Nick Nourse, Luthier

Nick Nourse - 40 years of making, repairing, and restoring stringed musical instruments

Nick Nourse comes from a family of musicians with long-established musical connections in the West Country and has worked as a maker and repairer in Wiltshire for 40 years.

student of Violin Making and Repair at the London College of Furniture
violin, viola, cello and double bass
Hardanger fiddle, nyckelharpa, and hurdy gurdy

He studied Violin Making and Repair at the London College of Furniture (later the London Metropolitan University), where invaluable tuition in restoration and repair was provided by Harold Hearn, a former employee of the famous W E Hill and Sons. Nick has been providing a local repair, restoration, and bow maintenance service for local musicians, together with a long-standing service for Wiltshire and other west-country schools. His instrument making includes a specialization in Scandinavian stringed instruments including the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle and Swedish nyckelharpa, and with hurdy gurdies.

He has also completed a lengthy study of the Japanpese one-string fiddle, a music hall-era novelty violin - see: Nourse, '"Cremona Japanica"’: Origins, Development and Construction of the Japanese (née Chinese) One-String Fiddle, c1850–1950', The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. LXXIII (March 2020), pp.131–152 and 202–203.

Services

Nick Nourse offers the following services:

Repairs and restorations

A full repair and restoration service is provided for all members of the violin family, double bass included; likewise, Hardanger fiddles, nyckelharpas, and hurdy gurdies. Please ask about repairs to any other stringed instrument.

Instruments for sale

A small stock of concert instruments suitable for professional and student players alike are available for viewing and playing; see the Portfolio section below for more details.

Bow rehairing and repair

All sizes of bows rehaired and repaired. Choice of hair quality.

Instrument making - Scandinavian and folk instruments

Traditional Hardanger fiddles made to order. Short-neck and designed for traditional stringing, instruments are based on Sverre Sandvik model and museum exhibits. Fancy or plain, four or five understrings, the Hardanger fiddle lends itself to customizing to suit both taste and price.

Hurdy gurdy models: Bosch, diatonic, 1 1/2 octaves, in D/G, to the Marcello Bono design; Marchand 1725, chromatic, 2 octaves, in D/G, to my own design from a museum instrument

Nyckelharpa, chromatic, 3 octaves, in C, to the Sören Åhker design. Prim strings.

Instrument making - concert instruments

Concert instruments of the violin family made to order to the highest standard.

Violin: Stradivarius (1689 and 1716); Amati (Nicola 1649 and Andrea 1574 and 1656); Joseph Gaunerius del Gesu (1743) and G Gauneri 1741

Viola: Tertis; del Gesu and Luff [designed]; 15 3/8" unnamed Italian model; 16" unnamed English model

Cello: Stradivarius (1710 - Gore Booth); C F Landolphi (28 1/2"); Unnamed English model 30"