The Man at the Bench
Philip Gold has been fixing Houston’s violins since 1975.
51 years, one man, one bench. He still does every repair himself.
He grew up in Houston and graduated from Bellaire High School. He picked up the violin at ten years old and never put it down — but he knew early that he didn’t want to spend his life sitting behind a music stand.
So while he was studying music at Park College in Parkville, Missouri, he apprenticed with a violin maker in Kansas City. That’s where he learned the art of bow making. He made his first bow using nothing but a file and an X-Acto knife.
The year he graduated, he heard that Northampton, Massachusetts didn’t have a violin repair shop. So he opened one. On his first day in business he made ten dollars repairing a bow brought in by the wife of the cellist John Sessions. While he was there he befriended Marten Cornelissen, a master violin maker.
In 1975 he came home. He opened his first Houston shop that year, and moved to the current location on Mapleridge in 2004. It has been the oldest violin atelier in the city for a long time now.
A bow maker, first
Philip is a bow specialist. He still makes bows by hand from pernambuco, the dense Brazilian hardwood that fine bows have been made from for two hundred years. Ask him why the bow matters more than players think and he’ll tell you plainly: without a bow, a violin or a double bass has no voice at all. It’s the bow that makes them sing.
Most of the work walks in through a teacher
A great deal of Philip’s work has always come through string teachers who send their students to him, and he has worked with school programs for decades. He specializes in restoring and repairing children’s violins — the fractional-size instruments that get dropped, outgrown, and handed down through three siblings.
He also keeps a list of private teachers from every part of Houston, and matches families with someone near where they live. Nobody asked him to do that. He’s just been doing it for fifty years.
The instruments in the shop
Philip has his own collection of instruments for sale and takes others on consignment from makers he knows — over the years that’s included work by the Chicago luthier Walter Stopka and the Bulgarian maker Angela Moneff. Local makers still bring him instruments in progress to look over. He taps the top, measures the thickness with calipers, and tells them exactly where it’s too thin and where it’s too thick.
“Each one gets better,” he tells them.
Family
Philip and his wife have three children. The eldest, Ira Gold, is a double bassist with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington — he joined in 2005. When Philip’s phone rings in the shop, which it does often, it rings with a recording of his son playing.
Philip and his wife were born Jewish and are practicing Christians, which you’ll notice in the inscriptions on the shop walls. His favorite composer is Beethoven.
What People Say
Fifty years of customers, in their own words
“Mr. Gold is hands down the best for any of your stringed instrument needs. I have been using him since I was 3 years old. I'm now 33. I trust him implicitly with my violin. His knowledge, craftsmanship and kindness have always been a hallmark of his store.”
“Mr. Gold is very knowledgeable and a superb violin doctor that can diagnose and fix problems. He is willing to spend an hour to fix your violin even if you step in his shop 5 mins before closing time.”
“The best violin shop in town! They have been providing violins and great service since my son was 3 years old. Now he is 9 and just graduated to an even larger violin. He has probably had 5 or 6 from Gold Violin.”
“Today me and Mr. Gold spent hours connecting with each other solely on me choosing the right violin for me and in my budget, he puts the customer's interest first and won't stop until you've got the gold you've been looking for.…”
“Mr. Gold's understated manner belies a well-earned professionalism and being an excellent luthier. He is genuine, friendly, very helpful, and very knowledgeable of his trade.”
“Owner Philip Gold goes the extra mile to place excellent quality violins in the hands of young violinists. A good violin & bow DOES make a huge difference!”
“There's NO better place for string instruments (of any size) in the entire state. Mr. Gold is an authentic treasure.…”
“Mr Gold is always available to offer highly knowledgeable help in purchasing an instrument, or in assessing for repairs, etc. He does insurance estimates of value, can show you how your instrument works, explain the history, and has many other informative and entertaining stories. He is a talented luthier and asset to the community. We've done business with him for 20 years.”
“I have nothing but the utmost respect and trust for Mr. Gold. He offers a variety of violins of different origins and qualities. While you won't find the cheapest violin on the block, you will find violins that provide a lifetime of high quality music. He is a solid Luthier who taught me volumes in the short time I spent with him.”
“Restored my grandfathers old fiddle a while back, great guy great shop, makes me almost WANT to need to repair my violins 10/10”
“Mr. Gold is an exceptional violin maker. We have been renting violins from him for nearly two years now, and his service has been absolutely outstanding. I honestly doubt that I could find another violin store that compares to the quality and experience we've had here.”
“I went here to get my E string replaced, but ended up with all strings replaced, soundpost moved back to its correct position, and a fixed shoulder rest plus the lock on my case. Not even expensive and it's a great place with a nice guy, thank you!”
“Mr. Gold, the owner, is a sweet man who loves his art and is passionate about music. He personally took care of us and allowed us to take our time to try out the violins in his collection with no appointment needed.…”
“I entered the shop wanting to purchase a violin better than the one that I had at the time. I told Mr. Gold my budget. He sold me a violin that exceeded my expectations.…”
“Always a wonderful shop to do business with! Love this place. The owner Mr. Gold always takes his time with you, answering all your questions and concerns. A large selection of bows and string instruments for any budget to choose from.”
“What an incredibly charming shop and experience with a luthier who is so detailed and passionate about instruments.”
“He went over their procedures and policies... When I came back to pick it up, Mr. Gold helped me find private lesson teachers in my part of town (he has quite the list of teachers from all parts of Houston), and was a pleasure to talk with; he's like one of those people who have experienced so much in life that have the best stories to tell.”
“Mr. Gold is extremely knowledgeable and the prices can't be beat! He really cares and knows so much about violins and he worked on mine beautifully. The adjustments, string change, all the small tweaks worked for the betterment of the instrument.…”
Reviews are quoted from public Google and Yelp listings and may be shortened where marked. Nothing has been reworded.
Biographical details on this page draw on Tony Freemantle’s profile of the shop, “Gold Violin Shop a quiet oasis,” published in the Houston Chronicle on November 20, 2013.