Victor Roman

Thank you Mr. Holmes. I am in South Africa ( Eastern Cape ) and I seem to have found a glue manufacturer here. I will make some enquires as to what they make and from what.

Is there a way to tell hide from bone glue ? Around here all I can buy is either a powder or small spheres. Both work - I tested on scraps of wood. The powder stinks quite a bit, though.

Thank you, Mr. Darnton - will try my best and maybe ( ? ) post back the result.

Interesting - thank you very much. Different voices sound different to ... different ears. Two singers I could never stomach were Judy Garland and Barbara Streisand.

74 cuts in the 3rd mov. of a very classical concerto with very famous, youngish player, in the 80s. Was there, still feel the pain... SEVENTY FOUR !

Am curious if you could outline some specific negatives of the Thom. E vs. say, Goldbrokat and if that is your personal finding or what other people were saying. I can't say I payed much attention but I notice some E's do well low, where amateur players tend to dwell, and become less desirable higher up on the fingerboard. The new (?) Thomastic E seemed to me well balanced with good relation to A, low.

I managed to make an acceptable Blackwood fingerboard for an ordinary violin and I wonder how strong must it be glued. Should I use very strong bone glue or a rather diluted one ? Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

I broke an E and got some Dominant E from somebody - some new "recipe". It was very good.

Thank you very much for the links provided !

I know almost nothing about violin varnishes but certain expensive furniture varnishes suffered a sort of a "reversal" after some years. Said reversal was triggered by contact with skin oils or ( ! ) polish containing a particular essential oil ( or even silicone) , in recent times. It can be properly fixed on expensive furniture by an expert but it will not be cheap. I haven't read the thread but it seems to me ( may be wrong...) that the violin was fine until you bought it - the defect appeared while under your ownership. This might give some clues ? Personally, if the violin sounds right I would have some sort of cellophane protecting the region in question and I would keep using it. I have seen much worse on much more expensive.

No. Some of them were made from quite pretty woods. But then one would surely allow the poster to adjust his plans as he learns more.

I am convinced you are right. "Exceedingly rare" works fine for me. "Zero" didn't...

I agree. I expressed an opinion - that's all. I see know that I wasn't clear enough : my point was, or should have been, that the chance might be very small but surely, not zero. And having expressed it clearly now, I stand by it. Anyway, entirely my fault and I apologize if I created any confusion.

This is could be entirely my fault and I apologize : I thought the poster intended to make a "very good sounding violin". I quite believe you that the geometry / finish of the violin matters to some people and is a major factor in violin competitions. It is however irrelevant to a large extent to a good player as long as things are in the ballpark. I have seen many Chupacabras over a couple of decades and needless to say, many "supermodels" no real connoisseur would touch with a barge pole. My point is that workmanship aside, there are exceptions and I have seen one or two.

I get your point.