Charle J. Horner Violins and Mandolins

Progress Photos of Recent Builds-July 2011

2011-07-29T19:20:00.000-07:00

A New Year at the Horner Shop-January 1, 2011

2011-01-07T03:22:00.000-08:00

Mr. Horner has been busy handcrafting a fresh inventory of violins from the finiest materials.

Below you will see him pictured with Danny Fucral, a long time resource for Cumberland Plateau Maple. Mr. Fucral has been able to provide Mr. Horner with a wide array of curl over several decades.

Enjoy the recent and "in progress" instruments. You are welcome to give Charles a call at the shop if one catches your attention at (865) 354-0774. Shop hours are 8am-5pm Eastern Standard Time, most any day of the week.

Photos enlarge when clicked.

The Horner "Mrs. Griffith" style A5 Mandolin

2010-05-13T04:10:00.001-07:00

This prototype is a commissioned built A5 patterned from Roger Siminoff's pattern of the Lloyd Loar era A-5. The red spruce is from a tree that the late Ted Davis and John Arnold sourced in West Virginia in the Fall (October) of 1990. I chose the wood because of excellent tone from past experiences.

The maple was sourced from sawyer Red Wilson of Putnam county. The truss rod cover and nut are ivory which are additional to the production model.

Production models will have an entry price of $2500 cash excluding case and shipping

Y-12 Banjo

2010-05-13T03:42:00.000-07:00

This Charles J. Horner project resulted in the availability of four tone rings made at Y-12 in Oak Ridge. The maple came from Junior Morris in Crossville and cut by Ron Bales on a 36" bandsaw

Other maple includes maple from Danny Fucral for the 2 ply rim. This is the same wood used in the violin of Time Jumper's fiddler, Kenny Sears.

The shell material was sourced from Gene Bond and is 3 ply hard maple perpared at the Rose Saw Mill in Crossville. The handmade wood inlay is walnut and holly.

While no more of these tone rings exist, Mr. Horner charges $4500 to build a similar instrument using other sourced tone rings.

Charles Horner's Interpretation of the Loar Era A5 (in progress)

2010-03-31T04:13:00.000-07:00

Charles Horner Violin/October 2006 For Sale

2010-03-31T02:37:00.001-07:00

This violin features West Virginia red spruce and Putnam County curly maple sourced from sawyer David Fucral. This instrument was constructed in 2006 at the Dollywood Falls Crafts Festival.

This instrument is priced at $2300 or $2400 with case. Please contact the shop for payment options.

February 2010 Horner Violin for Sale

2010-03-31T02:23:00.000-07:00

This violin features all European tone wood sourced from a local and long time acquaintance of Mr. Horner. I think everyone will agree that the varnish color tone is striking.

This violin is priced at $2500 or $2600 with case. Please contact Mr. Horner directly for payment options.

Spring Time at the Horner Shop

2010-03-30T19:28:00.001-07:00

It is Spring time in Westal, the home of Horner violins and mandolins. The wood shed has enough maple to knock off the cold, brisk, April mornings. The daffodils are in bloom that Charles's mother had planted around the cabin where he was born. The fresh water pond provides a serene refection pool of the towering collections of white oak, pine, and walnut trees that line the edges.

Click on the photos for a close up view.

The Sprado Horner A5

2010-03-12T05:40:00.001-08:00

Below are photos of a commissioned built A5 using red spruce from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Putnam Count maple.

The "ice cream cone" inlay is representative of the cowboy/blacksmith owner's cattle brand.

Click on the photos for an enlarged view.

Red Horse Horner

2010-02-08T05:36:00.001-08:00

This is a 2008 Charles Horner violin using a 1985 red spruce log from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park sourced by the late tone-wood supplier Ted Davis. The red maple is from the Cumberland Plateau sourced by sawyer, Danny Fucral

The reason for the designation "Red Horse" comes from the stain in the top right bout on the front of the instrument. It was more noticeable in the white. This staining is a natural consequence of limb decay. The tree was over 300 years old when it fell.

The tuning pegs are Brazilan rosewood legally sourced many decades ago from the Martin guitar company. The matching chin rest and tailpiece are dark stained maple. The strings are synthetic gut and hence the use of only a gold Hill fine tuner on the Pirastro Gold E string.

The violin has mellowed over the past year. I use it for traditional fiddling and to play in a church ensemble because of how it blends.

Click the photos to enlarge.

Rebecca gets her Horner

2010-01-01T18:41:00.000-08:00

Thanks for hosting your page for Mr. Charles Horner.

Wanted to pass on a photo that you may use if you would like. (attached)

After meeting Mr. Horner this past July, our daughter Rebecca had her heart set on a very special instrument. At 11 years old Rebecca is quite an accomplished player. She has been taking violin for the past 5 years and has been looking forward to the day she could get her first full size violin. When we visited Mr. Horner, Rebecca realized that it would be several more years before enough money could be saved to see this dream come true. This Christmas, her Grandparents all stepped up to the plate to help make this possible. We spent a wonderful afternoon in Mr. Horner's shop on the day after Christmas, with Rebecca playing several instruments and trying to pick out the qualities she wanted most in her sound. After some time, she selected an beautiful work of art that had been finished in July of 1998. The same year Rebecca was born. The spruce came from West Virginia and the tiger maple on the back came from Ozone Tennessee where Rebecca's dad had enjoyed spending time at church camp most of his childhood. When asked why this instrument had not sold since 1998, Mr. Horner simply said, "You can't sell it if you don't show it to people; I kind of liked this one so kept it back to play." After playing it for a bit more, we noticed that the finish on the neck was worn from some beautiful playing. When asked if this one had been played some, Mr. Horner replied, "I told you it was my favorite." We could see why. Mr Horner said you can't keep them all and it was time for this one to find a new home. We were very excited to have that home be ours.

Rebecca is excited to have her instrument, she is also happy to know it was his favorite at least for a while.

Best wishes,

Jonathan and Allyson Hettrick

Charles Horner Violin to be in East Tennessee Historical Museum

2009-08-22T12:33:00.000-07:00

Mr. Horner generously built and donated a very special violin to be displayed in the East Tennessee Museum.

This wonderful instrument features the rarest of the rare, red spruce from the Great Smoky Mountains and flamed maple from the beautiful Cumberland Plateau. The exceedingly tight grained spruce was sourced by luthier and tone-wood expert, John Arnold (pictured beside Mr Horner) from Newport after Hurricane Opal brought the 400 plus year old ancient giant down near New Found Gap.

Pictured to the right is the late Ted Davis. Mr. Davis is responsible for encouraging John to source red spruce from the Southern Applachians. He is pictured here in 1995 during the cutting and quartering process of the ancient spruce used in this exceptional violin.

Michele MacDonald, the museium curator, received the violin from Mr Horner on stage before Horner's Fiddle Shop band performed.

Horner Violin in Action-John Boulware

2009-05-06T15:55:00.001-07:00

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2008/aug/06/video-champion-fiddler/#social

2009 Tennessee Folk Life Heritage Award Recipient, Charles Jean Horner

2009-05-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

http://www.crossville-chronicle.com/homepage/local_story_111201941.html

Charles Jean Horner

2009-05-06T15:07:00.000-07:00

Early Horner Violins

2009-05-05T06:22:00.001-07:00

Two early Horner violins used by the builder professionally

Grand Ole Opry Member Kenny Sears Plays Horner Violins

2009-05-05T03:11:00.001-07:00

This is a violin that was made in Dollywood .

It's nice when professionals like Grand Ole Opry star, Kenny Sears, plays your violins on stage and as a session player.