Nick Allen

I'd just leave them. I heard them on like 15 different fiddles and they sounded pretty lame on all of them.

You could use darker wood to begin with? I've made bass bars with spruce that was as dark as most old interiors and they blended in nicely.

I think it's a really neat look. To me it doesn't look bad at all. If the decoration is all inlay then that's a nice job.

Are y'all measuring to the middle of the string or to the bottom? I make mine 5 for G and 3.3 (give or take) for the E. Both measured to the bottom. I think that some professional players like the strings a little higher for more tactile feedback, perhaps. Closer to 5.5-3.5/7.

Nothing more. Just pointing it out. And yes there are obviously many reasons as to why grafts need to be done.

There's totes a wedge going on there.

This violin does not look like the work of Ben Phillips, unfortunately. Or any bespoke maker, for that matter.

Is that the chin? If so, it's not a bad fit.

You're right. Not everyone does things the same way. And that's a good thing. I've used that template (J&C) for years now without issue. It's just the shop that I'm at right now does things their way and I was imposing what was instructed to me.

These templates are not the right radius for the heel. Too fat. A quarter works really well.

I had this same problem. You have to use your knife as much as possible, and when you do sand, use a backed paper, and for the love of God avoid over sanding, as that will abrade the summer stuff first. The last sanding should be very light, just to get rid of the chamfers from turning the edge.

Just don't glue it. It's gonna be too short or too long at some point in the not so distant future. Then, you'll have a fixed SP that doesn't fit. Great. This is a terrible idea even on the humblest of student kits because, A: you candy do any adjustments, and, B: it'll probably be more likely to cause internal damage over time being fixed. Just don't do it.

We had a violin exactly like this at the shop I used to work at. It was a genuine Derazey that had the old man head, double purfling and marquetry on the back. The one that you took home doesn't seen to actually resemble the one that I had to stare at every day. The whole conception was just awful taste, but great execution.

I highly recommend at least sealing off areas of bare wood. Especially the upper bout ribs where your hand touches. If you don't, it'll start to go grey/green with dirt and sweat. You'll even deposit salty crystals into the wood that looks bad and clouds up the wood when sealed. To be honest I'd just have the areas of egregious and detrimental wear done. The areas on the back and top with nice subtle wear look quite nice to me. But that's just my opinion and take it for what you will.

Thanks! Ha. Yeah. I used portrait mode like a dummy. It's madder root and cooked colophony.