l33tplaya

Or perhaps if a trip to SoCal is in your future, Metzler's violins (Glendale) had a number of violas as part of their American luthier show. Most of the violins and violas are still available, and will be there for a month or so. Many of the violas were between 12 -20K. I don't know if the "show" is traveling to other stores; I think Metzler organized this one. There was something similar at Reed-Yeboah in NYC.

I see Blank Face and hendrik beat me to this idea. I really should read ahead.

That may be why one purveyor ships his bows in a PVC tube (very good protection) inside a triangular Fedex mailer. That won't roll, and would be impervious to most damage. (I can't see an ordinary forklift breaking the PVC tubes he used. Maybe a car...)

And we can get Jacob to guest lecture, have him fly in, introduce him to the fine school that is IU? With appropriate honorarium. I was thinking once a year, a series of lectures... I would even come out to the midwest, hoosiers and all, for that. "A Practical Method to ID Austrian Fiddles, 1800-1875." Additionally, there are a lot of great luthiers in Chi-town (not forgetting Ann Arbor), not so far, IU would have a great guest lecture program! Aside: What is it about the cold climates that encourages great luthiery?

duplicate

double post. Missed it as I was on a different page. Apologies.

True dat. Jacob, IU has a very well respected music school, and as others have observed, it's in the middle of nowhere. So having a place where students can get some repairs and advice at a good price is one of the benefits of the luthier program. I always thought that having the makers next to the players is ideal, and in this case, both are captive audiences. To the OP - You have hit the big time! I see the story is now featured in The Strad's email circular I received today, and on their web page, one of the rotating banner web stories. 'Grats! Jacob, IU has a long musical history, even more impressive consider it is in the middle of the country. On a side note, people in the state of Indiana (IU is Indiana University, also known for a smallish bicycle race) are known as Hoosiers. The story goes like this: some students from Indiana visited the big city next door, (in the state next door, the big city named Chi-town) and not being used to the beer, became a little inebriated, getting into some fights with the locals. When the dustup finished, the barkeep would clean up, picking up odd little bits, holding them up, and asking, "Okay, whose ears?"

Done. Is it true you've invited Jeffrey, Martin, Jacob, David, and VdA to apply?

Surely not M.A. or C.A.? (the competitors "down the street" to quote JH)

And don't forget the "The violin I found in the attic looks just like that Amati you showed us from your safe" traffic. <Runs and gets a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label to bring with me on my trip to Klosterneuburg> That and a Chinese bridge blank, but with really nice radii.. VdA, where would we be without your profound...style? Of course I would be happy to contribute to Jacob's birthday present!

At NAMM last week I saw Riversong guitars, with adjustable necks. How cool is that? An adjustable rod that ends in the guitar soundhole. With a special tool, you can change the fingerboard height, to vary the action. I want to see this on a violin!! :-o) http://www.riversongguitars.com/ See their through neck design herre: http://www.riversongguitars.com/guitars/

The violin certificate describes it as golden amber...The violin is clearly "Bernadel red" or French red. Or someone does not know how to photograph. A different violin, even if the certificate is fake.

"The US constitution prescribes freedom of religion. It does not guarantee freedom from religion." I do have freedom from you enforcing any religion or from any state sponsored religion. This has been discussed and argued, but that's not the only point...and to argue the pluralistic misunderstanding (or perhaps my being unclear): It remains anywhere from being totally unaware (or not caring) to simple thoughtlessness to wish those who do not celebrate Christmas to have a Merry one. Sure, tolerance is key, and I don't know anyone who cares what others celebrate as many here observed. But this "greeting" is repeated 100s if not 1000s of times during the Holiday season, to say nothing of a huge number of public decorations. That was the impetus of the "Happy Holidays" greeting, not to ban religion, or do away with it, or prevent others from enjoying celebrations, but to be inclusive, of those who celebrate Kwanzaa, Christmas, Chanukkah, Festivus, New Years, or simply choose not to celebrate. This is not didactic at all, but how many feel, and might be too timid to so express, or lack sufficient numbers, but the majority should not enforce its dictates on the minority, O'Reilly and the likes not withstanding. Hats' off to Audie, here's my favorite: The Original Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie: 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened 3/4 cup granulated sugar 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 large eggs 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels (Note: others are simply not equivalent; I have tried many; simply just not as good, even Ghiradelli's) 1 cup chopped nuts My grandmother would *always* substitute one cup washed raisins (and dried). I also added another cup of chocolate chips. :-) PREHEAT oven to 375° F.COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. (I found very light greasing (spray) helps, along with non-stick surfaces)

Not true! Acetone is a *potent* liver poison, and fumes are deemed dangerous as well: "Acetone is an irritant and inhalation may lead to hepatotoxic effects (causing liver damage).carcinogenic. " It should always be used in a fume hood, never mind the nail salons...(There have been some studies showing that nail salon workers have high incidents of illness.) https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/acetone#section=Top You may have been a chemist, but biochemists now consider this quite toxic. The acetone produced in your body is at *much* lower concentrations, and in an aqueous environment. Very different. And the notice means it is toxic. Go into any modern lab, and speak to the Safety Officer. You might want to fully understand ketosis - it's not just the acetone, but other ketones that also (mostly)cause the bad smell.

What? Wait, where's Festivus? Seriously, Merry Christmas was the phrase used by drunken revellers who preferred Winter Solstice celebrations: Then the Catholic Church tried to co-opt the phrase and put some religiousity (never a good thing in a pluralistic society) back into the celebration. The whole co-opt thing was a protest against commercialization...http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-young-merry-christmas-origins-20171222-story.html It’s the most wonderful fight of the year: the annual tussle between Christians who bravely defend “Merry Christmas” and the godless liberals who want to impose “Happy Holidays” on all of us. Or so the story goes on talk radio. But while President Trump promises to restore “Merry Christmas” to American life, those who insist on using the phrase as a sort of flag for conservative Christian culture misunderstand its history. Rather than religious, its origins are secular and commercial, even profane. For most of its history, the Christian church regarded Christmas as a small event on its calendar not requiring much observation. Puritans in England and later the American colonies went one step further, banning the holiday altogether since they could find no biblical support for celebrating the day. As the historian Stephen Nissenbaum has explained, the Puritans imposed fines on anyone caught celebrating and designated Christmas as a working day. These strict rules were necessary since so many men and women engaged in the drunken carousing that accompanied winter solstice festivities, an ancient tradition that the church had failed to stamp out when it appropriated Dec. 25 as a Christian holiday....