Kloss Violins

Mittenwald-trained, Master Violin Maker, Horst Kloss, has worked with fine stringed instruments and bows for over three decades. The Kloss Shop specializes in the repair, restoration, appraisal and sale of historic instruments and bows. Mr. Kloss further offers acoustic adjustment tailored to the individual musician's requirements, the application of museum conservation standards to preserve instrument integrity and maintain value as well as baroque conversion. Mr. Kloss is experienced in providing musicians with custom instrument set up designed to prevent overuse syndrome while maintaining maximal adjustment of tonal color, clarity and projection. Since 1972, Horst Kloss has cared for collections of note along the East Coast of the United States, including the Boston Museum of Fine Art's collection of historic stringed instruments. He is one of under a hundred makers, nation-wide, whose extensive training and high caliber skills qualified him for full membership status in the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers. Raised among musicians and makers, Horst Kloss was imbued with a love of music and a profound sense of stewardship in caretaking for stringed instruments. At the age of 14, he began an apprenticeship in his hometown of Mittenwald, a center for violin-making since the 1600's. He received his formal training at the Bavarian State School of Violin Making in Southern Germany where he earned his Journeyman's diploma in 1964 and his Master's degree in 1972 under the tutelage of Josef Kantuscher. He moved to the United States in 1964 following the exodus of finer instruments from Europe and gained exposure to many of them while working for Carl Becker at Lewis & Sons. Mr. Kloss instructs the courses offered in instrument repair and restoration at the University of New Hampshire's Violin Craftsmanship Institute. He established shops in Houston and Boston before settling in Needham, Massachusetts.