Lewisburg’s own luthier helps keep the music playing with his handmade masterpieces.
written by SHELBY FOX
JOHN PRESTON MADE HIS FIRST INSTRUMENT WHEN HE WAS JUST 18. That launched a long and successful career as one of West Virginia’s notable luthiers—a maker who specializes in the creation of stringed instruments. Today, Preston maintains a quaint 12-by-20-foot shop on his property in Lewisburg, where he displays his craftsmanship through the art of violin making.
“I walked through the music room at a college, and there were a bunch of double basses, and I just thought they were beautiful. That’s when I got an interest,” he says. The rest is history—and a lot of hard work.
Although Preston has made a handful of guitars, several mandolins, and other instruments, his passion is the violin. “To make a violin, you start off with a mold or a form. I use an inside form”—a maker chooses either the “inside” or the “outside” style of this tool that holds the pieces of the violin together as it is constructed—” because I like it, and it’s the classical way to do it.”
He takes a similar approach when selecting the woods for his instruments, favoring traditional materials like maple and spruce. “The spruce is used for the front or the top and maple for the backs, the ribs, and the neck,” he says. As the former owner of Old World Tonewood Company, selling wood to other guitar, mandolin, and violin makers, he understands the qualities luthiers seek when it comes to wood choice. “Everything affects the sound. That’s the bottom line.”
Spending around 150 hours on a single violin, Preston appreciates the detail that goes into the creative, handmade process—even though the fine details can be some of the most tedious and time consuming. “Not that tedious is a bad word,” he says. “I do enjoy it, but it’s the care and the time that must go into it.” He doesn’t shy away from the long hours. “I really like all of it—everything,” he says. “No part of it do I find to be distasteful. I even love to do the varnishing, which some makers don’t.”
Incorporating creative, personal flair into his instruments happens automatically for Preston and other luthiers. “You can take any maker, and it’s like the instrument has a part of their personality,” he says. “No matter how hard they try, their personality is in that instrument. That, to me, is a very good thing.”
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