duane88

Thankfully, I don't see many Gligas. When I see them and tell the customer that they need a complete set-up, and that costs more than they paid for the instrument...

Interesting. With the cheap fittings and the step on the neck, I could see that. I'd never seen a Gliga with the lip on the scroll like that.

Looks very Juzek-y to me, although someone has made a mess of the varnish, as Marijan suggests.

Because, as we all know..., the value is determined by who made it and what condition it is in, not how it sounds.

Ebony peg shaved to the #7 hole on Alberti=5.3 gm Patent peg described above=14.3 gm

They usually have a mid-1880's patn date on them. The are a Bakelite-like substance. There is a flange shaped piece on the inside, the little knob allows you to screw them tighter to create friction on paper washers, sometimes replaced with sandpaper discs. Tighten them a bit too much and they will crack. The fittings into the holes are serrated, so they leave an ugly hole to fix. On the up side, they are small, so bushing is not usually required unless the peg holes are simply in the wrong places. I sold 2 sets of these to a fiddle "repair" person in W. Tennessee last year. He was "restoring" a fiddle and he wanted these in the instrument. I usually save the parts and pieces for folks like him, but if it were mine or if it were mine to sell, they would be gone.

Has everything that has come out of Sam Z's shop been made completely by Sam Z., or are the workshop assistants responsible for certain aspects of the work and Sam finishes them, and/or does it matter?

When Peresson was found out, it hurt for a while, but prices for his instruments seem to have recovered. I rework and varnish white instruments. Some German, some Chinese. They get a shop label, as they should. They fill a price-point and serve as varnish experiments that can be sold! Charles Espey told me a story about being in France, at a bow workshop, and asking if they made their bows completely or outsourced the frogs and buttons. They insisted that they did all. Later in the evening, long after the shop had closed and wine was consumed, there was a knock at the door. It was a bowmaker, with a box of finished frogs and buttons to deliver. This isn't new, either the discussion or the situation. What do you think nearly destroyed Italian violin making in the 19th century? Cheap instruments made possible by the Industrial Revolution from France and Germany that undercut Italian makers.If people had to pay a living wage to the workers who made their i-phones and other devices they would be quite the luxury items.

5/6 of the string length for the fingerboard length. The width at the distal end would be the width of a normal fb at the calculated length of the board-as in fb=270mm and measure the width at the 5/6 of the shorter string length. As for the nut, if the neck is already there, then you already have your measurement. I guess in the end it depends on whether you are setting up a small violin for an adult or a 3/4 violin for a child. As for the bridge, Stamm makes a 38mm. A 3/4 bridge might be too short and too narrow at the top.

My rule is that if you didn't make it, you shouldn't refinish it. You shouldn't encourage other people to do it, either.

nice floors...

I have told friends/apprentices in the past that if they want to have fun at a VSA to just look around and find their way to a discussion of makers and make a definitive statement, either way, about bass bars and spring. Leave said discussion after a bit. Return a few hours later to find it still going strong. Well trained makers and restorers have very differing opinions regarding spring and bass bars. Choose the path that gives you the results that you desire on your own new instruments.

When I take instruments to Japan, it is common to see that sort of drop. Coming from SLC to Seattle I sometimes see 2mm drops. I wouldn't be concerned unless the new instruments that you make at your new location do the same. Or pop the board off and plane the step off of the neck to raise the projection that way.

That email address was my 3rd attempt, and they suggested 2 other e-mail addresses, one of which i had already tried, fobbing it off as not within their scope/responsibility.