Probably one of the most satisfying aspects of my workshop is bringing back to life a violin that has sat in the closet for a long time, through repair and restoration.
Whether its a violin of a young girls when learning in a convent – thats ready to be handed on to a grandchild 70 years later, or something thats made it way here from Europe and ready to be picked up again, but needs something more than fencing wire and a block of pine for a bridge (true story) or a European instrument like this below that had relaxed into its components and needs refitting…or even a student instrument that was used as a cushion !
See all about this flood victim violin restoration I did recently
If you go to a high street store you may be quoted for full restoration which can run into thousands. Elements of restoration can involve servicing, refitting components that have worn repairs such as re-gluing open seams and body cracks together with re-varnishing.
My Approach
I prefer to take a minimal approach and with your goals and wishes. Refit of components can make the instrument more usable: fingerboards often need work or replacing depending on the grooves. Bridges and sound-posts don’t last forever. Structural regluing of seams and attending to major/minor cracks is important for longevity and playability. From there how, much you want to preserve the original character of the instrument is up to you, so attending to the kisses of time, scratches and wear to the varnish is something best considered carefully (Incidentally people pay more for artificially antiqued new violins that have these markings).
As a guide most of the above restorations were not much more than a few hundred dollars (plus parts), structural work on cracks is a bit more involved though.
As I often get instruments that come my way that are quite old, how much to repair/restore is a sweet spot of its personal value to you, perhaps the instrinsic value, how much it will be played and of course budget.
Addendum(s)
There is a perception that all old instruments are valuable, all I can say is it depends very much on individual instruments. (many were made in factories and even in farmhouses as a cottage industry when crops were bad)
Yes I know the labels on more than a few will say copy of Stradivarius (much like a Hyundai is a copy of a Porsche) – except you can say Stradivarius on a violin as there is no trademark on the term. Most violins copy the Strad shape (or the less commonly known Guarneri, Amati, Maggini etc…)
See Also
