violinsRus

The ones I don't rehair on principle are the old fiberglass Glasser tomato stakes and floppy imports made of who-knows-what. But I agree that it's the other stuff, new tip plates, frog damage, lappings and leathers that make restoring some of the older stuff questionable.

the J-Gs I've seen have ribs and corner blocks machined out of a single piece, but this is not that it appears, see below. Maybe they made more conventional rib garlands as well, I don't know.

Hi folks, If you read the thread above you will see that I sent my poster to the first person who requested it, Hector J. I do not have a stack of them to offer, that was the only one!

OK my friend, how many customers have you tried to please with the fit of a bridge on their particular fiddle, for their particular style/feel of playing? It may not be rocket science, but it's way beyond the overly simplistic smerf you can pull off the internet with a few clicks. Sure, I think your bridge can use adjustment, but at this point any further advice won't help. Go grab a knife, a file, and some sandpaper and go at it. Tweak it until you are happy, I'm sure you can improve it, no kiddin'.

With the D sunk in so deep it's going to be pretty hard to play that string without brushing either the A or the G. No idea why it's sunk in like that while the other strings aren't, unless the luthier did it on purpose, or someone's been tweaking with it. But it looks like bringing the A down would be a help. Although it's risky to make such judgements without holding it and playing it.

Kirbeelee, if you go back to the original online ad you will see that the seller didn't even try to spell Zygmuntowicz correctly in the fine print. And to me it appears that the Guarneri label and the Sam Zig label are completely different, perhaps done years apart, hard to tell. But anyhow, it's a nice looking fiddle, and may have decent sound. And you didn't over-pay; if I was in the market for that type of instrument I might have dropped for it myself. Funny that the seller would say that he swapped a documented Klotz for this, and then list it in some obscure site for $1,200! Stranger than fiction...

I was watching this instrument in the online market due to the fake 'Sam Z' label, and I was convinced it would show up here after the sale! :-)

Sounds expressive. I had the pleasure of hearing your Nannerl viola the other day, in an outdoor quartet concert. Brilliant, what a great instrument.

maybe they were trying to lighten the frog end...

perhaps there was a metal weight in there at one point? to change bow weight and balance...

the only benefit I can see is for practicing vibrato, as an assist in keeping the finger tip in one place on the board while developing flexibility in the tip joint of the finger. but that can be achieved in other simple ways. One thing that worked for me was to roll up a small piece of masking tape on the tip of my finger, just for a few minutes of vibrato practice daily, until the tip joints learned some flexibility.

I've hit similar roadblocks with practice, and my goto for the last few years is to hit Youtube tutorials. Nicola Benedetti, Daniel Kurganov, Augustin Hadelich, various masterclasses, and other finds have been very helpful. I always locate something that inspires me to practice! Maybe a bowing suggestion for better tone production, or a way to improve vibrato, or some study for finger independence. So far this has never failed to push me forward when my interest is flagging.

This is a very informative plot, thanks for posting, but to me it shows quite a bit of deformation along where the STL's are said to be. Or am I wrong?

where is @BassClef? this little gem should join his collection!

Ditto, same experience. Good strings.