Mila Li Violinist

Recently I had the chance to play a beautiful sounding violin by an Australian violin maker Paul Ridden. I enjoyed the romantic and sweet tone of this impressive instrument.

The violin I played has smooth ,watercolour sound, very flowing and warm.
All the registers are consistent and even, my string crossings and position shifts have never been that easy to perform.

In my personal vision this violin is able to add touching beauty to any style of music.

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Charles    (Melbourne Australia)

After months of research and testing multiple violin and also searching for an Australia luthier, we decided to purchase one of Paul's violin for my son who has been playing for 6 years now. This violin is warm, clear and powerful without distortion. A short while after purchasing the violin we went to a very reputable shop in Melbourne to try some new bows. While at the shop my son wanted to test some of the new violins sitting in the $8-$12k price bracket. While they sounded well, smooth and warm, we noticed that the all lacked the power of Paul's violin. My son agreed that we had made the right voice. Value (quality) for money I told him.

Soon after we also commissioned a viola from Paul which we now have at home. This viola carries what I define to be Paul's sound and quality charactesitics that we have seen on our violin. And finally, Paul started working on a cello late last year, after seeing and having a play of it recently we also bought this cello which has been characterised for being a "Monster of a Cello." However, it is Paul's honesty, craftmanship, approachability and trustworthiness that appeals to me. Paul's after service is second to none. I love that he is always looking at improving on his build, finish and sound quality. I highly recommend Paul as a luthier. 

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Margaret Eibisch (Canberra Australia)

"Little Gem" Bespoke Guarneri Commission for Margaret

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I thoroughly recommend Paul to anyone needing a custom-made violin. My “Little Gem” is just that. Beautifully made, it has a very pleasing strong tone, even across the strings and in higher positions, while not sounding harsh under the ear.

Paul was very understanding of my need for an instrument to suit my child-sized stature and hands and showed me a way to experiment with different string lengths on my old ¾ size violin. Doing this I became confident that I needed an even shorter instrument. A Guarneri model scaled to 91% also means I can reach around the upper bout to play high on the G string. The more unusual feature of my small instrument however its fingerboard, which is 7/8 size in width to suit my rather square-tipped short fingers. This is set above a neck and heel as shallow as possible to enable better reach.

Paul was attentive to all these details and kept me well-informed, sending photos of the various build stages and attending to adjustments, such as bridge height, in the final stages. As I play in a small amateur band, he also gave advice on amplification options.

From my experience I cannot emphasise enough the importance of having an instrument which suits the player’s physique. As even leading string teachers may not realise, better practice is not always the solution. For a keen violinist of any age a lovely instrument custom-made by Paul would be an excellent investment and perhaps save years of frustration.