Make makes a violin expert? Are you looking for a violin expert then you might have come to the right place ……or you might not? It’s a self appointed label a violin store or workshop owner might give themselves. So what would make a violin expert, would you need to be an expert violin player, a expert luthier with expert knowledge of product? …
If your looking for a violin expert to fit out your young child with an instrument you might be looking for something quite different to a concert violinist looking for a new specialist instrument for soloing.
So after 40 years of violin playing (not all of it at a high level), working as a violin luthier for various music shops and apprenticing to a violin maker I find myself unwilling to venture in and call myself an expert ( Dunning Kruger have something to say on this ) . Yet when I look at the instruments that come to me for repair, or someone coming to buy an instrument I certainly think I have a measure of some expertise to offer. Many find my perspective as a player, educator, luthier and also as a parent of young players helpful.
Appraising a violin for value is a tricky business, with more than a few places not doing it? Violin appraisal is looking at the quality of the build of a violin, its sound and then also its historical value. Un-picking these three components of a violin during appraisal I find helpful in determining the value of a violin. But it’s not without its challenges. (See How much is my violin worth).
For modern instruments from a reputation brand or maker, appraisal is more straight forward and google can really help here. Of course you also need to consider the providence, or how the current own (and owner before them) came by the instrument to ensure it is authentically what it purports to be.
Older violins are much harder to appraise, labels to the uninitiated can be misleading at best, age can be faked, many in the trade are unwilling to appraise such instruments. For example most if not every instrument label as a Stradivari is labelled so at best as a homage to the famed maker, or indicates a copy of one of his models and the same is true for the instruments copied of other famous makers like Guarneri, Maggini and Amati’s in the wild.
Less kindly there is an entire business around “antiquing” of both instruments and the labels inside them , with dust, staining and even “tone balls” added to give a sense of age. In the trade valuing of these instruments is acknowledged as difficult to do, even with a encyclopaedic knowledge and years of experience, where there is intent to deceive by a maker it can be tricky to detect. There is the business of fake repairs, fake neck grafts etc… to give an impression of age.
Through the quality of the timbers, construction on the insides and sound one can learn much about an instrument during appraisal. How old is it, where was it made and ultimately how much is it worth are the common questions i am asked during appraisal.
Usually I can give a pretty good idea, though where I have some uncertainty I often refer on to someone else, in particular with higher quality older instruments. Usually my estimates come in the same ball park as my collegues..but not always.
Violin bridges are essential for a violins function and over time need replacement. Just a few mm wide, a violin bridge holds up strings in tension with significant downward force on the body of the violin itself. In addition to the mechanical properties the bridge is responsible for the transmission of the strings vibration to the body and the violin bridge replacement needs to be carefully crafted and sculpted.
Bridges fail for all kinds of reasons including misadventure, but also succumb to the ravages of age and twist and warp under the constant tension. An improperly fitted bridge may have a shorter lifetime as well as it may not sit at the correct angle to connect and buttress the strings to the body in the correct alignment, or the feet matching to the body of the instrument may not be optimal.
When I fit a bridge I take into account the instrument it’s going on, the strings and the needs of the player. For beginners and student violins I cut the bridge a bit thicker than otherwise, this prioritises strength as the alignment is not likely to be checked and adjusted as often as it should be. On better instruments, the matching of the bridge to the instruments tonal qualities can help with the bass vs. treble response, bridge thinness and mass removal from the kidneys and bottom arching can really help. Selection of the grade of the bridge is also important especially if you are chasing projection and brilliance.
A new violin bridge blank looks something like its final fitted form and the replacement process involves matching the feet to the body of the violin to ensure full tonal transmission. The angle of the bridge must be set so that the pulling of the strings from the top and the tailpiece are optimally into the instrument. String height is then matched to the type of strings used to make sure the heights are both playable and also that the strings have enough room to swing without clipping on the fingerboard and leading to buzzing.
I see Ernst Keller Violins come my way in the shop occasionally. These violins are less common of the student violins in the market and I suspect this is because they don’t make the teacher recommended list. One the surface Ernst Keller violins are pretty much like the other beginner student violins on the market, though they feel a little heavy. What I think sets them apart from the teacher recommended brands is the setup. On the Ernst Keller violins I have seen the nut heights are usually too high and bridge shape and sound post not always positioned optimally, which can affect the sound and the playability. I suspect, as this is a violin that most often makes its way into generalist music stores, that the setup might be done with sufficient expertise…but thats just a guess The Guarneri style chin rest doesn’t always suit young chin shapes either. So the Ernst Keller violin review verdict , good bones and a solidly built instrument and with a bit of care they can sound OK.
So in my spare moments I have been restoring this lovely old French cello. It’s had by the look of it a very full life with extensive work done on the neck and some sound post patches. It has a highly resonant top plate that unfortunately has split in several places and many of the edges and a corner are quite badly damaged.
The top plate itself has shrunk such that gluing it back together would like cause tension in other areas of the top plate and in places has been filled with a black glue that was quite hard to remove.
Leaving the top on the cello on initially, as it was to fragile to remove it, I set about rebuilding the splits with thin slivers of spruce inserted and stabilising the other five cracks. Then the top plate was stable enough to be removed and then worked on in my cello cradle. Here more than twenty cleats were installed across the various cleats. Cleats go cross grain in an offset pattern to spread the stress unevenly to other grain lines. These days I’m using parallelogram shaped cleats and finishing them in a slight pyramid feathering to the edge to remove mass – they are not as manificent as my teachers though. I then burnish them slightly with some pigments to blend it in with the old wood.
Next up are the edge repairs and corners repairs to the cello, unfortunately many of these go beyond the purfling line and the wood next to them is quite weathered as well, so I have gone for an edge doubling technique to provide better mechanical strength. The lower layer is hidden and thus can be slightly- or a lot cross grain for strength. Normally cross grain is somewhat avoided because of shrinkage cross grain with age will be different for the old and new timbers, but in this case was needed to hold the edge together. The top layer is matched for the grain of the top plate though. One the timber is rebuilt and shaped, new purfling can be installed once some channels are carved. Colouring new wood to old wood is a challenge, whilst I have the traditional pigments, building up the layers and how the light plays through it is a whole art in itself, the main thing is the repair doesn’t draw attention to itself.
Once all back together a new bridge was needed – it seems the top sits higher now that the structure has been restored…and the sound…sublime!!!
I have a good friend, Simon who makes his living behind the lens, back in the day he used to work on all the big name films (ask him about his ‘on the set of star wars story’…broke something he did), till he needed to stay put and raise a family. These days he does a lot of portraiture, but with a cinematographers eye for composition. I love this style because sometimes he doesn’t chase simplicity by avoiding complexity…he embraces it.
Simon took this photo of me in my workshop recently…I love it because it captures the essence of what I do, every day. I used to apologise to my customers for my messy workshop, especially if I was in the middle of a glue up…but you know what? they really seem to like it. I guess in the glitzy, fast paced work of influencers and chasing perfection there is something really honest about “here I am, just doing what I do, pull up a chair and try some instruments, if you like one take it home”
He also did this great little film as well. My mate John kindly played some guitar to accompany my fiddle playing of “Raglan Road” for the background. Forgot to wear my hat though , so its a bit shiny 😉
Restringing a violin is relatively straight forward and easy task to undertake. Usually about once a year is about right for the average violin players restringing frequency. Its a good idea to keep a spare set of strings on hand in-case one breaks so you can do it straight away, and then once the first one is changed check out the others, to see if they might need changing as well. You see, before a violin string breaks, usually its has started to degrade.
Tell tale signs of needing a strings change are :
1. Discolouration such as oxidation as a white powered on aluminium strings and rust on steel strings (particularly the E string)
2. The winding on the outer string is starting to unravel. This may occur at points of higher preassure such as the bend at the nut and over the bridge. Also common is the A string when the first few fingers go down
3. The ‘sparkle’ has gone out of the sound. That is over time strings stretch and thus lose their elasticity. once this is gone their ability to support the over tone harmonics is also diminished. ‘Sparkle’ is the technical term 😉
4. Just before a string breaks it loses its ability to stay in tune, make sure this is not due to to peg slippage though. Its the internal fibres of the string starting to let go.
If your changing the strings yourself (and you should learn to do this) also :
1. Make sure to ‘lube’ the nut and bridge with a lead pencil so the string can move easily.
2. Clean up the fingerboard underneath, if its grooved then get that seen too as this will effect the strings ability to vibrate properly.
3. Make sure the pegs still grip, and don’t creak or jump – this is a sure sign that a peg break is likely in the future – and need some lube or peg paste.
4. Make sure the pegs turn smoothly, if not the peg holes may be slightly out of round and need some reaming. Ebony is harder than maple and wears it away over time.
5. When winding the string on, wind the string on away from the peg wall for a turn then cross it over itself to lock it onto the peg and wind the string up to the peg wall its closest to on the nut, this helps stop the tapered peg from escaping the peg box a little. (If this doesn’t make sense ask someone that knows a bit more that you)
See changing the strings at 2:40s
A violin restringing is a bit like a minor service, so in addition to all of the above give the violin a good look over and a clean (nothing but a gentle cloth and the tip of your tongue to moisten it though). If it has any issues that need attending to take it to someone for an opinion.
Also make sure to pickup your next set of strings at this time to (though the old ones can be emergency spares for a while). You might also like to try another brand/make of string as well…they all sound different so depending on what sound you are looking for get some advice there as well (see Violin String Selection Guide…for Brisbane-ites and beyond )
This lovely old violin came my way recently in quite good condition and looks to be well made. However the neck is what let it down and it turned into quite a rabbit hole.
The button had at one stage been broken on the violin and been repaired with an internal button graft , complete with wooden pins. Higher up on the neck root signs of fracture, were plan to see. A neck graft was required…
On disassembly the reason for the fracture was plain, the screw holding the neck to the body had rusted into the timbers. This method of neck attachment, as a butt joint was common on older violins, especially baroque era instruments. Today it serves less well as there is a lot of strain placed on the button and end grain gluing of the neck root to the ribs is not considered sufficiently strong for modern higher tension strings. Originally the neck and top block would often be nailed together for strength, though on this instrument was likely replaced by a screw.
The solution for this instrument was to graft on a new neck root, ensuring plenty of parallel grained timber for strength as end grain gluing is not that strong. Also a modern neck joint was carved into the neck block to increase gluable area at the bottom of the neck root and mechanical strength of the joint as well.
Once this was undertake, neck angles set and the button graft attended to, it was time to finish the neck with sufficient traditional pigments and a bit of “splodge” to blend in better.
I’m looking forward to playing this instrument…but first the peg box needs some attention as well…so I need to be patient
Cello repairs on the numbers outweigh violin repairs, proportionally speaking. This is especially for student instruments. They are small enough they can be carried about by students, but large enough that it’s a bit clumsy to handle. One of the most common causes of injuries is the humble chair, against which a cello leans and inevitably topples when left unattended.
The most common injury from the toppling is the neck break (which I discuss on my Cello repairs page ). The challenge for student cellos is the fingerboard, which is often attached with “white glue” and thus more time consuming to remove and more likely to leave some scaring.
Cello fingerboard removal
Its desirable to remove the fingerboard to pin the neck across the break to give it further strength. However it is often necessary to undertake if there is a screw placed there at the time of manufacture (common among some student brands).
Cello neck break showing recessed hole where a screw was placed when it was made
Where this screw doesn’t exist, pinning through the fingerboard helps substantially reduce the time to repair…and thus the cost. While a ‘no-no’ for traditional instruments, its widely considered acceptable for student grade instruments though.
Whats best for the cello repair is highly variable dependance on factor like
How does a violin make a sound? How does a violin work? Here are some insights into the physics of a violin for an understanding of how it works. In essence a violin is a series of signal chains that create, transduct and filter the vibrations of the strings as they make their way to the tone woods of the instrument. The creation of the sound is both the mechanical properties of what makes up the violin together with the players input. Having an understanding of how the violin works can be a useful input into component selection of the instrument and of course technique improvement- which takes years and years.
This is an overview of how the entire system is integrated – each one is a topic in its own right and rabbit hole to explore in the future.
