String Instruments
Joachim Winter is the president of the Jakob Winter Company, a family business since it was established in 1886. The company supplies accessories like cases and violin bows, as well as a long line of stringed instruments and wind instruments. Joachim and his wife purchased the company and brought...
Jake Connolly has fond memories of working with his father, who became his mentor in life and the music business. Together, father and son grew their string distribution company from a short list of products to a strong offering based on several product lines. The relationships they built years ago...
Dale Webb wanted to create a new design for the ukulele with the hope that it would inspire more people to play a musical instrument. His Fluke did exactly that! The instrument was introduced at the NAMM Show at the perfect time as a new wave of popularity for the ukulele swept the world! Since...
Phyllis Webb and her husband, Dale, formed The Magic Fluke Company in 1999. The company began making ukuleles in the basement of their home in New Hartford, Connecticut. They were inspired and encouraged by Phyllis’s brother, Jim Beloff, an accomplished musician and guitarist who discovered the...
Chuck Berghofer is the answer to such trivia questions as Who played bass on Nancy Sinatra's big hit "These Boots Where Made For Walking" and Who is playing the bass lick for the TV theme song for "Barney Miller." Chuck has been a mainstay in the Los Angeles studios since the 1960s and worked with...
Paula Simmons wanted to create a shop where good quality instruments could be accessible to all those who came in the store. As a teacher, Paula was very interested in providing lessons for students of all ages. She tied both needs together when she and her partner, Kevin Smith,opened The Violin...
Gary Chen is the owner of Stein On Vine, the historic horn and string shop in Hollywood, California whose customer list reads like a who's who of jazz and film music. Gary was hired by the founder, Maury Stein, the brother of famed songwriter Julie Stein. Maury had developed a wonderful...
Kate Riessland was born in England in the years following World War II and soon found she had an interest in learning all she could about the German culture. While in Germany, in 1969, she answered an ad for a job with the Götz Company. The company was looking for someone with perfect English and...
Ahmet Ediz grew up in Turkey and began playing the violin at an early age. He became a professional concert musician and traveled with several orchestras. Along the way he noticed a need to better care for his instrument, particularly regarding the wood. He noticed that even the instruments of...
Ivan Peykov grew up in the music business as his father formed a company to make traditional Bulgarian instruments. After attending college with a focus on engineering, Ivan returned to work with his father and helped manage the production of the manufacturing process for such instruments as...