Blog - Page 3 of 9 - Fiddler Dan Violins & Workshop, Brisbane

Violin tuners

Almost gone are the days of using a tuning fork to tune your instrument. Actually I still have one in my case but usually I’m tuning to a piano. Enter the rise of violin tuners….

For the beginner a tuning fork takes some getting used to , its only one note (and its 440Hz but thats another story). There is an abundance of tuners out there today and they are great for young players to tune the violin too. These clip on tuners tune by vibration so you clip them to your violin peg and adjust the screen so you can see them. The violin tuners are more of a general instrument tuner, so if you see it advertised as a guitar tuner …relax it still works on a violin…and pretty cheap on ebay too!.

My favourite of these clip on style is the D’Addario one, its harder to find an a bit more pricey, but worth it because you can leave it on your instrument so really convenient. Clip on violin tuners are also great for a noisey environment, because as it tunes by vibration it doesn’t matter what everyone else is doing, thus especially useful in a contemporary band situation.

violin tuner apps from your favourite smart phone store — Violin tuners, as apps from your favourite smart phone store

At my workshop people ask if I sell tuners, I tell them they have one already in their pocket, which is good for a laugh. Yes take out your favourite smart phone, go to the App/ play store and search for instrument tuner and your goog to go… Your welcome, no need to buy one……unless the convenience of a clip on is desired.

Double Bass Repairs

The big daddy of the string family the double bass often makes an appearance in my workshop, and when they do they usually get A list high priority treatment from me. Why you might ask?…well double bass repairs take up a lot of room in the workshop so I can’t let them sit for too long. The repair principles for the double bass are similar to that of the violin and cello repair (in particular the necks), but because of their size they have added structural components on the inside which tends to make them a bit more agricultural to look at (and work on). Thus where possible because of their size I try to leave the tops on as many repairs can be done from the outside and taking a top of takes time…and time is money (well your money anyway )

They also bring other challenges, there are a lot more pieces of wood (and obviously bigger pieces of wood) in a double bass , with the bracing required for the instrument. This brings with it some challenges around differential expansion of these timbers. On comparatively small pieces of timber a few percent shrinkage is a small number but on a double bass this is a much bigger number. Ebony, maple and spruce all shrink differently with moisture and age and this is a bigger deal on a double bass. The top plate for example is a comparatively huge piece of spruce and with the normal contraction in the lateral direction to the grain as it ages it amounts to a lot more movement than you might see on a violin. If you’re lucky this just means some open seams (the glue on the top plate is a weaker glue to allow is to break rather than the top plate) but more often that not it will crack. On old basses you can count them on one hand if you’re lucky.

Internally with the cross bracing, running, well cross wise to the grain, if the back shrinks a bit laterally the cross grain piece won’t, so there is a tension between the two pieces that means a crack or a join between the pieces will open up. Happy days this is all repairable and to a certain extent normal, it is something that comes with the territory of owing a double bass.

The other significant challenge with basses is their sheer size necessitates large tools, in particular clamps to work on. Many of these tools are the province of a luthier to build their own, according to what works for them and they are not generally available at Bunnings any way 😉 Mine are no exception, the collection grows and are constantly being modified and tweaked for the job at hand – String instruments are ready designed for ease of clamping thats for sure!

Broken Violin neck or neck reset

It’s common to have people contact me with a broken violin neck, on closer inspection its not always broken though. The neck joint with the violin body is probably the weakest link in the violin in terms of stress and strain. In essence its a combination of woodworking joints including a thin dovetail joint, butt joint and rabbet joint all in one held together with hide glue. If the joints weren’t well made to start with its a bit weaker again. When an instrument experiences shock, through misadventure or where the violin is in a humid climate like here in Australia the joint is prone to come apart.

The first sign of a slipped violin neck (not a broken violin neck though)

A neck break is where the timber itself breaks along the grain line (see Cello Repairs Brisbane for how a broken neck is repaired) for some detail on that as its very common on cellos and the same technique aplies to violins. Also at the peg box cracks can appear as this is a source of preasure from the pegs (and perhaps poorly fitted pegs that are pushed in to hard ) , I’ll write about this in due course.

So regluing the neck joint is called a neck reset rather than a broken neck repair. In the best of worlds the surfaces are cleaned and reglued. Often however additional repair might need to be made to the neck block and some times the top plate of the violin if there has been tear out/ splitting of the timbers. Oft times a timber wedge needs to be carved and inserted into the neck block.

So a neck reset and glue up in theory is quick and simple, however care must be taken that the angle of the fingerboard is going to be striaght down the instrument and the neck projection (height above the body is correct) . Sometimes the bridge must also be adjusted afterwards to get everything perfect.

In many cases the fingerboard also needs to be removed and reattached, reasonably straightforward…its just time.

You might think student instruments this is easier…however sometimes its not so, student instruments are often not put together with hide glue (or worse someone has attempted repair with hardware store glue) and so dissembly can be a bit tricky leading to some visible evidence of a repair.

Above is an example of a poorly fitted student violin neck, where glue has been used as a filler, resulting in a neck slip over time (this must be cleaned out and a wedge inserted)

Bunnings Violin review

Bunnings recently launched a marketplace and I wondered if they sold violins. What the!!! they now sell bunnings violins, albeit it as a third party vendor. They look lovely, are good value for the price…just don’t expect them to really perform.

So while you can’t pickup a violin from Bunnings when you next buying some potted plants and a tin of paint…but you can oprder them on line. So what is a Bunnings violin like? well in essence they are no different to those violins sold on ebay, or amazon so have a look at my reviews ( Ebay Violin review , Amazon Violin reviews ). In any case here is what they are like on the inside. Essentially plywood with a veneer and a high gloss finish on the cheaper ones that i have seen – very hardware store 😉

This is not to be cionfused with a very fine European violin i recently restored, that have been painted ‘Bunnings Brown’ with a think layer of hardware varnish on it )see Violin Varnish restoration )

Heres my video from Inside a cheap $99 violin

Aliexpress Violin Review

An Aliexpress violin, why not? after all most of the worlds student violins are now made in China so why not order a violin direct through Aliexpress and save some $$$. Here are my thoughts as a violin repairer who sees these instruments in the shop from time to time.

First up Aliexpress is your direct link to manufactureres and resellers from all over China, where the vast majority of the worlds manufacturing takes place. In any industry there is the good the bad and the ugly available for you to by…and find out a month later which one you have got. Its a good markplace though with reviews and the security of Paypal and dispute resoultion is very good.

With the vast majority of student violins now coming from China they represent tremendous value ( see European sounding Violin, but without the price ), so why not cut out the middlemen of importer, distributor and retailer and buy a violin direct? Indeed I have several customers who have come to me having done such and with sometimes quite nice instruments…but they have needed attention and tweaks due to transport issues, the differing climates or customisation. At the end of the day they have borne significant risk of buying a violin unseen, and unplayed and it often ends happily…though not neccessarily so.

So here is my Aliexpress violin review and thoughts…

Amazon Violin review

Amazon is here to stay and now they even sell violins. So whats an Amazon violin like, well look you absolutely get what you pay for . Here is my review of violins on Amazon.

Amazon is here to stay and now they even sell violins. So whats an Amazon violin like, well look you absolutely get what you pay for .

See inside a $99 violin review to see what you are getting. Esentially Amazon is a marketplace like ebay – where I also looked for violins often you see the same instruments advertised in both places. My suggestion buy one from a bricks and mortar store, otherwise by the time you bring your instrument to me you wil find out just how much work it needs to be playable. The great thing about Amazon is the returns policy so if you have already bought one you can return it and then come see someone or evenme for a violin. Heres my little video where I go through a few Amazon instruments.

Ebay Violin review

Hey if your thinking of buying an ebay violin I thought you might like to hear my opinion…….don’t. I run a violin shop and repair shop in brisbane and get these instruments coming to my shop

Sadly parents think buying a violin on ebay is a bargin…and it is, what you get for the money is amazing,…its just not a violin worth playing.

Buying a second hand instrument is a different matter, there are some good ones there if you know what you are looking for. My advice , if your set on buying something on ebay, check out my expose on $99 violins . For something secondchand google the brand of the instrument, if reputable music shops sell it then it might be OK

Yes I can get ebay violins to kind of work, by the time and replacement parts are added up you are better buying a proper violin (see my beginner violins here) .

Heres my ebay violn review and walk through of buying a violin off ebay.

FIXED: My violin makes no sound

“Help my violin makes no sound” I have had a few people ring me with this dilemma, usually after buying a violin on line. Generally speaking with a wave of my magic hand I can make a violin work 😉

Whats this magic you ask, its a little piece of rosin that should be supplied with your instrument , it nees to be passed over you violin bow about 50 times up and down, this creates friction on the bow hair (sometimes its nylon though) and then it works, Therein you only need to put it on the bow maybe every second time you play.

FWIW all violin rosin it not created equal, it needs to have a slight stickiness to it to help the bow grip, some rosin with cheap violins come with a really hard rosin that doesn’t work to well. You can get the best out of it by scuffing it slightly with some sandpaper (or a nail emery board) to get rid of the initial shine.

Here is bow rosining in action, so your violin can make a sound. Of course there might be more complex reasons but this is the most likely.

Makers II violin

The Makers series of handmade violins are made by a husband and wife in China with only a limited number each year. Thus they represent something quite different to the usual factory violin instruments coming out of China, nuanced and expressive.

There is a real benefit to instruments coming out of a small workshop, firstly the timbers are more likely to be hand-selected in small quantities, so you are starting with higher quality timbers from the get go – just through the sorting process. Secondly a violin made by a single pair of hands means the individuals flair comes through uniformly and everything matches together just that little bit better. Often violins made in production have a different luthier working on each single component before being put together – this guarantees a certain quality and keeps costs down. The downside is the tuning for resonance isn’t something that flows through the whole process. Necks done a certain way affect the resonance a bit and needs to be in harmony with the plates its going to sit upon for example. So the Makers II violins have that individual attention right through the process.

As a further benefit every instrument is individual both in the way it looks and in the way it sounds.

The Makers II violin come through a single Australian distributer (Paytons) and you see them for sale in a variety of music stores specialist and general across Australia. They are sold as instrument and fingerboard, with the rest of the accoutrements needing to be added afterwards. This allows for the flair and inout of the retailer – but also means to sound its best it must be setup right. Interestingly the instrument is shipped without a label on the inside, and with a bit of digging I see its been badged by quite a few places in Australia…so you might not know it but you might be buying one under another name.

The instruments come in three grades A, B and C a variety of finishes and a Stradivarius or Guarneri shape from ~$600-1000RRP body only…so quite a bit more with case, bow and a good setup. The below instrument has been antiqued, and quite stylish, it makes a visually welcome change from the bright and shiny instruments that often come out of China. But how does it sound? I setup the below instrument up with Larsen Virtuoso strings and a 1 tree Despieu bridge. The instrument is represents a subtlety in tonal qualities, sweeter than most that come out of China that tend to optimise for project above all other qualities. I quite like the sound during the playing in period and will grow into a wonderfully expressive instrument once its new owner finds it.

Violin Bow Repairs in Brisbane

Most parts of a violin bow are replaceable and repairable including the bow hair of course, the thumb leather, wire windings, bow frog ( repair or replacement) and the tension adjuster thread and nut. The bow stick itself is probably the most valuable part of a good bow and should it suffer the tragedy of breaking…fear not all is not lost there either.

Bow rehairing

Violin bow rehairing is a complex task and something undertaking for several years. I would call myself a “journey man” bow rehairer and happy to rehair and repair bows for you, though if its a professional bow you may like to take it to a specialist. FWIW in many cases a professional clean can significantly extend the life of a bow hair, and for student bows it more economical to replace them – and probably time to get a better bow as you level of skill improves.

Violin bow construction

Violin and other string instrument bow sticks are made from extremely hard and dense hardwoods like brazil-wood and pernambuco. To withstand the stress of holding horse hair at tension they are designed with the grain running longitudinally along the length of the bow to give them strength in this direction, however in other directions they are less strong, one particular area of weakness is at the tip. Here the grains run horizontally and are subject to shear stress and being a somewhat brittle hardwood, this is their weakest point if dropped, even on their side. Of particular note here, is that although a bow maker might chose to have the grain lines run vertically through the wood, they run horizontally. The decision not to is due to systematic weaknesses in the wood from tree shake in the felling process I am told.

violin bow repair with cross grain spline inserted

With care it is possible to repair breaks at this point (and sometimes along the stick) by inserting a spline of hardwood vertically into the bow tip to strengthen gluing the 2 pieces back together, done well it is almost invisible to casual inspection. So if you have a nice bow that has suffered a break here is almost certainly well worth rescuing it.

violin bow repair in brisbane...almost invisible — A finished bow tip repair

One caveat: Purists may tell you it can change the feel of a bow as this will affect the dynamic of it (and perhaps even subtly the weight distribution)

The decision whether a violin should be repaired depends on your bow and budget. Student bows are quite inexpensive to replace, and cheaper than most repairs, but for a better bow (see Violin bows and cost ) they are almost certainly worth considering repairing.

Violin Bow repairs in Brisbane

To have a bow repaired it almost certainly won’t be available at a general music store (though they might engage the services of a repairer) and even for some specialty string stores they might do likewise. The skills of a bow maker are a related but seperate discipline to that of the violin maker. Probably Brisbanes most famous bow maker is Trevor Liversidge a well known violin maker in his own right too. Regarding repairs a good store will let you know what they can undertake or refer you on.