Don Rickert Musical Instruments

The Latest on Octave Violas and Tenor Violas by D. Rickert (with Demos)

New product listing for Octave Violas and Tenor Violas at the Don Rickert Musician Shop! For the first time in years, we have a specific product listing on our online store website, Don Rickert Musician Shop (www.donrickertmusicianshop.com), having treated Octave Violas as completely custom commissions. Octave Violas and Tenor Violas are now listed as two variants of the same instruments, just as violins and fiddles are simply variants of the same instrument. Our Octave and... Read more →

What Are ‘Alternative’ Violin Family Instruments?: Three New Articles On that Topic

Introduction These recent posts on www.RickertMusicalInstruments.com, by luthier Donald Rickert (me), will be of particular interest to players of such instruments as 5-string violins, octave violins, tenor violas, 5-string violas, octave violas and revival instruments such as the violoncello da spalla. With the exception of maybe the violoncello da spalla, classical repertoire is NOT the norm for alternative strings. The violoncello da spalla is becoming common in contemporary Baroque ensembles, which is sometimes thought of... Read more →

Brief Descriptions for Various Alternative Violin Family Instruments

Introduction This post provides brief descriptions of the various alternative and extended range violin family instruments made by D. Rickert Musical Instruments. The descriptions include the normal tuning for each instrument, as well as links to other reference material about each instrument. There are two related posts: Alternative Violin Family Instruments: What Are They For? Alternative Violin Family Instruments: Relative Sizes and Shapes of Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Baritone Range Instruments Travel / Backpacker Violin... Read more →

Alternative Violin Family Instruments: Relative Sizes and Shapes of Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Baritone Range Instruments

This article, which includes a photo essay, is about the different “form factors” of various “alternative” or “non-standard” violin family instruments, all of which are made by Don Rickert Musical Instruments. With a few exceptions, the images in the photo essay part of this post are of actual instruments made in the workshop of Don Rickert Musical Instruments, located in Hiawassee, Georgia, USA by the hands of me (Donald Rickert). The exceptions are as follow:... Read more →

It's a Buyers’ Market for New Bespoke Musical Instruments.

Looking for the best prices ever on high-end bespoke instruments, especially: Violoncellos da Spalla Octave Violins Tenor and Octave Violas Travel Violins and Violas To find out more about the instruments I build, see: Don Rickert Musician Shop. “Buyers’ Market” means that it is exceeding hard for makers to sell their stuff to buyers. That is the way it is currently in the realm of bespoke musical instruments. So, it is time for a sale,... Read more →

Octave Violin and Tenor Viola Options from Don Rickert Musical Instruments

Contact Info. Don Rickert on Linktree: https://linktr.ee/donrickert. This link gets you to ALL of my detailed contact information, my websites and social media. Email: [email protected] Phone (in US): 706-896-0909 or 706-400-1481 (mobile) What is an Octave Violin? An octave violin or octave fiddle, if you like, is a specially-designed or modified violin that is set up for and uses specifically-designed larger diameter strings and is tuned an octave lower (G2 to E4) than a violin... Read more →

Octave Violins, Tenor Violas and Related Instruments from Donald Rickert

Note: This is an update to an earlier article entitled, Octave Violins, Octave Violas and Hybrids from Don Rickert Musical Instruments. With a current introduction of several new Octave Violins underway, this post is a good resource for one wanting some details on what octave violins and similar instruments (e.g. tenor violas) are, where they originated, and what they are good for. At the end of this UPDATE post there are a number of video... Read more →

Octave Violin or Violoncello da Spalla?

Update Intro: This is an update to an earlier article entitled, Do You Really Need a Violoncello da Spalla? Since publication of the original post, much has changed with respect to the instrument alternatives, including cost and variety. For example, I have rolled back prices to 2021 level on the popular Violoncello da Spalla Standard Model. See: Violoncellos da Spalla by Donald Rickert (Update Feb. 2024). We are now once again offering a decent factory-made... Read more →

Special Pricing for a Violoncello da Spalla (Standard Model) and a Tenor Viola (additional information for prior article)

Update: Since the original publication of this post, we have rolled pricing for my standard Violoncello da Spalla l to 2021 pricing, about $10K. This is about $3,000 less than the special pricing described below. As of today, March 2, 2024, we still have a Tenor Viola (tuned G2 to E4, like an Octave Violin) for the price of $3,500. The only reason for the price reduction is that it has been lovingly pre-owned and... Read more →

Violoncello da Spalla and Tenor Viola Available for Sale Right Now!

Update: Since the original publication of this post, we have rolled pricing for my standard Violoncello da Spalla l to 2021 pricing, about $10K. This is about $3,000 less than the special pricing described below. As of today, March 2, 2024, we still have a Tenor Viola (tuned G2 to E4, like an Octave Violin) for the price of $3,500. The only reason for the price reduction is that it has been lovingly pre-owned and... Read more →