Luthier
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.
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"
Strings and accessories
Essential supplies:
Strings
Rosin
Humidifiers
Chin and shoulder rests
Cases, hard and soft
all supplied to order.
Publications - Organology
Academic papers on musical instruments:
Forthcoming:
(Nourse, ‘Musical Teapots, “bellows played à la the bagpipes” and Other “Fakements”: the Victorian Musical Clown and their instruments’, The Galpin Society Journal, 78 (March 2025): 18pp.)
Published:
Nourse, ‘The Documentary Evidence of Bristol’s Portable Street Barrel Piano Makers; Part 2’, The Galpin Society Newspetter, 63 (Sumer 2022), pp.21–26.
Nourse, ‘The Documentary Evidence of Bristol’s Portable Street Barrel Piano Makers’, The Galpin Society Newsletter, 62 (Spring 2022), pp.1 and 5–11.
Nourse, ‘Cremona Japanica’: origins, development and construction of the Japanese (née Chinese) one-string fiddle, c1850–1950’, The Galpin Society Journal, 73 (March 2020): 133–152 & 202–203.
Nourse, ‘Musical Migrations: the origins of the portable street barrel piano’, The Galpin Society Journal, 67 (March 2014): 33 & 49–58.
Hurdy Gurdy plans
Marchand 1775 hurdy gurdy plans - full-size working drawings
Price: £49 including postage within the UK.
Overseas customers, please Contact me for any additional costs.
Full-size line drawings of a Henry III-type instrument based on the c.1775 Marchand hurdy gurdy held at the Brussels Conservatoire. The instrument is a 6-string, 23-key fully chromatic hurdy gurdy with trompette.
- 6-string: 2 Chanterelles, Trompette, Mouche (alto drone), Petit bourdon (tenor drone) and Gros bordon (bass drone)
- 23-key chromatic, suitable for both G-C and D-G tuning
- Full-size drawings of metalwork items: shaft, bearings and s-shaped crank
- Instrument length overall = 610mm
- Diameter of wheel = 142mm
- Soundbox: length = 400mm, width (max.) = 200mm, height = 75mm to 110mm
The plans are drawn full-size and supplied flat as two A1 sheets (folded) and four A4 sheets (flat).
Note - the drawings are line drawings only, and assume that the maker has some previous experience of making hurdy gurdies or other stringed musical instruments.
The metal parts will require a lathe and the abilty to cut sheet metal.
Customers requiring rolled plans should Contact me.
Instruments: Portfolio
Instrument made and for sale. Click on the + in the popup box for a larger view.
Publications
Academic papers on musical instruments and organology
(Nourse, ‘Musical Teapots, “bellows played à la the bagpipes” and Other “Fakements”: the Victorian Musical Clown and their instruments’, The Galpin Society Journal, 78 (March 2025): 18pp.)
Published:
Nourse, ‘The Documentary Evidence of Bristol’s Portable Street Barrel Piano Makers; Part 2’, The Galpin Society Newspetter, 63 (Sumer 2022), pp.21–26.
Nourse, ‘The Documentary Evidence of Bristol’s Portable Street Barrel Piano Makers’, The Galpin Society Newsletter, 62 (Spring 2022), pp.1 and 5–11.
Nourse, ‘Cremona Japanica’: origins, development and construction of the Japanese (née Chinese) one-string fiddle, c1850–1950’, The Galpin Society Journal, 73 (March 2020): 133–152 & 202–203.
Nourse, ‘Musical Migrations: the origins of the portable street barrel piano’, The Galpin Society Journal, 67 (March 2014): 33 & 49–58.
Contact
Phone or email before making a trip, please.
Location:
Awdry Close
Chippenham, SN14 0TQ
Email:
nick_nourse@yahoo.com
nick@lyra-mendicorum.co.uk
Call:
+44 (0) 1249 657361
+44 (0) 7774 883557