donbarzino

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Posts posted by donbarzino

  2. The Amazing Shrinking Peg

    in The Pegbox

    Posted

    6 minutes ago, Strad O Various Jr. said:

    I find the application of peg dope makes raw pegs go in even further, and I have to compensate for that when fitting

    Now that you mention it I remember having experienced that also with commercial peg dopes that contain

    more lubricants like wax or soap, but in making my own peg dope I added more friction inducing solids like

    chalk or pumice which made it of a thicker consistency that could build up to a layer.

  6. Dominant Strings and Breakage

    in The Pegbox

    Posted

    If the string binds at the nut while it is being tightened the tension is greatly increased between

    the nut and the peg and the string would tend to break at the weakest point between them.

    If the nut doesn't flow back smoothly towards the peg but rather puts a kink in the string where it

    leaves the nut, then I suppose it would break at the nut.

  10. How did you start?

    in The Pegbox

    Posted · Edited by donbarzino
    David Burgess

    I was interested in playing violin and bought an inexpensive one from an ad in the newspaper.

    It needed some work and when I took it to a music store they  told me it was a piece of junk and

    not worth the cost of repairs needed.  I borrowed the Heron Allen book from the library, read it

    and repaired my violin. When I brought my violin back to the music store to buy strings they looked

    at my work and offered me a job. I learned a lot working there part time but my other part time job

    as a motorcycle mechanic paid a much higher wage. I kept both jobs through college working at

    several different music stores and motorcycle shops and ended up owning a Harley repair shop.

    Unfortunately my employees joined a large and violent motorcycle gang and my shop became

    a hangout featuring daily fights, shootings, ect . After repeatedly fearing for my life, I realized

    that violinists are seldom tough guys, except for David Burgess, with no violin gang activities at all and

    this pushed me to sell my shop and go into violin repair.

     

  11. Dances with wolftones

    in The Pegbox

    Posted

    7 hours ago, nathan slobodkin said:

     

    In what way would higher ribs stiffen the box? I would intuit just the opposite.

     

    6 hours ago, Davide Sora said:

     

    I think it is similar to a beam, the thicker it is, the more it resists bending.

     

    I  believe that higher ribs are more flexible, not as a beam, but when flexed crosswise.

    Only the lowest modes seem to try to bend the whole rib set as a beam.

    Most higher modes seem to flex the ribs crosswise and in limited areas.

  15. An even or uneven top thickness

    in The Pegbox

    Posted

    18 hours ago, shocker828 said:

    v heard of the sand method. How do you do this without the sand just vibrating right off the surface given all the curvature?

    The plates being tested are removed from the rest of the violin and placed upside down with the sand placed on the

    inside so if anything it tends to accumulate in the center.

  16. Plane sole vs straight edge

    in The Pegbox

    Posted

    I can understand the desirability of the part of the plane sole in front of the blade being flat but

    once the blade, projecting below the sole, has taken its cut the stock upon which the rear portion of the sole will rest

    is reduced and no longer aligned with the yet to be planed portion of the stock ahead of the plane and blade.

    So the plane as it works is riding on a bi-level surface and a flat sole will not match this, rather the most

    rearward part of the plane will be the only part of the plane sole aft of the blade to touch the stock being planed.

  18. Feeling a bump around the soundpost area when running my finger on the top

    in The Pegbox

    Posted

    I had had success in reforming sound post bumps on double bass tops by

    moving the sound post forward so it pushes up directly under the spot where the

    bridge foot would normally sit and then moving the bridge back so its

    right foot presses

    down on the sound post bump and then tightening the strings.

    It does take some time for things to even  out, like weeks or months,

    but the instrument is playable in this condition while it is being

    reformed,

    albeit with a longer string length. Carefully warming the area with a

    heat gun can help speed the process up,  just be careful,

    watching the varnish for overheating.

     

  20. Strad Saddles?

    in The Pegbox

    Posted

    This style is used for taller saddles to prevent them from torquing forward in response to the pressure

    of the tail gut. When the saddle tries to twist forward the lower extension  presses against the lower part of the tail gut ,

    between the saddle and end pin and prevents any rotation  of the saddle.

  21. Double bass made from a wheelbarrow

    in The Pegbox

    Posted

    What a clever piece of work ! Good for you !

    I would say it does need a bass bar under the bass foot of the bridge as the resulting difference in response

    between the two sides of the bridge

    is a fundamental feature of bowed string instruments. However, between your two cross bars you are

    left very little room for much of a bass bar. I would still put one in though and although softwood is

    the traditional wood for bass bars you might as well make yours of a hardwood since weight is

    an important part of the bass bar and yours is smaller than usual. Just make sure there is some clearance

    between the ends of the bass bar and those cross braces so the bar can vibrate freely.

     

     

  22. Alternate Wood Species

    in The Pegbox

    Posted

    Sounds like the violin world has become quite materialist, excessively favoring 'lily white' woods like spruce and maple

    over other equally deserving 'woods of color'.

    We can anticipate the social justice warrior brigade soon promoting an affirmative action program with mandatory quotas in both sales and manufacturing for instruments made of underused 'woods of color' like cedar and walnut.