S&Z’s violins, violas and cellos are instruments conceived and made with the object of qualitative excellence from an acoustic and artistic viewpoint. A great variety of models is offered with the purpose of satisfying different aesthetic and sound exigencies. We have at our disposal shapes derived from the classical schools of Cremona, Venezia, Brescia, Milano, Napoli, as well as those of some important authors of the 20th century.  In addition to this, the customer may propose and discuss with us the design of models inspired to other authors, or instruments requesting particular size exigencies, as often happens with violas and cellos.  S&Z instruments are scrupulously made according to traditional methods handed down to us by Italian classical violin-making, using an internal shape and preferring cutting tools showing up the author’s “hand” and all the beauty of the materials employed. Our varnishes are exclusively formulated and prepared for our instruments and are made of ingredients of natural origin, substances which have been used for numerous centuries.  These are ingredients which have shown to possess optical properties superior to modern products, properties that are exalted by ageing, instead of suffering damage. The same approach is applicable to assembly which must necessarily be done with natural and reversible glues, so that any eventual repair may in the future be carried out without damaging the instrument. A further factor to which we feel it is necessary to devote our maximum attention is the set up.  Whole days are dedicated to this stage of work. Although it is true that an instrument reveals its sound from the very beginning, it is also correct to say that only an extreme attention to each of the set up components, such as the position and the support of the soundpost, the dimension and the model of the bridge and innumerable other lesser factors, may contribute to let its potentiality emerge.