Luis and Clark is a line of carbon fiber

Carbon fiber

Carbon fiber, alternatively graphite fiber, carbon graphite or CF, is a material consisting of fibers about 5–10 μm in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms. The carbon atoms are bonded together in crystals that are more or less aligned parallel to the long axis of the fiber...

 stringed instruments

String instrument

A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...

 designed by cellist Luis Leguía of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Boston Symphony Orchestra

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...

. The line currently consists of a violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

, viola

Viola

The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...

, cello

Cello

The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

 and double bass

Double bass

The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...

, all of which are fabricated by Matt Dunham, a Rhode Island

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

 boat maker. Plans for a classical guitar

Classical guitar

The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...

 are also currently under development.

Leguía, a boating enthusiast, got the idea for a carbon fiber cello in 1989 from hearing the waves resonate against his catamaran

Catamaran

A catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...

. He proceeded to spend five years in his basement developing and refining the process. By 1991 he had built three cellos, each progressively better than the last. However, he wanted his cellos to be even better, so he turned to carbon fiber expert Steve Clark, the head of Rhode Island's Vanguard Sailboats

Vanguard Sailboats

Vanguard Sailboats was founded in 1967 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA by Peter and Olaf Harken. The brothers started to gain attention after their sailing hardware was used on boats that won Olympic gold in 1968 and after Vanguard supplied the Finn class for several countries in the 1976 Olympics...

. Clark eventually would lead Leguía to Dunham, with whom he would establish the manufacturing agreement which exists today.

The strength of the carbon fiber allows for a removal of the cornices of the instrument, thereby improving the sound. In addition, the instruments are immune to changes in weather, and highly resistant to damage. They are designed to be held closer to the body in order to reduce fatigue, a result of less material used in the instruments' creation.