Lutherie Services
Few instruments are as unique in their individual personality and voice as the violin. Handcrafted from carefully selected and aged woods using centuries of knowledge and carefully guarded techniques passed from one generation to the next, the violin and bow sing the song of both the player and the maker.
As part of her lifelong passion for the fiddle and deep commitment to preserving the art and science of handcrafted fine instruments, Meredith committed to a traditional apprenticeship path of learning from master luthier Jim Humble.
Custom violin builds, setups, repairs and other lutherie services are currently only offered on a private basis. Contact Meredith to inquire about commissions and lutherie services.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Apprenticing
with Master Luthier Jim Humble
Thanks to a grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission’s Folklife - Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, Meredith Goins studied under master luthier Jim Humble. The images on this page and the excerpt below are from a 2020 article about the program.
Jim Humble, of Ooltewah, is regarded as one of Tennessee’s most skilled and sought-after violin luthiers. He began restoring violins in the 1970s and made his first full violin in 1982. Since then he has built approximately thirty violins and completed hundreds of repairs on bowed stringed instruments for musicians in the classical and bluegrass communities.
Jim grew up in the heart of the Sequatchie Valley, an area renowned for its regional fiddle tunes. When Jim was a youngster in Bledsoe County, he started playing rhythm guitar. “But my parents really didn’t want me to, because there was just a few people playing music and they had to get drunk,” Jim recalled. However, his friend Ed Brown, master fiddler and banjo player, came along and made it “legit.” Jim quickly made the switch to the fiddle, “I just loved the sound of the fiddle. I played guitar in a band. I told my dad, ‘I’d like to have a fiddle.’ He found one in a pawn shop.” After doing some work on the pawn shop fiddle, it was only a matter of time before fellow musicians started asking Jim to repair their own instruments as well. Jim explained, “And I was going to quite a few festivals and somebody said, “how about fixing mine?” …I’ve repaired some stuff that nobody should have..but it’s a learning process. Learn by doing.” Jim’s house in Ooltewah was built in 1973, and he has been working out of his basement workshop ever since. In 1981, Jim deepened his violin-making knowledge by completing a two-week course at the University of New Hampshire. Jim recalled his teacher Hans Neville’s likable personality and German accent.
As part of the 2020 Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, Jim taught apprentice Meredith Goins the skills of violin making, as well as restoration techniques and bow rehairing. Meredith has known Jim since she was much younger, having met him when the 3/4-size violin her family had purchased needed work. Today Meredith is an exceptional fiddler with a far-reaching reputation. She has three years of previous experience restoring violins.
About this project, Meredith explains, “I believe it’s important to know how to restore instruments, so there are violins to pass on to generations to come. I feel in the community where I live, this is an art form that is near extinction, and I would like to be able to play a part in preserving this art form by learning from Mr. Humble, as well as sharing it and passing it on to those in the future who have a desire to learn how to restore violins and make them.” In March 2020, Meredith was also awarded a Folk & Traditional Arts Master Artist Fellowship from South Arts to continue her luthiering.
