The initial idea for Handcrafted came in 2017 when the founding team (musician/programmer Matthew Weiner and musician/luthier Ryan Davidson) were on tour, playing music up and down the west coast of the United States. It wasn't until 2021 that Matthew had built up the skillset to bring the entire idea to life.

The platform launched in summer 2022 with a focus on makers selling their instruments directly to musicians. We developed a number of features to help ease the struggle of buying bowed instruments sight-unseen -- like home trials, financing, and tonal/playability characteristic diagrams -- but slowly discovered that the real opportunity to make a difference was on the wholesale side of the trade.

So that's our focus now: to streamline the process of makers, restorers, dealers, and shop owners doing business with each other online.

Matthew has been playing violin for over 20 years. He is classically trained, but has spent the last decade or so playing everything from prog-rock to mariachi, and from jazz to old-time fiddle. Matthew loves picking up as many styles of music as he can and experiencing their similarities and differences up close. The idea for Handcrafted came to him in 2017 when he realized that there was no easy way for him to discover regional luthiers from whom he could purchase an instrument.

Ryan earned an MA in Ethnomusicology in Ireland in 2010 and then immediately went to study at the Irish School of Luthiery. He has since apprenticed under violin-maker James Wimmer. Ryan was a touring songwriter and accompanist for 15 years but now focuses on playing traditional Irish fiddle tunes. Ryan is the owner and luthier of Davidson Strings in Chico, CA, and teaches in the music department at the local community college. Matt first mentioned his idea for Handcrafted to Ryan when they were touring together through the Pacific Northwest in 2017.