David Tseng

I have an electrostatic air filter beside the furnace and a portable air cleaner in the varnishing room. I don't seem to have any dust problem after giving up brush and using a cloth pad for varnishing.

I also use 12mm on my new violins. I avoid drilling too big holes on the pegbox and give the pegs more longevity.

Many years ago, I did sell some of my violins to a teacher (who happened to be my relative). How did she sell these violins to her students was not my problem. When some of them contacted me, I did know that she had 100% mark up. Nowadays I only do commissioned work. Since this thread is about how to sell instruments, I would like to point this out: makers here should not ignore the Asian market. Parents there would spend $5K-8K for a child's violin. I know an LA based maker who almost exclusively sells his productions in Taiwan.

The aluminum foil is to reflect more light and heat out. The other big lamp (not shown) also has Al foil in the shade. I use this lamp to keep the wood warm while applying glue.

I just strung up a new violin and , in few more days, it will be delivered to the customer.

I am on the wood treatment camp for some 20 years, but I am still quietly doing my homework.

I received the membership renewal notice today. My membership was renewed on June 11, 2010 for TWO years. It's really disturbing to receive this letter. This is a manifestation that the new administration is not doing good job. Are there any maestroneters here receiving such notice?

I finish the neck with oil. I also use oil to seal top and back based on the French research result with no ill effect. This has to be done carefully not to let oil penetrate more than one to two cell depth.

I have a piece of pernambuco 28mm x 88 mm by 43 inches long, not for bow making. PM me if you are interested.

One gold and two silvers, i.e., only 3 out of 238 met the players requirement. Good violins are indeed very rare.

I noticed that Kaler played the last measure (A - F#) on 1st position, which is more often played sul G.

There are 2 things we have to address here, i.e. the feel of the neck and the string length. In some old factory violins, the pegbox chin is way too long. Also the thumb stop at the neck heel is important when you play at the high positions. We try to "standardize" the neck shape and the string length to facilitate switching instruments.

Thanks, you are right, 1.33 micron!