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 😉
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
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 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.
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. One caveat I do need to schedule them for quiet times in my workshop
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Cellos, are just like big violins and just the same to repair right? …well almost …for a good cello repair. I see a lot of cello repairs come through my workshop in Brisbane There is a lot more wood in cellos and a lot more tension from the strings. Generally speaking cellos need much the same sort of repairs as violins with cracks and chips (just on a bigger scale).
Cello repairs in the workshop
Cello button repairCello body crack repairCellos hanging out together
Cellos, are just like big violins and just the same to repair right? …well almost for a good cello repair. There is a lot more wood in cellos and a lot more tension from the strings. Generally speaking cellos need much the same sort of repairs as violins with cracks and chips (just on a bigger scale). One big exception however are the cello necks, which have more of a tendency to break, particularly in student cellos. Why is that? well they are bigger and so more likely to fall (and have further to fall) and because of their size seem more susceptible to misadventure.
Cello broken neck
Another big factor is the construction of the neck joint itself. The grain goes lengthwise for strength in the direction of the fingerboard, this means though, that the neck root is cross grain and comparatively thin. In particularly for student cellos , where the timbers are less likely to be a higher grade, sometimes the fitting of the neck into the top block isn’t quite tight and there is more chance of misadventure these quite often come to my shop for repair.
cello organ donor
There are many ways to repair a neck depending on the value of the instrument.
For student cello neck repairs (ie that are parent wallet friendly ) and consulate with the value of the cello. I tend to reseat and glue the neck and then go straight through the fingerboard and into the neck with some reenforcing such as hardwood dowel, optionally an almost invisible ebony plug can be put on the top (though this adds to the cost ). This avoids having to remove and refit the fingerboard (which takes time and ads to cost). Another option is to replace the neck or regrafting a neck, but this is quite cost prohibitive for a student instrument. Depending on the cello model sometimes a lamination, screw or dowel was placed into the neck when it was made to help strengthen it. Actually while it makes the neck stronger, it can makes the repair a bit trickier or limit options available. Another factor in the mix is that student cello necks are quite often poorly fitted (which is why they broke in the first place).
After a cello neck has been repaired often the neck projection sets a bit higher (60% of cases), because the dowel is supporting the neck better and so it doesn’t warp under tension anymore, in such a case sometimes the bridge needs to be replaced to recover the string action (height) above the fingerboard.
Cello neck screwed during manufacture (fingerboard has to be removed to fix this broken neck)Cello neck with biscuit laminate placed during manufacture (note the priorly fitted neck – likely contributing to the breakage)
With Cello neck repairs I am sometimes faced with the difficult decision, do I make a less traditional repair, a one time repair, or one that can be reversed out ( this is the usual strategy for traditional instruments). Usually this depends on the value of the cello, the condition it is in and what the owners want to do. Have a look at what is involved in removing the top of a cello to do a repair as an example.
Doing right by the instrument to maximise its life, right by the student by making sure its playable again and right by the parent/school by keeping the costs down so it’s worth doing is a juggling act of sorts. Music has to be the winner though right?
