Don Rickert Musical Instruments

Don Rickert Musical Instruments, Makers of Violoncellos da Spalla and Other Fine Bowed Instruments

For more information about us, including our online store, the Don Rickert Musician Shop, see Introducing the Don Rickert Musician Shop.

Don Rickert Musical Instruments is a premiere designer and maker of innovative custom and historic musical instruments. Since starting our musical instruments enterprise in 2007, we have dealt primarily in those of the bowed variety (e.g. violins, fiddles and related instruments such as octave fiddles). We have also designed and made a number of fretted instruments along the way: mandolins, parlor guitars, acoustic bass guitars, tenor guitars and the like. We will soon be branching out in a serious way into the world of fretted musical instruments. Look forward to some really interesting mandolins, octave mandolins, mandocellos, parlor guitars, acoustic bass guitars, tenor guitars and the like. 

Regular production items are usually available at the Don Rickert Musician Shop. If you want something that is not there, give us a call...

Our email is don@DonRickertDesign.com and main phone number is (706) 896-0909. Don Rickert's mobile phone number is (706) 400-1481

Mailing address:
Don Rickert Musical Instruments
726 Hall Creek Road
Hiawassee, GA 30546

 

See:

Our new online store, the Don Rickert Musician Shop (www.DonRickertMusicianShop.com)

Our companion blog, Don Rickert Musician Shop: Latest News (www.DonRickertMusicianShop.com/blog)

The Facebook page of our owner, Donald Rickert (We still have a large number of photo albums there) (www.facebook.com/donald.rickert1)

Our new company Facebook page, also called D. Rickert Musical Instruments (www.facebook.com/DonRickertMusicianShop)

Our YouTube Channel: www.YouTube.com/DoctorFiddle

>>>>>>> Click here for Our full contact information <<<<<<<<

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This is the primary website and blog for Don Rickert Musical Instruments
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We are NOT a "Brick-and-Mortar" Retail Establishment Nor a Typical Online Operation (We are Better!)

We are not a “brick-and-mortar” retail establishment; however, many customers do choose to visit our studio and workshop in the beautiful North Georgia Mountains (part of the Appalachians). Being shopkeepers for a corner musical instrument shop would be completely at odds with our multifaceted focus on continuous research & development, innovative instrument design and customization, combined with our creation of meticulously accurate replicas of historically significant fiddles. 

The nature of our business demands that sales be conducted primarily online. We have done this for some time. The predecessor to the new Don Rickert Musician Shop was called the “Adventurous Muse Store.” We initially operated under the name “Fiddle and Bow Shop.” 

Don Rickert Musical Instruments maintains an online retail store, the Don Rickert Musician Shop (www.DonRickertMusicianShop.com) and has several companion blogs, the most important being, Don Rickert Musician Shop: Latest News (www.DonRickertMusicianShop.com/blog)

Please note that this site has been around for a good while. While working diligently to clear out the "junk" (old obsolete articles), this is going to take some time. We thank you for your patience during this period and offer a blanket apology for any incorrect links to our old online store.

 

Related articles

Contact Information: Don Rickert Musical Instruments

Don Rickert's Current Resume and Supplemental Background Documents

It's Baroque, Man! (or the Low-down on Baroque Violins)

NEW Fat Strad 8vb Octave Violin by D. Rickert Musical Instruments

David Thames Demonstrating B-Rex 5-String Octave Viola (aka Chin Cello)

Demos (video with audio) of the Fat Strad Deux 5-String

The Truth About the Current State of the Custom Musical Instrument Business

Introduction

The image is not a new musical instrument but a faucet. If you continue you will understand

I make my living making very good custom musical instruments, including:

• Violoncellos da Spalla
• Octave Violins
• Travel Violins
• Octave Mandolins
• Citterns
• Mandocellos

I would very much like to sell you one. If you are reading this, you can easily figure out how to contact me (706-896-0909; don@donrickertdesign.com).

Now, I’ll cut to the chase – Very few people are buying custom musical instruments these days. It is even worse than the worldwide financial crisis of 2007-2008. Well, maybe not worse, but just as bad.

Very few makers of custom hand-built musical instruments will admit publicly that the current state of affairs is really dire, which is a polite way of saying that it sucks! Why? — because it is generally not a good marketing strategy to say out loud that business is challenging and things like you might lose your home to foreclosure and the like. The “Market” could not care less. Well, the truth is the truth!

For me, the time of daunting backlog queues is a thing of the past. Since Q3 2021 it has been quite the opposite. You do not see economists on National News programs talking about any of this, as small businesses that make bespoke goods are, quite simply, a tiny segment of the overall economy. Since you will not be hearing from economists on the current dire situation for custom luthiers, I will tell you what I think.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and the "Lockdown"

The COVID pandemic, especially what we called the “lockdown” was bad in all sorts of ways. First, there was so much suffering and widespread death, as well as the long-term health issues for many survivors. And then were the businesses that were affected. Service industries like restaurants, and the entertainment industry, suffered terribly. Some businesses, like makers of strings for orchestral instruments (e.g., SuperSensitive), went out of business during the lockdown. The reason is that SuperSensitive absolutely depended on sales of inexpensive strings to tens of thousands of students in middle school and high school orchestra programs. The ripple effects were severe. For example, octave viola (aka “chin cello”) players are now without a source for strings, as SuperSensitive was the ONLY maker of such strings.

Given the aforementioned tragedies, I feel almost guilty about what I am about to say, but the COVID lockdown was really good for makers of high-end (i.e., expensive) musical instruments, large as well as small. For instance, 2020 was a very good year for manufactures like Gibson, Taylor, Martin and Fender. In fact, 2020 was the best year for sales in the history of Fender. This trend continued into part of 2021. Those trying to make sense of this attribute the spike in high-end musical instrument sales to the confluence of several things:

1. Thousands of adults were bored out of their minds.
2. Many of these bored people decided to take up a musical instrument.
3. The various stimulus checks, both under both the Trump and the Biden administrations, helped people to pay for their newfound hobbies.

During the 2020-2021 period, I had more orders for my violoncellos da spalla, octave violins and travel violins than I ever could have imagined. It was almost impossible to keep up with orders. Then, it was as if a faucet was turned off. I mean OFF! To this day I still mutter WTF to myself when I think about it.

So, here we are waiting for the phone to ring. Well, not exactly, as the downturn seems to have empowered the crackpots. Every custom luthier knows what I am talking about… people who find it interesting, comforting or whatever to engage a luthier in hours of prelude to what appears to be a likely commission. In reality, all these folks want to do is go through the motions of specifying the instrument they would like, as if they were ever going to actually buy one. That’s enough to get those pleasurable neurotransmitters going. It is very much like people who pretend that they are rich and take Ferraris on test drives. Yes, that really is a thing, believe it or not. I imagine that some of these people will read this and I have one thing to say—shame on you!

While I feel that I understand why sales spiked during the lockdown, as described above. I have no idea why everything grinded to a halt when the lockdown ended. I am really interested in your ideas should you want to share them.

Back in the Saddle Again! (And the Economics of Attention)

First, thank you for your valuable attention. This will make sense if I can hold on to your attention for a few more minutes.

In the words of Aerosmith:

I'm back
I'm back in the saddle again
I'm back
I'm back in the saddle again

Man, nobody can screech our lyrics like the great Steven Tyler!

Gene Autry expressed the same sentiment in his song of the same title, written in 1939 and recorded numerous times by him and widely covered.

If you have to ask, it means doing something that you stopped doing for a period of time.

I stopped building instruments for a while. Here is why.

After the passing of my Partner and Soulmate Alycen in August of 2021, I took a long hiatus from seeking new instrument build commissions. During a period of several months after her death I caught up on a distressing backlog of instrument builds, all of them violoncellos da spalla and a custom leather case for a violoncello da spalla. I also pretty much ignored doing frequent updates to my blogs and other social media, and boy, am I paying for that now! I have been posting lots of articles the past few weeks. I have regained “first page” status on Google searches for anything remotely related to “Violoncello da Spalla.” We have a long way to go with getting the word out on my octave violins, travel violins and such. And the market for mandolins is so large, that it could take a really long time to get there.

I am eager and ready to start building new instruments for my discerning customers. I have a special affection for the violoncello da spalla and it is, thus, one of my favorite instruments to build. I am also looking forward to making some of my octave violins, 5-string violins and violas and my famous travel violins. I am also now making high-end octave mandolins and citterns in partnership with luthier Jesse Hale, called Rickert & Hale, Luthiers. Prototypes are presently in the hands of expert evaluators. I will be showing at least one octave mandolin prototype (maybe two) at the upcoming Hoppin’ John Old-Time & Bluegrass Fiddlers’ Convention (Pittsboro, NC; September 15-17, 2022).

Instruments by Don Rickert

Instruments for Hoppin' John 2022

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I will also be showing a new Violoncello da Spalla build in progress and a new Tenor Viola (viola with special design features and setup that is tuned an octave lower than a violin, which is a 4^th lower than a regular viola). This instrument is perfect for fiddlers, as all of the fingering is the same as a fiddle, but an octave lower. If you are interested in my opinion on the use of Violoncello da Spalla, and octave violin, in Old-Time string band music, see:

Violoncello da Spalla in Old-Time Music: A Match Made in Heaven!

Re-Booting

Re-Booting a bespoke lutherie business is surprisingly hard, and, I must say, rather frustrating. I would much rather be making instruments than spending untold hours marketing them! But that is part of the deal for anyone who chooses to earn a living as a luthier.

Attention Economy

In the Attention Economy in which we live, getting noticed is a prerequisite for any kind of business, including small boutique businesses like making custom-built musical instruments. And once you get enough attention to actually sell stuff, you have to continuously remind people via blogs, YouTube and other social media to remember you and the great instruments that you make.

Put simply, the idea behind Attention Economics is that there is way too much information to consume, but humans can only pay attention to a tiny fraction of what they are bombarded with. Online selling platforms such as Reverb.com and eBay take advantage of this human attention deficit by more aggressively bombarding site visitors about what you are tying to sell, for a hefty fee, of course. Too much information and human’s mental limitations results in “attention poverty” for most who seek attention (i.e., selling stuff). Those who have the time and funding to game the system, (SEO, social media algorithms, etc.) get the most attention wealth. If you are curious about attention economics and its psychological theoretical underpinnings, here are some particularly good links:

Paying Attention: The Attention Economy

The Attention Economy - Nielsen Norman Group

Sick Of The Attention Economy? It's Time To Rebel - Forbes

The attention economy: what it is, what it's doing to you - Timely

I truly look forward to gaining your continued attention, and hopefully the opportunity to make you the instrument of your dreams

Donald Rickert, Ph.D., IDSA

Hiawassee, Georgia, USA

don@donrickertdesign.com

1-706-896-0909

Violoncello da Spalla in Old-Time Music: A Match Made in Heaven

If you don’t know what a violoncello da spalla is, click here for a description.

The short explanation is that it is a very small 5-string cello that is suspended by a shoulder strap and played across the chest more or less under the chin, as shown in the image of our friend Peter Walker in full Scottish Highland dress. The violoncello da spalla has no well-established connection to 18th Century Scotland; however cello was definitely widely used in Highland fiddling as basso continuo to the fiddle. The dominant figure in Scottish Baroque fiddling, Niel (aka "Neil") Gow (1727 – 1807), was usually accompanied by his brother Donald on cello.

Anyway, the violoncello da spalla is an early to mid 18^th Century (i.e., Baroque) instrument that is enjoying a resurgence of popularity, particularly among experienced viola and violin players who are Baroque period enthusiasts. Why violists and not cellists? (Actually, many cellists have taken up the instrument; however, most of my highly accomplished violoncello da spalla clients are violists). Because of its playing position, one bows from the treble side like a viola or violin, which is backwards to a cellist.

Cello has been used in Old-time music for a long time. The first time I saw a cello in an Old-Time string band was at the U.S. National Folk Festival, which was at that time held in Northern Virginia at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, in 1976. And the cellist was playing a 1/2 size cello da spalla style!!! Admittedly, it has never been, and still is not, common. That being said, it is my opinion that there is no better “second fiddle” than either an octave violin (tenor range) or a cello, including the violoncello da spalla (both baritone range). The octave violin is more well established in the Old-Time, as well as the more modern Bluegrass genre, but that is a story for another day.

Those familiar with the late great “Carolina Chocolate Drops” will know exactly what I am talking about here. It is indeed the case that one or two of my violoncello da spalla clients have actually competed in the “Non-Traditional Fiddle” category at Old-Time fiddlers' competitions--on violoncello da spalla!

If you have never heard cello backing up a fiddle, you simply must. Please check out the following videos that inspire me about the possibilities of violoncello da spalla in Old-Time music. I suppose that "haters" would maintain that such a match-up is anachronistic--REALLY?!?!?!? I mean, who cares! "Traditional" Old-Time string band music is about as far from being some kind of historical reenactment as is humanly possible. Further, the list of commonly used instruments has evolved radically over time. Since its origins in the Southeastern Appalachians in the 19th Century, the genre has had more names than you can keep track of. With the advent of phonograph records, it was originally distributed under the "Hillbilly Music" category. The moniker "Old-Time" became popular in the 1960s.

That is the great Rhiannon Giddens of Durham, North Carolina on fiddle and vocals. She is now a solo artist, performing with the likes of Yo Yo Ma.

Appearing in the last video are Natalie Haas (cello) and Brittany Haas (5-string fiddle). Natalie has recorded on more than 30 albums, many with the Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser, and is an Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music. Brittany has appeared on at least a dozen albums.

It is only a matter of time before some crazy violoncello da spalla player decides to cross over into Old-time string band music in a big way, I mean with high-quality YouTube videos and such. Or it could be a really good fiddler who decides to take up the violoncello da spalla. We have been talking to a few great fiddlers who are trying to find a way to afford a violoncello da spalla. Wish I could afford to just give them one!