About Us

As you may know, I am based in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.  Highlands Ranch is a suburb on the south side of Denver metro.   Here is a brief background, so you can get a flavor of my expertise. 

I have been in the woods throughout my life, whether it was producing firewood or pulpwood, or pruning trees, that is what I did in my early years.  In college I was the top student in forestry and earth science classes.  In fact, Professor Hans Kubler at the University of Wisconsin Madison in 1985 asked me to come to his office after the first exam for Forestry 601.   In that meeting, in his thick European accent, he asked me how I knew so much about wood?  I had aced the test in this class and always raised my hand at every question at lecture.  He was curious why it was so easy for me.  In hindsight, I know why.  I know wood, and the forest.

Fast forward to 2003.  Through my travels of bow hunting elk in the high forests of Colorado, I had observed magnificent trees.  These were Engelmann Spruce.   In late 2003 I decided that I would get back to a forest related business and see if I could use Engelmann Spruce trees to actually make a living.  The answer was no for the first few years, but by 2007 I was on the map and selling great tonewood.  I have perfected wood selection for the best results for making violins.  If you want to make great violins, you have come to the right place to get your spruce.  Please read the "Data" and "Testimonial" pages for more reasons why.

Let me hypothetically comment about you for a moment, then I will tell you more about Simeon Chambers Tonewood. YOU, as a violin maker are looking for the answers to get you to the next level. You really want to make instruments that have a tone that makes you beam with pride and a feeling of accomplishment. Imagine how it feels to be able to do this! The good news is you may have all the skills already. The bad news is you are likely using the wrong wood, and have a stockpile of obsolete and inferior wood.

The fact is, most violin makers are using inferior wood and are EXTREMELY disadvantaged by it. What happens is that the maker thinks that a change needs to be made on the next violin after there is an imperfection in tone. What inevitably happens is that the maker starts changing things that are currently correct. It is an infinite process. It will never end. The violin tone is overwhelmingly made good or bad by the spruce top plate. The top plate choice is the biggest key to good sound.  The wrong wood selection just will not allow the maker to "fix" the sound.  The sound will never get there.  You do not need to believe the fools that think they can make any top sound good.  They are alchemists.  For hundreds of years alchemists tried to change lead and other metals into gold.  No can do.  It was a foolish pursuit.

There are several reasons why the instrument tops I produce are acoustically Superior.    

First:  Quality Control.  I am very precise in my log selection, and how I cut each unit.   I start with straight splitting logs with no twist.  The log is the raw material, and the raw material has to be very high grade to produce superior tonewood.  

Second:  The sawing of each unit.  Before sawing, it starts with the splitting of each 18", 24" or 36" round.  To achieve acoustically superior tops, they have to start out as split "bolts".   Skill and precision are used to clean up one split face of the bolt so it is perfectly parallel to the sawn face.  This eliminates runout.  Good raw material can end up with average acoustics if it is sawn wrong!   

Third:  Density.  The Specific Gravity of my wood on average is .35.  This is considerably less than European and Sitka at .38 to .48.  This is a monumental difference.  The physics of this disparity is one of the keys to building a consistent fine violin.  Even most Canadian Engelmann is a fair amount higher in density.  Some of today's best violin makers are finding that a key to making the best violins is low or mid density spruce.  Studies of the famous Cremona violins confirm this, as plates of violins averaged about 60 grams and most were not abnormally thinned.

Fourth:  The wood cutting I do is hugely labor intensive.  Cutting, sealing ends, pealing, splitting, stacking, air drying, sawing, grading, handling and shipping.  That is why I select the raw material so carefully.

Thanks for stopping by.

Simeon