sospiri

Goatskin, calfskin? I gots no beef either way, but I wonder, is there a vegan option for our more sensitive fellows?

Parchment or vellum?

Were they screwed and glued? It would make sense if the mortice was left unglued to facilitate easy removal.

Thanks Dave.

It's looks like shellac to me.

Yup Agreed It's a new or very recent Chinese made instrument. They are mostly antiqued to some degree this one has fooled you.

So is the violin.

Why not? Is it illegal to take a sawzall into an elevator?

He's from Osaka, so I'm pretty sure he would know, by feel at least, the difference between relative humidity and absolute humidity.

Absolute humidity, not relative humidity. Since I live in England, I don't notice big changes. We never have very high absolute humidity. An example of extremes in the US would be Texas, where the dew point in Houston has been 77⁰F/25⁰C on a few days recently. Wheras in El Paso today, despite very high temperature, the dew point was very low.

It's a vicious, but funny satire. He thinks the man is a complete crank.

Agreed. It looks like either a bad attempt at refinishing with red shellac or an attempt to remove the shellac or both.

Thanks again Marty. Yes, there is some reiligious dogma to overcome here. The 19th/20th century iconography of the chin rest and shoulder rests. Either a different design for both or a simple change in techique is required, but I can understand why this will present problems for both the Student and Teacher.

Thanks Marty. So is it a good idea to make fractionals with low density spruce and low arching but much deeper ribs?

What about 15mm taller?