Timbre opened in 2005 as a one-person bench and has grown, deliberately slowly, to four — a size we've held for over a decade because every additional pair of hands changes how consistent the voicing can be across instruments.
We build a modest number of instruments a year, each one voiced by hand using the same tap-tuning and Chladni-pattern methods described elsewhere on this site — not because the tools are novel, but because they're the most honest way we know to actually see what a plate is doing before it becomes irreversible.
Our bench
Beatriz Solheim
Trained under two European workshops before opening this bench in 2005, and still voices every top plate herself before it leaves the shop.
Marcus Idehen
Handles every neck carve and fret job — the person who decides whether a scale length change is worth the redesign it demands.
Freya Talvik
Runs the French-polish and lacquer finishing that takes longer than the rest of the build combined.
Owen Restrepo
Keeps every instrument we've ever built playable for its owner, sometimes decades after it left the bench.
Timbre is a fictional workshop built for this website demonstration; the names above are illustrative.
Where we are
14 Luthier Row, Millbrook — visits by appointment.