William Lakeberg, Master of Violins
William Lakeberg, Master of Violins
“A really good craftsman can make everything perfect, and at the same time make it aesthetically pleasing,” says the resident of Fort Wright, Ky. (pop. 6,670). “I’ve seen a lot of workmen who can do very precise work, but it looks kind of cold. You’re not drawn to it. There are a few gifted people out there who can do both. I strive for that.”
Lakeberg graduated in the late 1970s from what is now the Chicago School of Violin Making, then worked in music shops before striking out on his own six years ago. He now spends mornings in his home-based Amsterdam Violin Shop, varnishing violins that are sent to him “in the white.” He joins a partner, Peter Baer, at another shop making string basses in the afternoon and reserves evenings for crafting violins or violas. In total, he produces about 10 to 12 instruments every year, charging at least $8,000 each.
“My favorite part is designing the instrument, working with the materials,” he says. “I like imagining ‘Oh, this will look nice, this figure has a nice way that it turns in the light and shines back at you.’”
Lakeberg says there’s something almost indescribable in the difference between a well-made violin and a poorly made one. Although he emphasizes that the sound of a violin depends largely on the player—“He has to create everything that produces the sound; all the violin can do is faithfully recreate what he’s doing”—Lakeberg notes that a good violin will respond to the way the musician bows the instrument and, therefore, produce the desired variety of “tone colors.”
An amateur fiddle player himself, Lakeberg says he can play just well enough to assess the tone of the instruments he makes.
“There’s a way you can adjust the violin, and when you get it to just that spot, it will ring out and sing,” he explains. “You really have to be able to determine if you brought it to that point.”
In addition to his training, Lakeberg attends seminars conducted by senior members of the Violin Society of America (VSA). He savors the opportunity to study the efforts of older, more accomplished craftsmen.
The work of Antonio Stradivari, an Italian violinmaker born in Italy in 1644, is considered the benchmark. Lakeberg has inspected several of the master’s 650 surviving instruments—which can be worth up to $5 million apiece—and says he learns something every time.
“If you look at good old Italian instruments for a long time, you can find relationships there,” he says. “These violins weren’t just designed by random chance—a lot of mathematics and geometry went into the design. That intrigues me, trying to figure out what was going on in their minds when they made them and trying to use that in the way I make instruments.”
Tschu Ho Lee, now the president of Lakeberg’s alma mater, says his former student’s willingness to be an apprentice is part of what has enabled Lakeberg to make a living as a craftsman for more than two decades.
“He always contacts me when he makes something and wants to know what is wrong, what is good,” he says. “He’s making pretty good right now. I think he will be even better in the future.”
Since Lakeberg recently received a coveted Certificate of Merit for Tone in the VSA’s viola competition, “pretty good” seems an understatement. But Lee, for whom Lakeburg has the utmost respect, insists that violin making is a lifelong endeavor.
“Many young people want easy study, easy learn, and big money right away,” says the veteran teacher. “But in the violin making business, you cannot get fast. You need whole life of study. It’s no end to the research and the trying to.”
That’s a commitment William Lakeberg is willing to make.
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