Violin-maker and repairman Jake Bowles plays his own tune

In this day of virtual instruments and plug-and-play devices, Bowles focuses solely on original musical instruments: those made of wood and metal with real drumheads, wooden reeds, strings made from steel or “catgut” and bows strung with horsehair.

Stepping into Bowles’ business, Cat and the Fiddle Violin Making and Restoration, one is struck by the shop’s anachronistic nature. There are wooden pieces of violins, violas, cellos and basses strewn about, and Bowles, a one-man shop, is always in the middle of the restoration, repair or construction of several instruments.

It’s rare when someone in junior high knows what they want to “do when they grow up” and rarer still when that involves being a luthier (one who makes stringed instruments).

But that’s when Bowles was struck.

“I started playing violin when I was 5 and a half,” Bowles recalls, “and when I was 12 years old, I expressed interest in learning how to repair instruments. My dad said, ‘Hey, let’s go learn,’ and we went to a repair clinic in Wisconsin.”

Bowles and his dad went back the following two years, taking more advanced courses each time. The pair started doing repairs for a St. Louis-area school district, and at 14, young Bowles decided he wanted to be a violin-maker.

“And that’s what I did,” he says.

Bowles applied to Mittenwald, the prestigious violin-making school in Germany.

“They only allow 40 people to test per year,” Bowles says. “Only 12 get in. Of the original 40, only three can be from a foreign country.” Those three have to speak German.

He tested twice for the school, the second time coming “within a hair’s breadth” of being accepted, Bowles says.

“I ended up going to The Chicago School of Violin Making,” he adds, “and that was actually owned and operated by a guy who was a graduate of Mittenwald.”

Bowles set up shop in Chicago before moving to 1100 E. McDaniel in Springfield nearly five years ago. Bowles says he moved to Springfield for the opportunity to own and operate his shop, something he couldn’t afford to do in Chicago or St. Louis.

His first customer in Springfield was cellist Bill Elliott. Elliott, a retired Missouri Southern State University professor who still teaches aspiring string musicians, has been a member of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra for nearly 25 years. As a professional musician and owner of a vintage Bavarian instrument, Elliott realizes the value of the services Bowles provides.

“I’d have to go to Kansas City, Tulsa or St. Louis (for instrument repair) if it wasn’t for him,” Elliott says. “He’s very honest; he’s dependable. And that’s very important when you give someone an instrument of some quality to work on.”

Elliott and Bowles both note that it’s not just the professionals with vintage pieces who need to keep their instruments in top playing condition.

“I’ve taken several of my students there,” Elliott says. “If their instrument doesn’t work properly, they’re not even going to want to study or practice.”

Bowles concurs. “If you’re just starting out and your instrument isn’t in good repair and you don’t know what you’re doing,” he says, “then you don’t know if it’s you or the instrument that is making the mistakes.”

Bryan Morris, finance manager at American Detection Specialists Inc., frequents Cat and the Fiddle with his daughter, Samantha. She’s a fifth-grader just learning to play the violin.

He was immediately impressed with Bowles’ talents as a luthier and his demeanor as a businessman.

“I was very happy and very confident in having a conversation with Jacob that he had really taken the time to do things right,” Morris says. “He explained a couple of things to me that he had done that most people would not have. But he did it because it was right. It’s comforting when someone can substantiate their position by telling you, ‘Here’s why this is the right way to do it.’”

Bowles, who is currently building two $3,000 violins, says most of his repair work comes from local schools and the Springfield Symphony, not so much from Branson, the music Mecca south of Springfield. Bowles says his “bench rate” is $60 per hour.

Bowles doesn’t keep normal business hours; the shop is open noon–6 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and noon–8 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday.

Bowles also has a number of hobbies in the works at his shop. He builds his own guns and makes chain mail armor “from scratch.”

“I’ve never met anybody boring, but some people are more interesting than others,” Morris says. “Jacob’s one of those.”

Cat and the Fiddle Violin-Making and Restoration

Owner: Jacob “Jake” Bowles

Founded: 1992 (in St. Louis)

Address: 1100 E. McDaniel St., Springfield, MO 65802

Phone: (417) 866-5741

Services/Products: String instrument repair and restoration; custom-made instruments

Revenues: About $20,000

Employees: 1