Piccolo Maestro grows string instruments rather than manufactures them — each violin, cello and double bass carved from one hand-selected Carpathian maple and attuned by a master luthier to a tone all its own.
There is a perfection within nature. Our craft is simply to listen for it, and to set it free.
Our wood-whisperer ventures deep into the maple forests of the Carpathians, reading the grain and density of each tree until one reveals the instrument waiting inside it.
The harvested wood is left to dry slowly and naturally — never forced — so the fibres settle into the stability and resonance that only time can grant.
The seasoned wood is placed in the hands of our luthier, who carves and graduates each plate by ear and by feel until the body sings before a string is ever drawn.
Because every instrument begins with one unique tree, its flamed maple back, its graduation and its final voice are singular. We finish each piece with oil varnishes in the historic Cremonese palette and fit it with strings and fittings from Pirastro, Thomastik-Infeld and Optima — ready for the concert hall or the conservatory studio.
The hands that carve new instruments also heal old ones. From a resewn seam to a full restoration, violins, violas, cellos and double basses are brought back to voice at the Reghin bench — at rates at least 30% below the published reference prices of the great Western ateliers.
A simulation in euros, not a quotation. Every figure is confirmed personally after we see the instrument — photographs first, courier later. Complex restorations are estimated on inspection.
Our estimates cover the luthier's hand and the bench time it commands. A few things are, by their nature, billed separately: strings, fittings, cases and other materials consumed in a repair; courier and insurance for the journey to Reghin and back; and customs duties and VAT where an instrument arrives from outside the European Union. Nothing is added without first being named: every extra appears on your written quotation before a single tool touches the wood.
Reference values compiled July 2026 from the published repair and restoration price lists of established ateliers in Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States, adjusted for instrument size. Piccolo Maestro bench rates are set a minimum of 30% below these references.
A concert should never wait for an instrument. We place bench-made violins, cellos and double basses with philharmonics and festivals for a season or a single programme — delivered set up, insured and voiced to sit within a section.
For players and institutions who wish to keep what they come to love, long-term rental carries an option to purchase: at the end of the contract, rent already paid is credited against the price of the instrument.
Enquire about rental →Indicative long-term rates. Delivery, insurance, and fleet or festival hire quoted per programme.
Short courses and working residencies inside the Reghin atelier. Tools, tonewood and a bench are provided; you work on original models after Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù, guided by photo and video documentation and by the monographs of Cremona Books and Casa Stradivari in our workshop library.
A first encounter with the craft — sharpening and handling the luthier's tools, carving a scroll, cutting f-holes or laying a varnish ground, each day complete in itself.
A working internship at a bench of your own: plate graduation, setup and varnish alongside our luthiers, documented step by step so the learning travels home with you.
The full arc — from Carpathian maple to a strung, singing violin built on a Stradivari or Guarneri del Gesù form. The instrument you build remains yours.
| Format | Typical fee elsewhere | At Piccolo Maestro | Your saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-day craft workshop (Cremona academies) | €160 – 350 | from €110 | ≥ 30% |
| Scroll or f-hole workshop, 3 – 4 days | €390 – 550 | from €270 | ≥ 30% |
| One-week intensive residency | €1,100 – 1,500 | from €740 | ≥ 33% |
| Build-your-own violin, 4 – 8 weeks | €4,000 – 7,900 | from €2,790 | ≥ 30% |
| Online making & restoration courses (UK / Cremona) | €480 – 3,600 | taught in person, at the wood | — |
Reference values compiled July 2026 from the published fees of leading violin-making academies in Cremona and short-course and online programmes in the United Kingdom and Italy. Piccolo Maestro course fees are set at least 30% below comparable in-person formats and include your bench, tools and materials. Lodging in Reghin, meals and airport transfers are not included — we arrange them with your booking at local rates, typically 40% below what a stay near any Western atelier would cost.
We work hand-in-hand with dealers, teachers and institutions across Europe — supplying consistent, bench-made instruments with the documentation, fittings and setup the trade expects.
Request the trade catalogue →Tell us who you are and what you're looking for — a single instrument, a fitting for a student, or trade supply. We reply personally.
Piccolo Maestro SA
Hand-carved in Romania · A European maison, backed by Swiss capital
contact@piccolomaestro.com
