on the phone. He is an old country boy like me so we discussed instrument building, guns, coon hunting, great wood stash finds, etc. John is a great guy. Too bad he is 3 hours away from me.

*Edited to add that this is a German fiddle

[Kevin Sjostrand]

What fun Darryl. Another new friend! I hope you can keep that relationship going and gain some tips too!
Thanks for sharing. Sounds like a great violin too.

Kevin

[tippie53]

sounds like a road trip to me

[Darryl Young]

I forgot to mention that this was an old German fiddle......somehow left that out.

[Ben-Had]

sounds like a road trip to me

I'd be on the road by now!

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Well Fiddle Faddle Darryl, you must be gettin old!!

Kevin

[Darryl Young]

John Gathright posted this picture on Facebook today.......impressive!