Whats in a Violin bridge? and getting more from a Gliga

Taking a student violin bridge through a bridge replacement and then a string replacement and then hearing how the sound changes. In general a harder ( better quality) bridge brightens an instrument so here is a bridge intervention on my sons violin.

My son has a Gliga I for a while, Gliga’s are his weapon of choice so the upgrade from a III to a I was always going to happen. Probably I would have liked to find him something else, but violins are a very personal thing, and he is a visual creature so I suspect the look and authenticity of a Gliga is a really important factor for him. Gliga’s have a reputation for being almost works of art and his Gliga I is no exception. To my ear it’s always sounded a bit muted, and a woody tone is a comment more than a few make about the Gliga’s (see my Gliga violin review). One of the reasons for this is the bridge it comes with as its thought to be a bit on the soft side. So I lashed out on a more expensive bridge an Aubert Mirecourt Deluxe and also some brighter strings. I think there is a progressive improvement in the sound. 

I’m going to do a bit more on the bridge next to lighten the weight and maybe a sound post replacement as well….  

Have a listen if you like… listen as the changes are introduced and then go back to the original …its about 4mins of your life you might not get back though 😉 (just skip through to the playing bits if you like)