Don Rickert Musical Instruments

Alternative Violas for Non-Conformists Who Play Non-Orchestral Music

Introduction If you want to do anything with a viola, such as use it to play anything other than classical orchestral music, good luck finding a luthier who has ANY clue about what you are talking about. There are a few of us, but not many. If you are a member of the growing sub-culture of alternatively-tuned viola players, or even standard violas used for playing Old-Time, Bluegrass, Celtic, Jazz or Rock, you know what I am talking about. Well, we are here to listen to your tales of woe, and even provide a helping hand. We do alternative violas! In my 50+ years as a fiddler, I have always had a special place in my heart for violas. At an earlier point in life, I actually did get a little bit of formal viola training, I found that I was just not that interested in using a viola to play typical viola parts. Early on, I started acquiring violas to more or less use as big fiddles. I found that tuning violas like octave violins (G2 D3 A3 E4) best served my musical adventures. I also became interested in octave violas, or “chin cellos” as they are often called. And, then, there are the 5-string violas, which are essentially brawnier versions of 5-string fiddles, and can be tuned all sorts of ways to suit your musical interests. Here are some tunings, all of which I have experimented with over the years. Like a 5-string fiddle (C3 G3 D4 A4... Read more →

Demonstrations and Photo Galleries

Everybody wants to hear what an instrument will sound like before making a considerable financial commitment. People also want to see examples of workmanship...and who doesn't enjoy eye candy? Here are links to important demonstration videos of the Violoncellos da Spalla and other instruments we have completed in approximately the last three years, all in one place. You will also find photos of most of the instruments we have built in the same time period. You will find additional demos not shown here within individual product listings in our online store, the Don Rickert Musician Shop. Demo Videos of Violoncellos da Spalla by Don Rickert Click here for demo videos Photo Galleries of Recent Instruments by Don Rickert Photo Gallery: Violoncellos da Spalla by Don Rickert Photo Gallery: Other Recent Instruments by Don Rickert Photo Gallery: Travel Violins by Don Rickert Read more →

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 [email protected] 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 <<<<<<<< ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~... Read more →

The New Professional Acoustic-Electric Violins from Realist and Glasser

[Article not yet published - well be soon] Read more →

Going Electric: Part II of A Different Way of Achieving the Range of an Octave Violin and Octave Viola

Attention!: This is an older post. Please visit the Don Rickert Musician Shop. This article is by D. Rickert Musical Instruments, a highly regarded designer and maker of acoustic purpose-built octave violins and violas, as well as 4-string and 5-string electric violins. All of these instruments are sold via Don Rickert Musician Shop. Introduction This is the second (see Part I) in a three part series on the topic of using a 4-string or 5-string electric violin (and acoustic instruments with the right kind of pickup installed) together with the necessary effect signal processors to achieve a sound either one or two octaves lower than the violin’s or viola’s actual tuning. Part I of this series introduced the possibility of “going electric.” It also acknowledged the reasons why someone would want to stay with an acoustic solution. Further, Part I also suggested a compromise approach, an acoustic instrument with the right kind of pickup installed. This installment is all about the advantages of the electronic approach to octave synthesis and the challenges associated with a purely acoustic approach, especially with 5-string octave violas. Advantages of a Real Electric Violin (as Opposed to an Acoustic with a Pickup) The best electric violins come in a wide variety of shapes. Most are some variation of a solid body, chambered body or “skeletal”. They all have several things in common: A substantial mass of material (usually wood) directly under the bridge A bridge pickup with greater mass than a regular bridge (almost always... Read more →

A Different Way of Achieving the Range of an Octave Violin and Octave Viola: Part I

Attention!: This is an older post. Please visit the Don Rickert Musician Shop. This article is by D. Rickert Musical Instruments, a highly regarded designer and maker of acoustic purpose-built octave violins and violas, as well as 4-string and 5-string electric violins. All of these instruments are sold via Don Rickert Musician Shop. We have no reason for bias on the topic of acoustic vs. electric instruments, as we make both! Hopefully this lack of bias is reflected in the following article. Introduction This is the first in a three part series on the topic of using a 4-string or 5-string electric violin (and acoustic instruments with the right kind of pickup installed) together with the necessary effect signal processors to achieve a sound either one or two octaves lower than the violin’s or viola’s actual tuning. Our focus here is on achieving lower octaves; however the principles apply to other amazing sonic feats as well, such as playing harmony to your own playing in real time, or generating the sound of sympathetic strings, such as would be found on a contemporary Hardanger fiddle or a Baroque Viola d’Amore. In this first article, I address the matter of whether an electronic option to violin octave synthesis is a desirable alternative for you. Our Acoustic Bowed Octave Instruments When we started our company almost a decade ago, it was the musical instruments division of Wiederholt & Rickert Partners, LLC (DBA Don Rickert Research & Design), a design research and new product... Read more →

Modern Travel and Backpacker Violins: Baroque Pochettes and Modern Travel Violins at the Don Rickert Musician Shop (Part 2 of 2 Parts)

Attention!: We have more recent articles about Travel Violins. Better still - See the Travel and Backpacker Fiddle category at the Don Rickert Musician Shop. Modern Travel and Backpacker Violins D. Rickert Musical Instruments makes some of the world’s finest Modern Travel Violins (aka Backpacker Fiddles) and more models (6 models currently; one a 5-string). We also make two Pochette models; one a Baroque (early to mid-1700s) and one a Pre-Modern (1780s). All of these instruments are available at the Don Rickert Musician Shop. This article is about the modern Travel Violins and Backpacker Fiddles you will find at Don Rickert Musician Shop. You might also want to read Baroque Pochettes and Modern Travel Violins at the Don Rickert Musician Shop (Part 1 of 2 Parts): Pochettes, which is about our pochettes, and some of the lore associated with them. Travel and Backpacker Violins and Fiddles by D. Rickert Musical Instruments These are instruments that look superficially like Barqoue pochettes (pocket fiddles); however, they are full-length violins intended for backpacking and travel. All of our travel and backpacker violins are full 4/4 length instruments with chin rests and shoulder rest adapters. They are very popular among traveling classical violinists as well as adventure-loving fiddlers. Unlike the cheap travel fiddles that cost much less than ours on the market, ours respond to the bow like a full-size instrument and are quite sonorous...be sure to watch the videos below. How Good Can a Travel Violin Sound? Most makers of modern travel violins... Read more →

Don Rickert Musician Shop is Unique: Part 1 (Hard to Find Stuff)

Please visit the Don Rickert Musician Shop. Don Rickert Musician Shop (D. Rickert Musical Instruments) is the place to go for unique instruments that are either very hard or even impossible to find anywhere else. Some examples: Travel / Backpacker Violins and Fiddles We make and sell the finest innovative and ergonomically perfect travel/backpacker violins in the world. Several dozen customers a year opt for one of our travel violins, despite the fact that they cost from 3 to 4 times as much as our apparent competitors. 5-String Violins We make and sell one of best 5-string violins that money can buy (note: There ARE some very fine 5-string instruments by competitors). We also sell the very nice new 5-String acoustic-electric Realist violin by David Gage. We also make and sell an incredible 5-string travel violin. Octave Violins and Violas We make the most advanced and best-sounding octave violins and octave violas (aka “chin cellos”). Dr. Rickert has been researching acoustic octave violins for more than 15 years. He has designed a number of such instruments over the past decade, each new one better than the rest. We sell a lot of these. Top recording artists own a number of them. Tertis Wide-Body Violas in all Sizes We are one of the only U.S. based sources of extremely high quality Tertis wide-body violas, in sizes from 15” to 16.5” (note: viola size is designated by the length of the instrument body, from the saddle to the neck joint). These instruments... Read more →

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

Please visit the Don Rickert Musician Shop. Demos (video with audio) of the Fat Strad Deux 5-String See the D. Rickert Fat Strad III 5-String Violin at the Don Rickert Musician Shop. The Fat Strad Deux 5-String Fiddle is a now called the D. Rickert Fat Strad III 5-String Violin. It uses the same acoustically advanced body as our D. Rickert Fat Strad Acoustic Octave Violin. David Thames Demonstrating Fat Strad Deux 5-String Mezzo Viola David Thames Playing Fat Strad Deux 5-String Mezzo Viola Accompanying a Violin David, a violist and cellist (who also plays violin) is accompanying violinist and fiddler, Mary Ann Thames, who is playing her cool Lion Head fiddle. They are playing a baroque liturgical canon. Links: David Thames Demonstrating Fat Strad Deux 5-String Mezzo Viola (YouTube Video) David Thames Playing Fat Strad Deux 5-String Mezzo Viola (YouTube Video) David, a violist and cellist (who also plays violin) is accompanying violinist and fiddler, Mary Ann Thames, who is playing her cool Lion Head fiddle. They are playing a baroque liturgical canon. The NEW Fat Strad Deux Mezzo Viola by D. Rickert Musical Instruments See How the Fat Strad Deux Mezzo Viola Works Who is the Fat Strad Deux 5-String Fiddle for? This instrument is NOT for a beginner who likes the idea of having a low C or D string (D is a more common note than C for an experienced 5-String player). Becoming proficient on a 5-String fiddle takes practice beyond that necessary to play a... Read more →

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

Please visit the Don Rickert Musician Shop. The B-Rex II 5-String Octave Viola, discussed and demonstrated on this page, has been replaced by the T-Rex Octave Viola, which is available at the Don Rickert Musician Shop. The new T-Rex is available in either 4-string or 5-string configurations. Links David Thames Demonstrating B-Rex 5-String Octave Viola (aka Chin Cello) (Link to YouTube Demo) The NEW B-Rex II 5-String Octave Viola (Photos) B-Rex II 5-String Octave Viola (Product Listing at the Adventurous Muse Store) Introducing the NEW B-Rex II 5-String Octave Viola (Informational Article) Introduction The B-Rex II 5-String Octave Viola by D. Rickert Musical Instruments has proven to be an extremely popular instrument for fiddlers, violinists and violists looking for a powerful acoustic low voice tuned EXACTLY like a full-size cello, with the added benefit of a fifth string at the high end tuned to the high E of a octave violin. The B-Rex II 5-String is a 15” or 15.5” body* viola that is tuned an octave lower than a violin (the first 4 strings), making it quite large-bodied octave violin (i.e. tenor). Strings 2 to 5 are tuned an octave lower than a viola (i.e. identical to a full size cello), making it a “chin cello” (i.e. baritone) as well. You can think of the B-Rex II either as… An octave viola with an extra octave E string at the high end A big burly octave violin or fiddle with an extra octave C string at the low end.... Read more →