Rickert and Ringholz Musical Instruments

It is looking like the Travel Master Pochette will stay in production:

One or more sales today would really help us over the hump, but we are EXTREMELY grateful for the purchases that new friends have made today. We know that everyone is either suffering or worrying about the economy. May all small businesses have the good fortune of such good customers as us!

MUST Sell 3 Instruments by end-of-day Friday!

Here's the Deal:

Either we sell three additional instruments between now and Friday 7/25 at 11:59 Eastern U.S. time, or we will have to discontinue the Travel Master Pochettes for an indeterminate period. This is not a threat, just a business reality we have to deal with. Check out the website for Don Rickert Research & Design (www.DonRickertDesign.com) and you will see that we are ramping up our product design consulting practice in anticipation of continued abysmal sales. Discontinuing the Travel Masters will allow us to appropriate much of our Atlanta studio space for Don Rickert Research & Design use. The high-end Octave Fiddles and the Adventurer Travel Fiddles WILL NOT be affected by any of this.

Help Us to Help You!

We know that our instruments are not cheap. One of the reasons is that they are made in the U.S.A. instead of "off-shore" by underpaid workers. We want to prove wrong those who laughed when we said that we are going to stick to our ethics and not exploit workers, here or anywhere else in the world.

If you see something that you want but just can't afford right now, email Don Rickert (drickert@bellsouth.net) about making a partial initial payment and then "rent to buy" with 0% interest over some reasonable period of time (3 to 6 months, for instance). We make no guarantees, as we are not in the credit business; however, we will bend over backwards to make something work for you (we benefit as well). Bottom line: People love our instruments, we are very trustworthy, we are easy to work with, and we need to sell our stuff...so please consider this "win-win" offer.

See our growing selection of baritone (octave) fiddles, pochettes, backpacker and travel violins and fiddles and our new octave violas (also known as Chin Cellos) at www.fiddleandbowstore.com.

Some Days are Extra Good!: We're on Darol Anger's Website

Darol Anger has a reference to us on his home page (www.darolanger.com) and some kind words. No gloating; just extreme gratitude! This makes for an extra good day for which to be thankful...enough said.

Pochette and Backpacker Fiddle News

• The Adventurer Travel Fiddle will be distributed through other channels than our online store (www.fiddleandbowstore.com) in the near future. They will no longer come with free case (i.e. you'll have to pay for the type of case you want).
• In several weeks, the Travel Master will be available with several options for holding a shoulder rest besides the spring-loaded "wings" that are currently used. There will be some pricing changes associated with the introduction of the new options.
• We are working on a really tiny pochette
• We are working on a custom 5-string pochette (a commission)
• We are also working on an inexpensive pochette geared towards fiddlers' convention buyers, who generally don't buy expensive instruments from vendor, but often try to sell vendors their instruments for high prices.

Note to fiddlers' convention goers--we are interested in good old instruments that are PLAYABLE (have it strung and tuned) and free of cracks...we will accept expertly repaired small cracks. Please don't take it personally if we don't buy your instrument. If you want to sell us a bow, get it re-haired, as it is pretty hard to evaluate a bow with no hair or old hair.

Price Reductions on Select Items at the Fiddle and Bow Store Ends Tonight

Our Instrument-Buying Stimulus Program: Crazy Price Reductions on Our Most Popular Stuff Ends at Midnight Tonight.

In concrete terms:

• The Adventurer Travel Violin/Fiddle will go from $450 (including a high-end case) to $680 after normal discount is applied, plus the cost of the case (the one's we have been giving away are $75)
• The Octave Violin Type I (with nice molded case) will go from $550 to the normal discounted price of $700
• The Octave Violin Type II and Cradle of Harmony models (supplied with a free $180 suspension case!) will go from $2,400 to $3,000 (with a $60 featherweight case...you'll have to buy the suspension case separately)
• All of the bows, shoulder rests, etc. will go to their regular prices.

Find out more at the Fiddle and Bow Store (www.fiddleandbowstore.com)

Hear a Rickert and Ringholz Octave Violin (Fiddle) in the Hands of an Expert

To own a great octave (baritone) violin or fiddle, you don't have to spend several grand.

Violinists Ben Powell and Duncan Wickel (on Octave Violin, in the red shirt), guitarists Jon Sosin and Adam Tressler, bassist Dan Carpel, and mandolin player Eric Robertson perform acoustic string music. If I am not mistaken, all are from the Berklee College of Music. Even if you don't like Jazz/Bluegrass fusion, give it a listen. In his solos, Duncan Wickle shows what a committed and gifted player can do with a baritone fiddle.

Watch this Performance, which occurred on May 22 at the Kennedy Center.

As much fun as looking is, t's more fun to get a great deal on a great instrument

Yesterday, the first day of our sale, there was lots of happiness to go around...happy customers who got great deals on baritone fiddles and pochettes and happy us. Today, mostly window shoppers. What will it take to put a new fiddle in your hands? :-) We REALLY want to help!

We've got a lot of other fiddles that are not even listed in our catalog...saving them for the upcoming festivals. If there is something are looking for, we probably either have it or can get it for you.

BIG SALE on our Most Popular Instruments and Accessories

Everybody has money issues. You've got 'em and so do we. This is a time of year when it is difficult to sell ANYTHING, especially "non-essentials" like cool musical instruments. I know that many of you have been looking for a way to afford some our most expensive instruments. Well, now is the time. Read on:

We've temporarily cut prices so low on some of our most popular instruments and some other accessories that you may not believe what you see. For example, you can now get a Type II Octave Fiddle for $2,400, which is about $1,000 off of the normal price. We're selling our new Adventurer Travel Fiddles for $450 (ALMOST HALF PRICE).

We are so keen to stimulate some action that we will even consider crazy things like half down and 60 days to pay the balance. You have to call us (404-713-3750) about this and have good credit.

Anyway, if we have something that you want and have not been able to afford, it's pretty much now or never, so get on over to www.fiddleandbowstore.com NOW!. The next three buyers of a Type II Octave or Cradle of Harmony Octave or  will get a free standard fiddle.

The Mile High Club

There is now a new version, unwittingly established by our friend Dr. Jerry Everard--the Mile High Pochette Fiddle Club. See his posting on his blog http://fourstrings.wordpress.com/ to find out more.

We wish to stress that we DO NOT condone ANY illegal or dangerous use of a pochette, or any fiddle for that matter. That being said, we at Rickert and Ringholz are keen to be wowed by photos and videos. We do not recommend playing your pochette on a plane like Jerry did--we do not want to see your photos and videos on CNN!

Please note that the rules may change, as we have not checked with Jerry on any of this. It's his idea, so stay tuned for the official rules for membership in the Mile  High Pochette Fiddle Club.

While we have your attention, just a shameless reminder that you can buy great pochettes at www.fiddleandbowstore.com.