Jeff Lee Manthos: Welcome to my Website
Here you will find information about my work, my interests, and my passions in life. There are individual pages relating to my violin making career, my current involvement with writing, living with cancer, and a bit of family history.
Since my father was a career Air Force fighter pilot, my family moved continually for much of my youth. We were stationed in Ankara, Turkey, for two years, finally settling in Laramie, Wyoming, after Dad's retirement. We moved yet again in 1965 to Fort Collins, Colorado, where I attended secondary schools and briefly, Colorado State University. I enlisted in the Navy in 1972, and that period is the subject of my first book, Steel Beach. There is more information about that book at the authorship page.
After my enlistment I attended the University of Northern Colorado, where I obtained a BA in Philosophy. Having learned how to play the viola and violin while a student there, I developed a fascination with those instruments. I wanted to know how they worked, how they were put together, what made a violin or viola sound good. And I already knew I liked to work with my hands. I applied to a violin making school.
Shortly after graduating UNC I attended the Violin Making School of America for four years. That led to a career as a violin maker, spanning the past four decades. I am still busy at my workbench producing select instruments on a limited basis.
I have always loved the written word, and decided to pursue writing alongside my violin making. I dedicated several years to writing full time, which led to the publication of Steel Beach in 2007.
One of the primary factors in the decision to take the time to write was the diagnosis and continuing presence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in my body. I have successfully beaten four manifestations of that blood cancer since my initial diagnosis in 2002. (There are some cancer resources listed on my Living with Cancer page.)
Cancer is also the subject of my second book, Planet Chemo: Confessions of a Self-contained Man. A description and excerpt of this manuscript is under the books in progress page in the authorship section. The authorship area also has information on current and future projects as well as some general writing background.
I approach writing with the same energy and passion I feel towards violin making. I hope to keep beating cancer with that same energy and passion. I also hope to mine the many ideas I have for stories, as well as delve into my instrument wood supply and continue to make violins and violas, as I find peace at my workbench.
Other pursuits include cycling, gardening, weight lifting, reading, and endless yet satisfying home projects.
Oct 05th, 2024
Current News
- February 2024
- Jeff recently sold one of his favorite violas to a deserving young player in the Corvallis area. He has completed this year's viola entry for the annual Thomas Metzler contemporary American violin and bow maker exhibition and sale in Glendale, California in March.
- He will also be placing one of his Sanctus Seraphin model violins in The Denver Violin Shop, near where he studied viola performance in the late 1970s, at the University of Northern Colorado. He currently has a 16.5" viola of his own design available. This instrument is bold in model and sound, with a delightful range of tonal colors.
- He is also pursuing his studies of the Arabic oud, an ancient, 11 stringed instrument which predates the lute and guitar. Fretless like the violin family of instruments, it is plucked like a guitar. It has a unique sound more familiar to the Middle East and has cultural expressions from Iran to Greece, Armenia, Turkey, north Africa and beyond. Jeff seeks to find his own voice with this challenging instrument.
- He will also be placing one of his Sanctus Seraphin model violins in The Denver Violin Shop, near where he studied viola performance in the late 1970s, at the University of Northern Colorado. He currently has a 16.5" viola of his own design available. This instrument is bold in model and sound, with a delightful range of tonal colors.
- January 2023
- Jeff has recently sold a viola he made in 1992 that had returned to his shop. He finished a 16.5” viola of his own design and will complete a violin based on his 1747 Sanctus Seraphin pattern soon. Both the 16.5” viola and violin will be entered in the 6th annual instrument exhibition and sale at the Tom Metzler violin shop in Los Angeles, California, in late March. The exact date and link the exhibit will follow soon.
- August 2021
- Jeff is currently working on a 16 1/4" viola based on an Andrea Guarneri (1623-1698) pattern. Jeff is using northwest woods aged over 25 years in this instrument.
- April 2021
- Jeff has recently completed his cancer treatments and is back in remission once again. Over the winter he completed a 17″ Maggini model viola and is currently finishing a 15 1/2″ Studio Model viola of his own design. Jeff is working with a woodcutter in Slovakia to obtain large, one-piece viola backs with dramatic figure and character for future works. He will also be visiting a regional woodcutter this summer to hand select interesting woods.
- July 2020
- Jeff's book Steel Beach is now available as a Kindle e-book at Amazon's Kindle Store.
Steel Beach e-book - June 2020
- Jeff was recently diagnosed with a lymphoma relapse and is undergoing chemothereapy treatments to get it under control. Details will be forthcoming on his Living with Cancer page. He has completed the Betts model violin and will finish the Seraphin model violin soon. He will be taking temporary leave of his workbench until he's past chemotherapy and able to concentrate and do the quality of work he expects of himself.
- March 2020
- Jeff recently completed a 16 1/8" viola, which is entered in the Metzler Violin Shop's Fourth Annual Contemporary American Makers Exhibition, in Glendale, California. Photos of this viola can be seen in the instrument picture gallery. Jeff is also finishing up a Studio Model violin patterned after the Betts Stradivari of 1704, and will have a violin on his popular Sanctus Seraphin model ready this summer.
- September 2018
- The Oregon Folklife Network invited Jeff to join a discussion panel on musical traditions being practiced in the area. It will be held at Troubadour Music in Corvallis on Friday September 7th at 7:30 pm.
- August 2018
- Jeff was recently commissioned to write a short piece for the nationally distributed Vietnam Veterans of America magazine. It will appear on the Parting Shot page in the upcoming issue.
- April 2018
- Northwest Musical Instrument Exhibit: Saturday and Sunday, April 28th & 29th, 2018 Marylhurst University, Lake Oswego, Oregon.
- Feburary 2018
- Jeff will be entering his latest viola in the Thomas Metzler Violin Shop's contemporary instrument exhibition and sale taking place in Los Angeles, March 23-26. Violas will be played by a member of the L.A. Philharmonic at 4 p.m. on March 25th
- July 2017
- The 17" Maggini modeled viola is sold and Jeff recently finished a 15" viola of his own design and it is now available. He also has his Sanctus Seraphin patterned violin from 2006 back in his shop. This violin was exhibited in the Library of Congress that year as part of the American Federation's participation in "The American violin, from Jefferson to jazz" event.
- September 2016
- Jeff recently sold a violin based on a 1704 Stradivari as well as a 15 7/8" viola of his own design. He has started two new violas, one on the popular 15 7/8" pattern and one on his 16 1/8" pattern. He expects them to be completed by spring.
- April 2016
- Northwest Musical Instrument Exhibit: Saturday and Sunday, April 30th & May 1st, 2016 Marylhurst University,
near Portland, Oregon. Map - March 2016
- Jeff just completed a 17" viola based on a Maggini pattern from the late 1500's.
Inquire for price and availability. - April 2015
- Instrument Show Northwest Musical Instrument Exhibit: Saturday and Sunday, April 25th & 26th, 2015 Marylhurst University, near Portland, Oregon.
- January 2015
- Jeff was interviewed by the University of Oregon's school of jounalism for their series Northwest Stories: Violin Maker Jeff Manthos Violin Video link
- Jeff is completing a 16 1/2" Da Salo model viola which will be available soon. His next instrument is a 15 3/4" viola on his own pattern, which will be ready by late spring.
Contact information
Street: 2635 SW Fairmont DriveCity/State: Corvallis, OR 97333
Phone: 541-754-7645
E-mail: jeff@jeffleemanthos.com