Today we’d like to introduce you to Greg Sapp.
Greg is originally from Ambridge, PA (a suburb of Pittsburgh). The son of a cabinet maker and popular singer he became immersed in music and woodworking at an early age. He studied Music Education at Duquesne University. He was awarded a full performance scholarship and performed with the “Tamburitzans” from ’73 to ’77. Afterwards he attended the Chicago School of Violin Making (then the Kenneth Warren & Son School of Violin Making), under Headmaster Tschu Ho Lee. Greg graduated with Distinction in Craftmanship from the Violin Making School in December of 1981.
In January of 1982, Greg started work at the shop of Kenneth Warren & Son in Chicago. While there he was fortunate to work directly with Zenon Petesh, as well as Choo Taik Rheem, Phillip Perret and Joe Krosnowsky, all extremely talented craftsmen in the violin/bow trade. As a premier shop in the Midwest, Kenneth Warren & Son provided many challenging projects and provided Greg with many fine instruments of historical importance to work on. In 1986, Greg became Head Repairman and continued on in that capacity until the time that he left in April of 1994.
In 1994, Greg opened his own shop out of his home. Though he continued to make instruments, initially his primary focus was providing repair and restoration service to a variety of shops around the country, as well as walk-in clientele. By 1995 he had developed a regular repair service for almost 22 shops from a half-dozen states. It was during this time that he began developing and implementing ideas for his system of making, which is constantly evolving. Using this system, he made 40 instruments in 2000 – 2003, while also maintaining an active repair schedule.
Early in 2003 Greg opened a shop in downtown Chicago, located in the heart of the Classical Music community. This shop is open for business two days a week and is primarily focused on Repair and Tonal Adjustments for concert level musicians.
With the help of his wife, Mary Ellen (Mel), Greg opened a full service retail shop in Montgomery, IL in 2006. The size of the Montgomery shop allows Greg to continue his work in repair and restoration while overseeing the making of “Workshop” violins.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Violin making and repair work is really quite competitive, especially in Chicago! Greg suffered a back injury in 1993 that took more than three months to recover from. Violin making is quite an old world business, so at that time benefits were usually unheard of. So in many ways you find yourself needing to reinvent oneself! In 2006 my wife “Mel” (Mary Ellen) had to have open heart surgery to repair a mitral valve that had snapped. The procedure was lifesaving! Ironically 8 months later she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Then the last chemo treatment created a huge heart infection that she ultimately survived. I really am in awe of this woman!!! So we are 10 years out with nothing really major going on other than being very busy! We have so much to be grateful for!
Gregory S. Sapp Violins, Ltd. – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Our business is fairly well balanced with sales and rentals on the retail end. We have only been doing this for the last 10 years and growth in this area is a slow process. I am best known for repair and restoration and this has been my primary focus for the last 35 years. Musicians travel many miles for the repair service that I provide. Somehow from the get go, I have developed a fairly unusual knack for being able to complete some very complex repairs by fabricating special jigs and fixtures to facilitate these repairs where traditional tools wouldn’t work. This is I think, the one thing that sets me apart from all of the other incredibly gifted craftsman in this country. I have a fairly extensive machine shop in the basement of our house that has lathes and milling machines for doing precision work. On top of that, I like “old cast iron” and take much pleasure in creating all sorts of devices on these machines! I also am quite taken with technological advances in this area as well like 3d scanning. I just had a new design that I created for a specialized clamp 3d printed! I am very excited about expanding in this area. I made a cnc router, which is a cutting tool that is completely controlled by a computer. These machines can cut shapes that are virtually impossible to cut by hand. So I see this as a very exciting time in the trade!
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
The ability to keep showing up over the long haul (with enthusiasm too). Remaining teachable is something that I value. Success, like humility is somewhat like a wet bar of soap…. Just when you think that you have it, it squirts out of your hands! Progress, not perfection.
Contact Info:
- Address: 40 N. Wells St.
Suite 400
Chicago, IL 60606 - Website: www.sappviolins.com
- Phone: 630-906-0244
- Email: info@sappviolins.com
- Facebook: Gregory S, Sapp Violins, Ltd.
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