About Craig Danner
I made my first violin in February of 1985 at the Gault School for the Professional Making and Appreciation of the Bowed String Instruments in Washington, D.C.
I finished my second violin 35 years later in September of 2020.
In the intervening years, I received a degree as a Physician Assistant, ran a hospital in the mountains of northern India, spent 12 years as a volunteer firefighter, fire chief and EMT, 13 years as the Hood River County Medical Examiner, 8 years running a solo low-cost medical clinic, 9 years providing medical care to local jail inmates, and wrote and published three literary novels, including the 2001 Pacific Northwest Book Award-winning, “Himalayan Dhaba.”
I completed my 69th violin in August of 2025, and I have enough aged and beautiful tone wood for another 150 more.
I love everything about violin making. From start to finish, building a violin is complex, challenging, and extremely satisfying. If skillfully made and carefully chosen, a violin can become a lifetime partner to the violinist and then be passed on to generations to come.
I think about the vanity of the violin maker whose ideal is to create an instrument that sings like a Strad, will be played for centuries by the world’s most talented virtuosos, and eventually be sold at auction for millions of dollars. My own ambitions are only slightly more modest: to build each of my violins to be beautiful in both tone and appearance and to be owned and appreciated by a talented musician for decades.
About My Violins
Crispin/Hammer violins are all made entirely by me at my workbench in Hood River. I build almost exclusively on two models, the Amati “Alard” from 1649, and the Guarneri “Del Gesu” “Kreisler” from 1734. The “Alard” is a slightly more slender violin in the lower bouts compared to the “Kreisler,” and while every one of my violins has a unique sound and character, both models produce a wonderful tone with a wide range capable of filling a concert hall.
My violins are made from aged spruce and maple, and I have recently acquired a beautiful collection of very well-aged maple backs bought from auction houses in both the US and Europe. Tops are made from a large assortment of well-aged Alaskan Sitka spruce and Idaho Engleman spruce. I am also rapidly moving away from the use of ebony for the fingerboard and components, in favor of tonally superior and environmentally more friendly alternatives.
About Crispin Hammer
Crispin is the patron saint of shoemakers, and a Crispin hammer is a cobbler’s tool. I use that moniker for my violins as an homage to my father, a third generation boot maker. I grew up doing odd jobs for my father at his shop, and was inspired by his integrity as both a craftsman and a business man. William Danner insisted on making the highest quality boots from the finest materials, shared his profits with his shoemakers, and treated everyone he worked with — shoemakers, suppliers, and customers — with the utmost respect and honesty. I have always strived to be like him.
