scordatura
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Posts posted by scordatura
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38 minutes ago, AtlVcl said:
What is truth? Practically every world-class violinist who appears on stage with me has an instrument that looks to have been French polished. Does that diminish its value?
And if you think yes, what if it was being played by Perlman?
I have it on excellent authority that there was a period when every string instrument that came thru Moennig's was French polished. Was it for pecuniary marketing purposes? (he asks rhetorically...)
These things go back and forth. For myself, I happen to think the matte finish is plain and ugly. That said, and speaking strictly as a player, if the instrument of my dreams happened to come that way, I wouldn't be sending it back with an ungrateful scowl.It is funny you mentioned Perlman. I remember a while back when his violin (not sure if it was the Soil) had the Moennig Gold oval on the tailpiece. At a concert it was so shiny that when he moved a certain way it created quite a reflection--almost blinding for a second.
The rationale in the old days was the French polish was "protecting" the varnish (in addition to the gloss). My own opinion is that somewhere in-between really glossy and very matte is the answer. I do not want to "out" the violin or restorer I mentioned above, but when I saw it I was a bit sad that it had been so radically French polished. The last time it was not that way.
Interestingly enough, Bein and Fushi has moved to a decidedly anti French polish/gloss stance of late. I wonder if they did not mess with the DG (or filius) cello in this thread when they had it. That or someone after them polished it. I will ask my friend there what the story is on this cello next time we talk.
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1 hour ago, Ernest Martel said:
Look at Davide Sora's video on casein sealer. I used his recipe and it is easy to make and apply. It also looks very nice.
Thanks. I forgot that he did one on casein. His videos are the best!
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42 minutes ago, joerobson said:
I would disagree.
Are you disagreeing with me stating that they identified casein as the sealer or do you think they were wrong?
I used to know... in your system you do not use a protein sealer?
BTW Joe I get the below message if I click too quickly on your site...It is set pretty aggressively.
Your access to this site has been limited
Your access to this service has been temporarily limited. Please try again in a few minutes. (HTTP response code 503)
Reason: Exceeded the maximum global requests per minute for crawlers or humans.
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1 hour ago, MikeC said:
I think they find the presence of protein but I don't think they identified it as casein did they? Do you have the book? I could be wrong. .
Most definitely casein. I took out a loan to buy the book LOL.
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Yes I have done a Google search...
In the B & G Strad Varnish book, one of the clear conclusions is that they believe that casein was used as a sealer. If you subscribe to that, the next question is how do you make and apply it. I have done quite a bit of looking and found there is some variation in the recipe.
What type of lime? Slaked or Quicklime. Not sure how much difference there would be because when you add water to quicklime it turns it into slaked lime. Roger Hargrave stated that quicklime is best vs. other methods.
How to reduce the acidity? Rinsing, baking soda, or ammonia? I am thinking I would use ph strips to see where it ends up and experiment. Will different PH change the appearance or properties of the glue/size?
What concentration/percentage to use as a sealer? For hide glue (gelatin) 2-3% has been suggested. I know that some go by the seat of their pants but it would be nice to know the concentration. I would think you would want it relatively thin. Especially if you want to use a stain (nitrite) after.
How many coats or surface buildup does one want?
How does casein appear vs. the other sealers once the varnishing is complete?
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I am assuming that the above pic is the "juice". The color is really nice. Did you use a sealer before or after the juice application? According to the B & G Strad varnish book, sealer first (casein) then stain (oxidizer). Trying to get my method down. I plan to purchase Potassium and Sodium Nitrite rather than brewing the "juice".
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8 hours ago, AtlVcl said:
Probably French polished; a technique largely looked down upon today by restoration specialists.
True although not exclusively. I recently saw a very important violin up close that was recently old school French polished like a mirror. Conversely, some prominent restorers have gone completely the other way with a complete matte finish. Isn't the truth somewhere in the middle?
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"Understanding Wood" is a great book. A great legacy for Bruce. Taunton press the publisher is in my town. I hope they stay in business.
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10 minutes ago, sospiri said:
I am so tight with money that I make Ebenezer Scrooge look profligate. But even I wouldn't bother trying to repair that bow.
I hear you but I do what I would call almost "pro bono" work for schools and some students that leave no other options as a new purchase is not in the cards. The wrapping technique does work.
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For cheap bows that break like the above, I wrap it with fishing line and glue the fishing line. It is obviously not that stealthy but it is clear and adds a lot of strength. If you wanted to go a step further you could use kevlar thread. Thinner than fishing line but not clear. You could cover it with brown paint to color match the wood.
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1 hour ago, Jim Bress said:
New setup for me. Works well.
Good idea thanks!
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Nice color. How does it smell?
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1 hour ago, Herman West said:
Ugh, in the 2013 violinist discussion there is frequent mention of the idea that new violins need to "bed in," without (obviously) any explanation what this even means.
Two things I understand: a violonist needs to get used to an instrument he isn't familiar with (though it seems so very good violinists do this in two minutes), and perhaps some set-up adjustments are needed.
But what this mysterious "bedding in" consists of no one knows.
Very good question. New instruments change as the settle in. There is much debate about how much they change or even if they change much at all. The instrument changes occur due to the tension created by the strings, stretching of the top and back due to sound post tension, drying/hardening of the varnish, humidity changes , etc. Some people believe that the act of playing the instrument (vibration) changes the instrument. Some do not. Knowing how to play an instrument is also a variable. Some violins like more bow pressure for instance.
You will not get a consensus on this subject. I would suggest using the google search and put the key words in then add site:maestronet.com if you do not already do so.
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Thank you for reminding me to listen to your podcasts!
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19 minutes ago, duane88 said:
Whoa that is a big number! 1,862 USD.
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Wow that is some serious antiquing. Bravo!
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2 hours ago, BassClef said:
Does the maker himself have a photo to share of this height variation from flames? I’d like to see that.
He has been spotted on MN. I don't know if this violin was an outlier but it would have been circa 1986-89. It was crazy rippled. Never seen anything close. Amazing what a scraper can do when it is allowed to scrape with the flames vs. across. This maker rarely responds to my posts. Not sure if that is good or bad.
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No (perhaps self perceived) good deed goes unpunished...
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8 minutes ago, David Burgess said:
When I was in Russia, my wife and I had no sense of being monitored whatsoever. Moscow wasn't much different that any other large European city we have visited.
Beijing, on the other hand, was quite a different experience.
Perhaps the Russians are better at it
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3 hours ago, David Burgess said:
Jacob, I have a li'l fun project for you:
Travel around in a small pickup truck, sleeping in the back, personally interviewing every maker you can find, asking along the way about others you may be able to find, or that those you interview may know about or have worked with, in a geographic area the size of the United States, and publish a book.
Jacob's father Wilfred was interviewed in the book THE VIOLIN MAKERS PORTRAIT OF A LIVING CRAFT Mary Anne Alburger. It is a series of interviews of the then contemporary British violin makers. A book somewhat like the Wenberg opus.
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On 10/26/2019 at 8:25 AM, Ken_N said:
Not just like Joe Curtain's who has the David Burgess look on the back, (who was first?), but more like bumpy.
I remember having a Burgess out for trial quite a few years ago that had an amazing amount of rippling in the back. It was a crazy amount of height variation from the flames. It was like a washboard! Pretty cool actually. I also remember hardly any if any scroll fluting on the sides.
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2 hours ago, Thomas Coleman said:
Behlen sold it's line to Mohawk. I believe this is their Qualasole. You may have to delve a little further
I did see that. I believe that it is a different formula from Qulasole. Qualasole from the data sheet contains shellac, linseed oil, ethyl acetate in addition to ethanol.
Interesting to see that the data sheets now are much less revealing than they used to be as far as ingredients go.
The comparison between the two is below.
https://woodworker.com/behlen-french-lac-mssu-926-719.asp
French Lac data sheet attached.
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18 hours ago, augustulus said:
Anyone's thoughts on Eduard Miller's violin this year? I remember his violin in last year's exhibition was highly praised.
I also noticed more instruments are varnished new, or have less antiquing than previous years. Wonder if this change is driven by the market or the makers.
Yes it was a very nice instrument. Different from the one from last year. The one from this year had a slab cut back. Both were GDG inspired. I found it to be one of the best.
It was a bit difficult for me to really evaluate the sound of the instruments this year as there were periods that it was very busy (noisy). They also had more rooms to try instruments so when I wanted to go back to some instruments, they were gone.
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So Behlen Qualasole has been discontinued for a while now. I have searched and cannot find any to purchase. Does anyone have a line on some?
I have used a French polish based on common recipes. I know that some very prominent makers use Qualasole for their final surface prep. I would like to try it if possible. Is there a comparable alternative different from the traditional shellac formulas.
Attached is the data sheet for qualasole.
Casein as a Sealer Questions
in The Pegbox
Posted
What if there was a ground over the sealer/casein? In the B&G book this is a 4 to 1 resin to oil layer (ground) in between the sealer and color layer that contains no colorants. Perhaps this is why the Cremonese did it this way (allegedly). Thanks for that bit of info.
when I mix up my sauce, I am going to test the ph.