In the Oberton Pro catalogue, the designation JS is used for brumles made by a Czech workshop based in Ivančice, South Moravia.

The workshop’s history began in the mid-1990s with the production of frames for the “Jakutische” and “Rabacher” models by the Austrian maker Josef Jofen. The maker learned to forge these instruments and took over their production in 2010, retaining the original designs. Jofen, in turn, had studied the Yakut method of khomus making with Ivan Khristoforov. This is how Austrian and Yakut traditions came together in the workshop’s instruments.

The workshop later developed its own models based on the techniques it had acquired. Every operation is carried out by hand, without sophisticated equipment, so each instrument differs slightly from the others. The workshop’s principal priorities remain clarity of sound and suitability for professional performance.

The workshop’s instruments have been represented in the Oberton Pro catalogue since at least July 2016. The measured examples cover a wide range: from ultrabass brumles with a fundamental frequency close to C1 to higher models within the great octave, up to B2. One of the most distinctive low-pitched instruments is the JS666 “Krkonose”. Its deep tone around C1 is accompanied by a light chirping quality, clearly discernible overtones and a long decay.

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