Paul Bradley | Violin Maker Ireland

Products & Services > amplification

Paul is the sole distributor in Ireland and the U.K. for the Kurmann Soundpost® pickup as used by most professional traditional players, including Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and Ciarán Tourish of Altan. This product has also been endorsed by Stephan Grapelli.

The Kurman Soundpost®, designed in Switzerland, is a pick-up system for stringed instruments.

It consists of a sound post with a wafer-thin transducer attached tightly around the post so that no unwanted vibration or mutation of sound is caused. The acoustic quality of the sound is unaffected by the transducer's presence. Because of the attached lead, this sound-post is difficult to fit and therefore should always be done by a qualified professional violinmaker or repairer.

Once the post is fitted (replacing the existing post), a very thin lead links it to the end-pin, which has a mini-jack input installed. From here the signal is carried to a specially designed pre-amp, which has a belt clip or can be left on an adjacent surface whilst being used. From the end-pin, the right-angled mini-jack causes no obstruction to the player. There are no vulgar or unsightly attachments to the violin; the whole system is entirely discreet.

Paul Bradley uses the Kurman Soundpost® and considers it a wise investment for professional players. Paul is the sole distributer for this product in Ireland and the U.K.