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News / Kenny’s fiddle firm flies high

Linnd

A NEW musical instrument business setting up in Lerwick hopes to create up to six new jobs manufacturing fiddles and accessories.

Pure Acoustic Ltd brings together successful Shetland electric fiddle maker Kenny Johnson, of Skyinbow Ltd, with two men based in the south of England with distinguished careers in music manufacturing and business.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise are backing the enterprise which expects to have a £2 million turnover within three years making and selling fiddles, pick ups and shoulder rests.

Fellow director Bob Thomas (on the right in the picture), who was born in Shetland but left when he was nine years old, is hoping the new business will be his passport to return to his native isles.

His career in business and financial management in the musical instrument and electronic industry has seen him become a past president of the UK Musical Industries Association.

Richard Gleave (left), founder of the major international business ARK Geophysics, has pursued a parallel career as a guitarist and semi-professional performing musician.

On Tuesday Mr Johnson flies to Germany to launch his new Linnd shoulder rest design for violins and violas in Frankfurt. The word is pronounced ‘lin-dee’, from the Shetland dialect for ‘rest ye’.

The company believe the design should capture one third of the global market with its sturdy but light design that improves the sound of the instrument while staying in position.

The range of Skyinbow instruments is to be expanded, with lower cost fabricated models to complement the current range of handmade designs.

The company will also market a range of new Skyinbow Pure Acoustic pickup systems which have already started production.

HIE have provided £48,554 towards the start up costs of £121,385 which will pay for tooling and equipment, moulds and patents.

The principal base for manufacturing, design and research and development will be in Lerwick, while larger scale manufacturing will be carried out on the UK mainland and eastern Europe. The company’s sales and business offices will be in Leighton Buzzard.

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Mr Johnson said that he was pleased to be able to establish a company on this scale, having earned a global reputation for manufacturing and design that was never matched by business success.

“Craft and tradition lie at the heart of this business, but it is our ability to exploit modern design and engineering techniques in pursuit of that craft that makes this venture unique,” he said.

Mr Thomas added: “The shoulder rest market is very large worldwide, and we reckon we can achieve 30 per cent of the market within two years.

“When you fit the Linnd on the fiddle you need very little pressure to keep it in place. We thought we were solving the problem of the shoulder rest falling off and we discovered we had solved the problem of conventional shoulder rests stopping the back of the violin vibrating freely, so our shoulder rest sounds better than a conventional one.”

He said the Skyinbow pickups were the best he had worked with since he started using pickups in 1972. “I think we have cracked something quite dramatic,” he said

“We expect to put on about six jobs in the next two or three years in Shetland, about four in pick up and fiddle assembly and two administrative.

“One of the drivers for me is that I want to come back and live in Shetland after leaving in 1959.”

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