Ballard Violins

17/07/2026

13/07/2026

I was very honoured to have these star violinists in my workshop, to learn about how violins are made, thanks to their teacher Dominika Rosiek. We nearly died in the heat but it was lots of fun. They got the full treatment with blacking the room out and shining light through the wood. Such a great idea from Dominika to consider their understanding of the instrument.

10/07/2026

This is Farah from the Purcell School, putting my Violin through its paces. It’s her Violin now and I’m so proud.

19/05/2026

Matt Holborn killing it on the ‘Soil’ model Strad I made him a few years back, at Ronnie Scott’s!

27/10/2025

What does a violin bridge do? Let a luthier explain...

Gareth Ballard is a master violinmaker based in London. This channel focuses on luthier oriented work for musicians and other luthiers showing his unique approach to building string quartet instruments such as violins, violas and cellos.

This is a snippet of a longer form video that will be posted soon, exploring what goes into making a great violin.

03/12/2021

Get a starter violin from Ballard Violins, professionally setup, for less than £500 that really works well.

01/04/2021

Really excited about my new Forster cello. Such a beautiful shape. All the arching curves go perfectly through the middle of the wood and it is the first one I've done using just light to thickness.

22/09/2020

A closer look at the instruments I make and the specialist processes I use to make them

19/01/2018

Pleased with my latest Plowden model Guarneri. Time for a couple of Stradivari models, for the discipline if nothing else. I'm going to make a Soil model like that of Itzhak Pearlman and a Maurin. The Soil is based on the G mould (for Grande). The Maurin is the PG slightly smaller but still bigger in the lower bouts than the Strads I've previuously done. Both of which I've wanted to do for ages. Can't wait :)

18/10/2016

Keep an eye out for the taxi :). Such a great vehicle in London.