Paul

I read everyone talking about doetsch violins. What is the word on their cellos. Are they worth $2000?

: : : : since when is an unused (or barely used) brain non-wasted? : : Confusion reigns supreme after reading your highly elucidating message. : : What are you talking about? : The following remark from the preceeding post : " They hate it when I whip through some Chopin in a "non-standard" manner, especially when the non-brainwasted like it better! " : Characterizing those who actually know the difference as "brain-wasted". Not having heard your non-standard performance I cannot offer my opinion as to whether it was good music or a travesty. And granted there are those who will reflexively bash anything that isn't just like the one they were taught to like. However, there is, was and ever will be a huge market for kitsch in all forms. To label those who understand the difference (and may yet prefer the real thing) as "brain-wasted" is at least as obnoxious as the snob attitudes attributed to classical devotees. : And for pikinandgrinnin : Doesn't this mass movement from classical to picking tell you that feats of O'Connor et al not withstanding that the entry standard for classcal is higher than for bluegrass etc. That is one must master more technique, know it better, and be able to apply it consistently at will just to get a basically acceptable, pleasing result. This is not to say that one kind of music is better than the other but lets get real about cold technical facts. And of course a non-classical player who has the skill to cut it the classical world will be at a tremendous advantage is his chosen realm as he will have the power to avoid the following: : The improvisor has the luxury of leaning on his best stuff and avoiding uncomfortable gaps his technique, the lessons that weren't learned for one reason or another. The classical player is expected to master the terrain as it is with few accomodations for technique. The repertoire is well known and merciless. Within that framework there is (or used to be) ample room for individuality (compare Kreisler and Heifetz) I am not criticizing anyone here for preferring what ever non classical style. Life is short take what you want and what you can. But please do not try to tell me that the average professional fiddler is anywhere near the average symphony player or soloist in cold hard technical skill. Resembles the difference between hard trail biking(good rolicking fun) and climbing mount Everest (exhaltation at the top, sacrifice the rest of time). Dear Robert, To dismiss any different interpretation of classical music as "kitsch" is a very arrogant and close-minded attitude, furthermore it is one that does nothing but reinforce the stereotype of the ivory tower-dwelling classical music lover. You risk lumping yourself in with the rest of the "reflexively bashing" music snobs who have lost sight of what music is. Music is not a vehicle for showing off "cold technical" skill, music is a vehicle for creating and appriceiating something beautiful. If all you want to hear when you listen to music is a technically sound player repeating exactly what you heard before then I would suggest you program a good synthysizer to reproduce the musical notes. Perhaps this is the "real thing" that you were refering to. I am classically trained and have been playing the violin since I was four. I have recently set foot in the realm of bluegrass and I must again disagree with you on the level of techincal skill needed to play bluegrass well. I recently had the pleasure of attending a concert of Mark O'Connor, Benny Martin, and Stewart Duncan. All three of these musicians displayed an extraordinary level of skill that I have seen equalled only by the best solo classical violinists. What made the concert even more impressive was the fact that these beautiful melodies were never heard before and will never be heard again! The sheer musical sensability that is required to play just "off the top of one's head" is truly amazing. It is very easy to plunk away at the basic melody of a bluegrass tune but very difficult to take that tune and transform it into a multi-layered improvisation. I have found that my "technical prowess" has not turned me into an instant bluegrass phenom, I have instead needed to turn to an inner musical sense that is unrelated to technique. By saying that an improvisor has the luxury of leaning on "his best stuff and avoiding uncomfortable gaps his technique" (sic) shows how little you know about improvisation. If a player does nothing but apply the same motifs on a basic tune or chord structure, then this is, by definition, not improvisation. Improvisation is the creation of something new; I would counter that your classical musicians who do nothing but play the same thing over and over until it is second nature to them are in fact the less musically skilled players. One of classical music's most highly skilled players (Wynton Marsalis) left to go into Jazz, another kind improvisational music, and he has been quoted as saying that it is much harder to play than classical. Your patronizing tone of "take what ever you can" does nothing but paint you as an arrogant, close-minded, classical music chauvinist. Please do not try to tell me that your weak disclaimers absolve you of any such sentiments. For the sake of all of us (I include myself) who enjoy classical music, please try to keep an open mind and a closed mouth.

: since when is an unused (or barely used) brain non-wasted? Confusion reigns supreme after reading your highly elucidating message. What are you talking about?

: : : Not just cremona violin maker but elsewhere too like US for example. : I strongly suspect that any dealer handling such mislabeled instruments : could be successfully prosecuted under the UCC. It's a shame. Some of the : top Chinese instruments are perfectly capable of standing on their own! If only : they would get pretty labels and sign their work. : This leaves the question of how to validate modern production-level "Italian" : instruments. I suppose that the appearance is a strong clue! I know I've seen : modern good Chinese instruments, but I've never seen a modern Italian instrument. : Experts! Where is thy wisdom for those of us in the hinterlands? I'm locked in the : land of flatpickers and steel violin strings. After playing classical violin for 12 years and bluegrass for the past 6 months, I have to say that I really prefer bluegrass. Jammin' at a good pickin' session with some really good pickers is so much more fun than any experience that I ever had in my long years suffering within the rigid confines of the world of classical music, which has strayed too far from its roots in traditional music. Don't dismiss the musical skill of any pickers either, some of the most creative and talented violin players are in the fiddle world. Bluegrass music is extraordinarily hard to play well. PS--Although they don't sound very good, try a set of Heliocores one day, they are a blast to play on.

: I was complaining to the village luthier about the harsh sound : of my violin; he suggested moving the soundpost and also : commented that my soundpost looks thin. : He is talking of possibly replacing it with something of : larger diameter. Is this a common problem? : Has anyone had good results with this change? : Also, is there a standard diameter for the soundpost? : My violin is a low cost (under $500) German model, : about 100 years old, if that helps. : Thanks, : David David , perhaps the locatiion of the sp could be enhanced also. As a matter of fact perhaps a review of the entire inst's setup should be considered. Paul

: Hi there, : My name is David from Ottawa, Canada. You should try the knew Barcus Barry bridge Piezo. It's the nicest sound I have had yet for my fiddle. It is very close to the original sound of the instrument. I used to use the Fishman bridge piezo but since I tried the Barcus Barry, I`ll never go back. : David Pichette : Fiddul@hotmail.com Chris, I use a Fishman V-200 pickup which wedges into the wing-slot of the bridge of my fiddle, I then have it hooked up to a belt-mounted PRO-EQ equalizer/pre-amp. The sound is pretty good. Be sure to get your bridge's wingslot professionally prepared by a luthier, this way you won't have any problems with the transducer sliding around. Make sure to ALWAYS use a pre-amp. Mount the pickup on the G string side of the bridge (opposite of what Fishman recommends) and if you get the V-200 with the clamp-on 1/4" Carpenter Jack, mount in the mirror image position to a side mounted chinrest. Fishman says that you should mount it high up on the left hand side of the box, but I found that this really damped the sound of the violin; a violin is designed to have something mounted there anyway so it really has no effect on the acoustic sound of the fiddle. People say that the Baggs is the best sounding transducer but I found that it really was not all that better, the Fishman is removable and when you change your bridge you don't also have to change the pickup. No doubt that the best sound is that of a pickup/mike combo with a blender, but these are really expensive, just depends how much money you have to blow. Tips from Stuart Duncan: he told me to cut everything above about 800-900Hz and get a little delay and a little reverb. Good Luck! Paul

: What kind of strings are better now? : Pirastro Oliv or Pirastro Obligato. : Michael Dear Michael, I have recently gotten a set of Obligatos and I have to say that I was really impressed. In every catagory they were the best when compared to Zyex and Dominants (whose continued popularity is a great mystery to me,I really can't stand those harsh sounding strings). In attack, response to fine tuners, tolerance to climatic changes the Obligatos are much superior to the Olivs. You just can't beat the Olivs tone though, that rich, dark tone of natural gut has yet to be reproduced. This is not to say that the Obligatos have an unpleasant tone. They have a very nice distinctive sound to them that I like almost as much as the Olivs. You have to look at the overall picture, the Obligatos are much better in most areas, if you can deal with the fussiness of natural gut then stay with the Olivs. If you like the longevity, easy-to-deal-with, quick response, aspects of synthetic gut, try the Obligatos, they are the best. A note: The Obligato Goldstahl E is the same as an Oliv Goldstahl E.

: :doesn't everyone upon buying an old fiddle clean : it up to the best of their ability? Isn't the answer obvious to the most casual observer?

: Hi, : Does anyone know if there is a way to Doctor up a : cheaper violin to make it into a normal above average sounding violin? : I recently bought one and it appears to be a really : good violin. (by looking a the wood and the structure) : But while playing it I notice that it is not a very : good sounding violin in comparison to other ones that : I have heard. (From tapes etc.) : The E and A strings don't seem to put out a very good sound in comparison to the D and G strings. They seem to vibrate too much, and to me they seem to be too fine of(diameter) of strings. : I guess what I am trying to ask is: : Is there better qualities of bows that can be bought : that will produce a better sound? : Is there better quality strings that produce better : quality sound? : Is it the strings and the bow what makes up a good : violin or is it the wood and the structure? : : Fred L. Fred I don't lnow what you mean by "normal above average" cause that there done look like a contradiction in words. My answer to all your questions is "Yes" Remember that the quality of sound etc is all relative and subjective. If YOU are satisfied with the instrument's response - that is what matters. Good luck, Paul

: I always thought that one should never sand the outside of the instrument before the first coat of varnish, as that will tear the grain. In fact, isn't the only sanded surface on an entire violin supposed to be between coats? : ADean ADean The process of sanding is wherein fine particles of relatively small size actually shear or "tear" the material actually being sanded. Paul : : About a week ago I mixed some rosin and alcohol to use as sealer for a violin. It took a day or two for the entire cake of rosin to desolve. It wasn't until about 3 days ago that I began to seal the violin with the rosin. When I stired the mixture I noticed that it had lumps forming in it. The lumps were about the size of a grain of sand and hadn't been there earlier. I brushed the finish on and it looked good and dried proporly but it didn't dry smooth. It also raises the grain so before you apply the rosin you should rub the entire violin with a damp rag, let the violin dry then sand the raised grain smooth. You should also mix the rosin with alcohol a day or two before you are planning on sealing the violin. : : Also I found that the rosin looks best when it is just thick enough so that it doesn't entirely soak into the wood. The rosin doesn't look as good if it is so thin that the first coat soaks entirely into the wood. Also you should only use one coat of rosin to seal the wood, if you try to build up a finish with the rosin you will have a cloudy finish. : : Tomorrow I will string up the violin and see if the rosin hurts the tone.

Are there any sites or boards primarily dedicated to the repair of string instruments?

: : I'm looking for a violin in the $10,000 range and am new at this. My question is are the prices given by dealers negotiable? And if so by how much. Should I expect to pay 10k for an instrument if it's advertised by a dealer for such or should I offer lower? How much lower? Any help is greatly appreciated. Also any leads where I could get a good deal in this price range would help. Are most prices higher or lower in Europe? Any good places to shop for one over there? Bert, Everything is negotiable. Make sure you are dealing directly with the person who has the capability to determine the selling price. Go for it. Good luck and let us know what you conclude Paul : Yes, they are negotiable. The dealer may only be willing to negotiate a price identical to the one they already gave you, of course :-) : No one you want to deal with will refuse to do business with you simply because you asked for a break on the price; they may not give you a break : on the price, but they won't refuse to sell you an instrument for having the temerity to try to negotiate a lower price. In other words, nothing : to lose by asking.

: Is the 1/6th rule more important than the perfect 330/55? My bridge would be 1/8" behind the f-hole notch if I placed it at 330. : Please advise. I have to play Palm Sunday and am having those "honking" noises. : Everyone is being so kind to help with these problems. : Old dog--Deb Where does the 1/6 th rule come from? What book can I go to and find numerical values for string inst. set up details? Paul

I am struggling to be financially successful at rehairing bows. From verbal comments it appears that in NE Ohio there are folks doing this service for approximately $30-35. I cannot understand how they can make any money at this price level let alone a living. Therefore, I would appreciate it if those who provide this service could email me some suggestions along with their general location and an approximation of their fee for such a service. If I get enough feedback which will enable a summary to be presented I will post it . Thanks for your help Paul

: Weisshaar (correct spelling). I would replace the whole neck. Glen, Go for replacing the peg box. After all "it is only wood" ! If the box replacement doesn't result in your satisfaction you will at least gained the experience and can then undertake neck replacement . The "W" reference book is great - I can't spell either. Good Luck, Paul

: The best way to plug a hole is to make a splint (that's what luthiers call it, anyway) from spruce. You'll want to try and match the grain as best as you can. If you're real succesful, and can get a match to your finish color, it can be almost invisible. : I would think that leaving it open would be a better alternative than wood putty, although another respondent said they did that without any effect on tone. I'd recommend against it (no offense...). Not that I recommend it ,but instead of leaving the hole open you could always fill it with colored wax finishing stick material Paul

Does anyone have any info on this violin maker ? Thanks, Paul

: : : : : : : : : Is the D-string touching the A-peg - or is it touching the A-string that is wrapped on the peg? : : : : If the former, then the peg holes might be poorly located (not likely, but incurable if true - without a new peg box). : : : : If the latter, the A string winding may be too bunched togeter createing too great a diameter on the peg. The likely problem is that tuning the peg on either A or D string will affect the tuning of the other - and perhaps even loosen the other peg. : : : : First step, if it is a bad winding job on the A-string, is to rewind it, spreading the windings out so that they lie parallel on the peg - ending up just "north" of the A-slot of the nut. : : : : This is a common problem with careless string replacement on any of the bowed string instruments. : : : : Andy : : : Andy , : : : Would a new peg box be necessary? Would it be possible to plug and redrill the existing peg box? : : : Paul, if the A string is actually touching the peg and not just the string AND it is causing a problem in either tuning problems or string longenvity, I would go to see an expert. One possible cure is a new A-peg of slightly larger diameter located above and off center from the existing A-peg hole. Thus only an off-center enlargement of the existing hole would be needed. This is not an easy repair for an amateur. --Andy : Paul, : : Either plug and redrill the A-hole slightly higher, or in a pinch you could cut a small channel on the D-string peg for the A string to pass through. Andy; Is the conclusion that if a physical fix to the pegbox is necessary, there a a number of options available - a new pegbox being one of them, An off -center enlargement and would very likely require plugging some portion if not all of the existing peg hole. Paul

: Is the D-string touching the A-peg - or is it touching the A-string that is wrapped on the peg? : If the former, then the peg holes might be poorly located (not likely, but incurable if true - without a new peg box). : If the latter, the A string winding may be too bunched togeter createing too great a diameter on the peg. The likely problem is that tuning the peg on either A or D string will affect the tuning of the other - and perhaps even loosen the other peg. : First step, if it is a bad winding job on the A-string, is to rewind it, spreading the windings out so that they lie parallel on the peg - ending up just "north" of the A-slot of the nut. : This is a common problem with careless string replacement on any of the bowed string instruments. : Andy Andy , Would a new peg box be necessary? Would it be possible to plug and redrill the existing peg box? Paul

I would appreciate it if some information could be provided about a violin which has a sticker inside it that reads : "John Juzek violinmaker in Prague Made in Czechoslovakia". It has a one piece back. Any info about it would be appreciated - including a rough estimate of it's value - it is playable. Thanks, Paul

Exactly what is the difference between these instruments? Thanks, Paul

: : I would like to hear from anyone who has recently purchased a nice( $1,500-2,000) Chinese violin that is NOT from Scott Cao. Just interested in some other names. : I am a violin teacher in Boulder, CO and have had several students purchase Chinese violins in your price range. There seem to be many sources availiable and calls to violin houses around the country should yield good results. I have had particularly good luck with the Jay Haide violins that are made in China for Ifshin violins in San Francisco. Good Luck! I should add that I have played well over a hundred instruments from shops all over the country that my students were trying out in the last few years. I believe that most of the decent older french, German, etc. violins in this price range have been snapped up and that only the dregs are left (unless you get lucky). I think that many of the new chinese violins are outstanding and have myself recently purchased a Christopher Pu, which I love, to use as a teaching instrument.

: I would like to hear from anyone who has recently purchased a nice( $1,500-2,000) Chinese violin that is NOT from Scott Cao. Just interested in some other names. I am a violin teacher in Boulder, CO and have had several students purchase Chinese violins in your price range. There seem to be many sources availiable and calls to violin houses around the country should yield good results. I have had particularly good luck with the Jay Haide violins that are made in China for Ifshin violins in San Francisco. Good Luck!

My recording of the piece is excellent! It has Nadja Salreno-Sonnenberg playing that piece along with many other fabulous pieces. It is on the EMI label and the name of the cd is "It ain't necessarily so" I highly suggest you get this recording. P.S. She plays the part with the 16'th note runs extremely fast.

I read those responses to those questions and they don't really answer mine. If any one can answer my questions please post a follow up.