We at D. Rickert Musical Instruments know that our most desired musical instruments are the high-end unique instruments designed and made by us. These very special instruments tend to be the most expensive, and are a bit out of reach for many.  

The normal sell price of each instrument listed below is discounted by $250 to $300. Additionally, the shipping is FREE! (See note below.)

Hopefully this sale will help.

Note about shipping: Free shipping only applies when the instrument is to be delivered within the continental U.S. Anywhere else that we ship to, we will bill you for the actual cost of shipping, minus a discount of $50 (the average cost of shipping within the U.S.). We WILL NOT charge any extra "handling" fee. For non U.S. deliveries, we will contact you to discuss whether you want to go with Postal Service (cheap and pretty reliable, but sometimes slow) or really fast shipping using a service such as DHL (expensive!).

Be aware that some destinations require extra insurance.

This is the Impossible Sale: Is It Madness?

Starting immediately, and running for about 10 days we are running a seemingly irrational sale at our Don Rickert Musician Shop, with deep discounts on our musical instruments that many potential buyers dream about AND purchase most frequently. The instruments on sale include ALL of our...

• 5-string fiddles
• Octave violins
• Octave violas
• Some of our really cool special edition fiddles

This sale could by called “crazy” because we are only discounting our most desired instruments. Furthermore, when you see the discounted prices, you may wonder if we have gone completely mad. There is a method to this madness…read on.

We Need Orders for the Premium Instruments we have put on Sale Exactly Right NOW!

Here is why (and how it will benefit you)

We need to build more of our premier instruments to show and record at our most important annual new product rollout and video recording (for marketing purposes) event, the Hoppin’ John Old-Time & Bluegrass Fiddlers’ Convention (Sept. 17^th – 19^th, 2015).

The Hoppin’ John festival has become a very important rollout event for us, as it is attended by many of the finest musicians in the Southeastern U.S., as well as from other parts of the U.S., Europe, Ireland and the U.K.

Keep in mind that we are fundamentally a custom lutherie rather than a factory. For the instruments that are part of this sale, due to their highly personalized/customized nature (i.e. every one is unique to the buyer’s preferences), we only make them when we have finalized orders.

We need these orders for these instruments very soon (so we can make them!), at a time of year when we are competing with kids getting ready for back to school, paying for vacations, new cars, new tires, car repairs, home air conditioner repairs and the like.

We are Sold Out!

A month ago, we had on hand at least one of most of these instruments for our most recent important show, the Painted Fern Festival of Art in Clayton, GA., where we showed our finest instruments as functional sculpture.

All of those instruments had already been sold prior to the show or soon thereafter and are now in the hands of their happy new owners.

A Win-Win Proposition

We are willing to trade ridiculously low prices for a few minor concessions on your part, none of which involve any risk. We have done this in the past and it has worked out as a perfect win-win!

Here is the Deal

The Basic Information

• The instruments listed below are the ones on sale
• We will only sell two (2) of each instrument at the deeply discounted price.
• Free shipping is part of the deal
• Each instrument will come in a pretty good case
• Important “Heads Up”: Call and/or email us if you intend to buy.

• Our email is don@DonRickertDesign.com and phone number is (404) 828-0136. 
• We will reserve the instrument for 24 hours for you
• If there is no order within 24 hours, the instrument will be offered to the next person in the queue.
• If you are the 3^rd person to order a particular instrument, we will contact you to determine whether or not you still want the instrument at the normal sell price.

Agreements and Permissions We Need From You

Delivery Time

Instrument will ship to you during week of September 20, 2015

Instruments will be shown at the Hoppin’ John Old-Time & Bluegrass Fiddlers’ Convention.

See below for extra special care that will be taken with your instrument.

A professional musician will play the instruments; video as well as audio recordings will be made.

We will have access to at least 100 top musicians in one place at the same time, otherwise a practical impossibility. This allows us to capture outstanding audio and video recordings of our new instruments for marketing purposes.

Furthermore, you can point your friends to YouTube and say: “Hey! That’s my instrument.”

Special Treatment of Instruments and Extra Precautions

General layout of our vendor "booth"

When we vend at a fiddlers’ convention, our setup is not just a bunch of instruments on tables under an open-sided vendor canopy. We actually set up a complete small store consisting of two connected rooms (one room is 12’x12’ and the other is 10’x10’). All sides are opened or closed with heavy-duty waterproof walls as weather and time of day dictate.

Most importantly, our high-end instruments are placed in climate-controlled locked enclosure. We run industrial strength de-humidification and heaters when necessary (e.g. at night) within our portable store.

Who will have permission to handle your instrument?

The short answer to the question is “Very few people.”

Specifically:

• Donald Rickert, Ph.D., IDSA, the owner of D. Rickert Musical Instruments and designer of all of the instruments.
  • He also makes some of them.
• Alycen Whiddon, Designer & Artist, Business Manager
• Jeff Atkins, Master Craftsman and Luthier
• Shay Garriock, Owner of SG Music (Violin & Fiddle Shop) and Consulting Master Luthier to D. Rickert Musical Instruments
• The professional musician selected to play your instrument for audio and video recording
• Probable Buyers: Carefully vetted as likely to purchase an instrument like yours (Note: We will NOT sell your instrument)
• Simply curious browsers will not be allowed to even touch your instrument under any circumstances!

Bottom Line: Your instrument may be handled by 5 or 6 expert musicians, tops.

The Instruments on Sale

Fat Strad Deux 5-String Mezzo Viola (5-String Violin or Fiddle)

List Price: $2395

Normal Sell Price: $1995

Your Price after $300 Discount: $1695, including free shipping, case and brazilwood bow

The Fat Strad Deux 5-String is a powerful and sonorous 5-string violin with some viola aspects, notably higher ribs (37mm vs. 30mm) and a larger bass bar. With the right strings, the Fat Strad Deux 5-String configuration performs well beyond any other 5-string we have ever encountered. The standard 5-string configuration is, by far, the most commonly commissioned by customers.

• See the article at the D. Rickert Musical Instruments blog, The NEW Fat Strad Deux 5-String Mezzo Viola by D. Rickert Musical Instruments (Updated 7-18-14).
• See also the article: The Fat Strad Deux 5-String Fiddle: The Best Acoustic 5-String Fiddle Available at Any Price!

Fat Strad 8vb Acoustic Octave Violin

List Price: $2495

Normal Sell Price: $1995

Your Price after $250 Discount: $1745, including free shipping, case and brazilwood bow

The Fat Strad 8vb Octave Violin has a 14” long body and a 13” playable scale...same as a violin, fiddle or small viola. The ribs are approximately 37mm rather than the 29mm to 30mm more typical of an instrument this size. Overall, the Fat Srad 8vb Octave Violin will feel quite familar to a violinist or fiddler.

This is the very latest entry to D. Rickert Musical Instruments' long history of making incredible purpose-built (made to be an octave violin or fiddle...not a conversion of a regular instrument) violins and fiddles. The new Fat Strad 8vb is, as the name implies based on the Fat Strad body, which has proven to be more versatile than we ever imagined. 

It is, in fact, the most powerful (loudest) octave violin, yet possessing a nice, warm, focused timbre, we have made to date. This is our newest design for a purpose-built octave violin.

Summary: 

It has a lovely timbre in the octave-strung configuration and has the projection power needed for an octave violin. It sounds better and is easier to play than our tried and true W.S. Mount and Darci Jones Model Octave Violins; used by a number of famous musicians (e.g. The W.S. Mount Octave Violin is “in the mix” on Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas’s new CD, “Abundance.”)

• See photo album of this specific instrument on Facebook (donald.rickert1)

V-8vb Long Scale Octave Violin

List Price: $2400

Normal Sell Price: $1900

Your Price after $250 Discount: $1650, including free shipping, case and brazilwood bow

The V-8vb Long Scale Octave Violin is a completely new instrument from D. Rickert Musical Instruments. It is for the player who is up to handling a small viola sized (15.5” body) instrument in order to gain a lot of extra power and “bassy” punch from his or her octave violin.  

Sonically, the V-8vn Long Scale Octave Violin is, metaphorically, an octave violin on steroids. It is louder, darker and richer in low frequency overtones (i.e. more bass “growl”). Technically, it is closer in size to what an octave violin should be.

For the violinist or fiddler, moving up to a substantial larger instrument is a commitment that will take some practice. The playable string length is 13.9”, compared to the 12.8”-13” playable length of a violin. The larger body requires a “heavier hand” with the bow than a violin; even an octave violin. Holding (while playing) the larger body is different from a violin; not necessarily more difficult.   

Note on playable string length (aka scale length)

A frequently asked question by fiddlers accustomed to a 13" playable scale is whether the 13.9 scale (about 1 inch longer than that of a violin) of this instrument can somehow be shortened? The answer is "yes". There are two ways:

• Make a capo from a pair of small "zip ties." This works very well. We will be happy to supply instructions on how to do this upon request
• Purchase the V-8vb Violin Scale Large Body Octave Violin

V-8vb Violin Scale Large Body Octave Violin

List Price: $2500

Normal Sell Price: $1970

Your Price after $300 Discount: $1670, including free shipping, case and brazilwood bow

The V-8vb Violin Scale Large Body Octave Violin is a variation of the V-8vb Long Scale Octave Violin, but specifically tailored to fiddlers accustomed to the 13” playable string length of a standard fiddle. Both instruments are completely new designs from D. Rickert Musical Instruments. Both instruments are for the player who seeks to gain even more raw acoustic power and low frequency “punch” than can be obtained even from the very successful and, frankly, quite amazing violin length (14” body like a violin but substantially deeper) Fat Strad 8vb Octave Violin. It is our judgment that the Fat Strad, either in the 5-string violin or octave violin configuration, is as close to perfection for a 14" body instrument as we are going to get in the foreseeable future.

• Fat Strad 8vb Acoustic Octave Violin
• Fat Strad Deux 5-String Mezzo Viola (5-String Violin or Fiddle)

T-Rex Octave Viola 

List Price: $2700

Normal Sell Price: $2150

Your Price after $300 Discount: $1850, including free shipping, case and brazilwood bow

The T-Rex Octave Viola and other amazing low-pitched acoustic bowed instruments are available at the Don Rickert Musician Shop.

The T-Rex Octave Viola is the replacement for the The B-Rex II 5-String Octave Viola. Unlike the B-Rex, the default configuration for the new T-Rex is as a 4-String octave viola. This means that it is tuned exactly like a cello. For this reason, people often call such an instrument a “chin cello.” A 5-string version of the T-Rex is also available at an additional cost. For now, the 4-string version is a standard offering (ships in less than 30 days); while the 5-string version is a special order item than ships in 60 to 90 days. If there is sufficient interest, the 5-string version will become a standard offering with a fast shipping time.

The T-Rex is based on a 16” Tertis wide body pattern viola (note: viola sizes are designated by their body length, expressed in inches). There are many guides on the Internet for measuring your reach to determine whether or not you can handle a 16" viola.

Rickert Lion of Ireland Special Edition Fiddle

List Price: $2999

Normal Sell Price: $2695

Your Price after $500 Discount: $2195, including free shipping, case and brazilwood bow

From time to time we make special edition instruments. These are not regular production instruments, but rather one-offs. Typically, we make these “specials” when we want to show off our best and/or most unique work at shows.

We call this special edition instrument the “Lion of Ireland Fiddle.” The reference is to Brian Buru, the famous High King of Ireland in the late 10^th and early 11^thCenturies. That name sounds a lot cooler than “Violin with a Lion Head Finial.” We could have set it up for violin playing, but we decided to set it up as a profession performance or competition fiddle.

The fanciful name notwithstanding, the setup is optimized for Scottish Highland, Irish or Old-Time genres; however, some Old-Time players may want a flatter bridge arc and even lower action.

This instrument has the classic Stradivari shape and it is graduated as a Strad. Other things that you may want to know about the instrument are listed below.

Rickert Philosopher King Special Edition Fiddle

List Price: $3099

Normal Sell Price: $2795

Your Price after $600 Discount: $2195, including free shipping, case and brazilwood bow

From time to time we make special edition instruments. These are not regular production instruments, but rather one-offs. Typically, we make these “specials” when we want to show off our best and/or most unique work at shows.

We call this special edition instrument the “Philosopher King Fiddle.” That name sounds a lot cooler than “Violin with a Bearded Man Head Finial.” We could have set it up for violin playing, but we decided to set it up as a profession performance or competition fiddle.

This instrument has the classic Stradivari shape and it is graduated as a Strad. Other things that you may want to know about the instrument are listed below.

Related articles

V-8vb Violin Scale Large Body Octave Violin by D. Rickert