violinsRus

This was my reaction, and she is obviously deliberate in bucking tradition on so many levels. I love the bare foot touch, and know a professional musician over here in the US that does that too. To me it felt like clowning around a bit, and that has it's place. If not every note is perfect or orthodox, and she's happy to deliver it that way, fine. We don't have to be serious with ourselves the whole time. But it was not what I was expecting. Thanks for posting SF.

the instrument has been cut down in width, after it was made. the bouts are much narrower and shorter than the original intent. Perhaps to make a smaller size instrument out of a full size. what is the length of the body in mm?

Rue, I'm with you on this. I'm usually ultra conservative, but it did not seem distracting. Carl, thanks for posting. I enjoyed it a lot too. As much as I respect you Bill, it's inspiring to me to see someone who has put in the time and effort to deliver a piece like this to such a high level. just my 2cents on this cold blustery day in NY...

I prefer older wood, I have been happier with the results in my very limited experience. If/when I can get my hands on it!

Yes, maybe they exaggerated it a bit... this is French too.

I can agree with Martin, after cutting many, there are few I'm really satisfied with. If you go to work at an importer shop, they will have you cutting bridges and stringing up instruments from dawn to dusk. You will not retain the job if you can't cut bridges to the bosses satisfaction. It is harder than you think. so many details, and so many slightly different instruments, customer biases, pet theories, etc.

Not much point in quibbling over prices, but I'll just say that if you walk into any shop in the US, you are not going to get anything except the cheapest Chinese stuff for that kind of money. Sorry, that is just how it is. Try walking into a top end shop with a fine violin and get a quote on a repair or fitting. My buddy just paid over 1K for a bridge in NYC. I know that is not typical, but it does say something. It does cost a lot, once you and your shop are at a certain level.

Maybe some were set with a low angle, but we are dealing with wood, and moisture changes will cause the wood to swell and shrink. If it is under tension and compression, as in a violin, some of the changes will not fully recover, and the angle of the neck and/or the FB projection will very often come down. I refrain from saying 'always', but as has been patiently pointed out, it happens a lot. I would even suspect that some instruments where you think they were made with a low angle were in fact made with a higher angle initially. Not only are we dealing with the corpus and the plates, but the wood in the neck itself can compress at the root, making it appear that the initial set was low angle, when in fact the neck wood sagged. Make a violin, string it up, let it go unprotected through a few humid summer months, and you will observe this happen. It is possible to mitigate these changes, with well-seasoned wood, humidity control and other measures. Everyone will agree about that. Or make a violin out of carbon fiber and that might solve it.

I also spent time learning from his excellent videos, during this strange year. So well executed, and such a joy to appreciate. Helps to play the Leduc, but he really has the skills and the ability to break it down for all the rest of us. A gift to the violin community, thanks Augustin. I can't help noticing that his left hand does not touch the FB on the first finger side, but always has a prominent gap. Just rather interesting to me, as I've always loosely brushed against the side of the board on the finger side, except during vibrato. I'm sure his style has advantages.

Looks to me like a single stock photo of the front, I am suspicious even before considering the price. BTW, the same list appears in other online venues.

there appears to be some nasty patching/repairs going on under the fingerboard, where the belly has deformed.

I'm with Michael on this. At least the neck angle has not dropped badly, which is something that I would expect to see with bulging in the belly like this. So assuming it has a good fitting post, I would leave it.

well, yes, in a way. but I definitely experienced an improvement by changing the angle in a deliberate way. But I'm sure it had more to do with developing more of a firm stroke, involving fingers and wrist in a deliberate manner.

Buy it, you keep the bow and send me the violin! Just kiddin' my friend...

You watch any number of great cello and violin players and the bow angle to the strings certainly does change. But it doesn't slither around haphazardly, but often follows a 'smile' or 'frown' arc, depending on the player. Bowing with a bit of a c-arc in 2 dimensions was a MN suggestion that certainly did improve my violin sound. Just my experience.