Strings Stories
Articles from the pages of Strings Magazine - read aloud by the editor and authors!
Strings keeps you informed on the music, musicians, and instruments that matter. Published since 1986, our editors and expert contributors share stories from the vibrant community surrounding stringed instruments. For teachers and students, amateurs and professionals, players of violin, viola, cello, bass, and fiddle, Strings is your magazine.
Strings Stories
The Becker Violin Making Dynasty Found Its Inspiration in the Woods
This story was written by Cliff Hall for the November-December 2023 issue of Strings magazine and is read by Megan Westberg, Editor.
Way up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin on the shores of Pickerel Lake is a small cadre of cabins on about 14 acres of bucolic land. Named “Fiddle Sticks,” this compact compound was the birthplace of some of the most valuable American violins ever built. But the output of those violins depended entirely upon how the fish ran.