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Showing results for tags 'Violin'.
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Hello, It's been a long time since I asked about a new instrument, but the time has come. This violin has the 4 corner blocks, and the ribs seems to be like a BOB construction, The pegbox run to the end. The edge is rounded and the f holes are well cut ( I think) It has a fire brand in the bottom rib... but I can not read it. The varnish makes me think the violin is revarnished or sanded... it has a lot of craqueleur. What is your opinion? Thank you very much
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We've set the date of April 21-22, 2023 for our next meeting and maker's competition. It will be held at Wildacres Retreat in western North Carolina just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. 2 full days of presentations and workshops, accommodations on or off site. Check in will be Thursday afternoon, April 19, and check out on Sunday morning, April 23. More details are available at our website landing page http://southernviolinassociation.com If you're interested in receiving our bulletins and updates, send me a personal message and I'll get you onto our database. Thanks.
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Hi All - I have a violin that was given to me by my Great Aunt, in 1980. I played it until 1995, and then unfortunately it was "lost". It has been found and now I'm interested in learning more about it. I'm wondering if anyone here has some ideas of it's origins. I know we can't always rely on tags, but the tag inside says "Reconstructed by B.F. Phillips & Sons. Cameo Bldg, 5th Floor. Pgh, PA. Aug 1936. E.S.P." B.F. (Benjamin Franklin) Phillips was from Warsaw, Poland. His father and grandfather (last name Filipiak) both were violin makers. BF came to the US around 1905 (name changed to Phillips) and set up shop in Pittsburgh. My research indicates he made approximately 150 violins and he was known for making them from woods recycled from old churches or buildings. BF passed away in 1977, in Pittsburgh. I believe the initials E.S.P. on the tag are that of BF's son Edwin Stanley Phillips. I have not found a lot of information on Edwin, but I did see that BF's other son, Eugene Walter Phillips played with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for more than 40 years. I would assume that if this violin were originally constructed by B.F. then the tag would say "made by" rather than "reconstructed". However, I don't know what might be underneath the tag and I won't attempt to look. Assuming the violin was reconstructed by BF's son, I'm wondering about the origins of the violin. The only other information I have: I grew up in the Pittsburgh area. My Great Aunt was active in Pittsburgh orchestras, as was her husband. My aunt was from the Pittsburgh area. She married a man who had recently arrived from Greece. He and his adult siblings came to the US together and all were musicians. I don't know if the violin may have belonged to his family. The violin was given to me with a "Tourte" stamped bow. I KNOW it's not a genuine Torte. I'd love to learn more about it also and can upload pictures too. I have additional photos of the violin also or I can upload pictures of specific areas, if anyone has questions. Thanks so much!
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I am interested in finding a buyer for a 2006 John Sipe violin. I am not a musician and have no idea how to price this. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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Good morning. Some time ago I had an old German copy Stradivari violin, which is well made, but all its accessories (pegs, fingerboard, tailpiece) were plastic and of poor quality, in addition to having a poorly adjusted sound post and a poorly made bridge. The sound of the violin was very loud and strident, like an old radio and in my orchestra it was the violin that stood out the most, to the point that my joking companions called it "il cannone". This Christmas an old luthier friend who lives more than 1000km away came to town to spend Christmas with his family and I immediately asked him to adjust my violin. As I mentioned earlier, the violin has a strong, deep sound, but with some small parasitic vibrations that caused it to sound like an old radio blaring, and I blamed this on poor quality accessories and poor sound post setup. and the bridge. He added ebony parts to the pegs, chin rest, tailpiece and fingerboard, since the ones that the instrument had were not original, they were made of poor quality wood painted black, added shortly before I acquired the instrument. The pegs were also painted and poorly adjusted, the tailpiece was plastic. He added an ebony fingerboard that he recycled from a cello fingerboard, ebony pegs set to perfection, a bridge that fully fits the top of the violin, and an ebony tailpiece. When I saw the instrument I was surprised, especially by the fingerboard, which had a tiny and old flame that matches the flame of the violin. When you finally play the instrument notice the change in sound. It still sounded loud, but it no longer had those annoying parasitic vibrations, instead it now sounded round and warm, but the A string did have a decrease in its sound, being very muted compared to the rest of the strings, as if there was something that prevented it from vibrating freely. I talked to my friend and he told me that it could be the position of the sound post, that he hoped to do that job with me so that I could tell him which place seemed best to me, but he couldn't do it because he traveled back He went ahead to his house, for which he gave me the violin with the sound post without my being able to play it before. He added some new pirastro tonic strings, which are nylon wound. Before that he had high tension all metal strings. I don't know what this decrease in sound could be due to, specifically of the A string. I think it may be the excess of ebony parts prevents the violin from vibrating freely, a sound post configuration that does not enhance the A string, the new low-tension nylon strings that do not fully vibrate the instrument or... all of the above together. What do you think?
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Hello, I would like to ask you for violin identification and other information about this violin. Unfortunately I have no more pictures. Thank you
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For those who have seen my posts, you already know I'm very new to violin making, but am enthusiastically enjoying the frustration and the challenge. I'm going to pretend my 1st attempt at building a violin doesn't exist, as I would be embarrassed to show the disaster it's turning out to be. We'll call this next one "1a" I guess, and I'm optimistically assuming this one will be better. For this first (non-existent) violin, I built my form based on a photo of the 'Forma PG'. I didn't realize however until after building the rib structure and cutting the outline of the plates, that this photo has the distortions inherent in all photos... never the less, it is and was a tremendous learning experience simply building an instrument... er, if it would have existed. I intend to soldier on until it's complete, before casting it into the fire never to be heard from again. I would actually keep it as a reminder of my venture into the world of violins if it existed. For my next 1(a), I have used the 'Forma P' Frankensteined together with the 'Forma PG', and I've made so many adjustments so many times, for now we'll call it version 3? At some point I just printed it out and used it as I could meddle with things forever. The second is the Strad 'Forma P' sort of "as is". I've taken the forms from the "Forma by Addie" and tweaked them to a degree in Adobe Illustrator. To smooth out the dings and bumps, as well as to tweak the block sizes I guess to something I think might be ok, though I have no idea what a good neck block for example should be. I'm going to call it roughly 60mm X 18mm. Hopefully it will work. I've also squared up the corner blocks, though now I see how angling them could assist in getting the grain direction correct. I've messed up two of the P corner block angles, but I've glued a thin piece of "extra" (broken) rib to straighten things out on one at least. My Frankenmould which I'm calling my A mould, is built using a walnut plywood (roughly 12mm thick or 1/2in), because of course using walnut moulds is I'm sure the secret of Stradivari! I've used double sided tape to stick the printout to the wood before cutting it out, hoping that it will not deform as a wet glue might do, though the plywood isn't as truly flat as I would like. My P mould is made from actual walnut lumber, jointed to produce a handy, permanent centerline. This is roughly 14mm thick, I say roughly because I did the old fashioned hand plane thicknessing from 4/4 dimensional lumber and it's probably not as precise as I would like. For this I taped down the printout, and very carefully scribed the outline with a knife, hoping this will hone my skills for purfling later. It seems I may have trouble with putting in both sets of linings with the thicker form, but I'm sure I can get through it somehow. I've maintained the asymmetries from the forms, as I don't feel qualified to 'fix' Tony Strad's work, and I actually believe them to be purposeful. (I do have some ideas about disproving this wild theory in the future... once I can actually build something worthwhile.) I've already jointed the backs for both instruments, the first (for the P), I may have gone a little thick with the hide glue and there seems to be a bit of a visible glue line. I did also pretreat the joint with hide glue before glueing. I did the same with the second (Frankinmould A) but a slightly better job of it so not the seam like the first. I used my trusty Lie-Nielsen rip saw, which I love and works very well. Though my concerns about the blade width and tonewood dimensions might lead me to try and make my own rip saw for this purpose. For now that would interfere with making progress on my violin(s) so that's a future project. I do have a frame saw, with a presumably thinner blade, but I'm not as confident or comfortable with a frame saw, particularly for book matching expensive tonewood. For these backs I'm still over 20mm thick, and only seemed to lose about 1/8in (3mm) from the sawing, so it's fine. I have my rib wood selected, though I wish they matched more closely the wood from the back and neck... not sure how often tonewood suppliers actually give back, neck and ribs from a single piece of maple. Incidentally I got this particular tonewood (p) from https://www.tonewoodforviolin.com, and for the Frankenmould, from https://www.internationalviolin.com. I do like seeing and selecting the wood from the websites, though I'm not sure I know what to look for. I do prefer a broader, random flame pattern to a tight and consistent one, but I do like both pieces. I didn't measure the density of the back for this project, but will in the future. The tops (not yet jointed) are .38 and .40 respectively. The lighter top has a couple of darker lines along it's length. I'm not overly bothered by this but I wonder if it could be lightened somehow. I've also accumulated more tools than I have found places for, so my bench is more often a disaster than a good working environment, but I'll try to hide the mess from view when sharing photos of my progress. With any luck, I'll at least learn some more lessons about 'what not to do'... and eventually the 'what to do, and how to do it' will be all that's left! Hopefully I don't destroy too much tonewood in the process. This will take a long time as I'm not afforded many opportunities to get in the shop these days, but I truly enjoy the work and hope that I can get to the bench as often as possible. My Frankenmould is attached for those interested... I realized after the fact that I can't cut out the block templates if they're adhered to the mould... Frankenmould-A-v3a.pdf
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The owner got these two violins from his music professor through different channels. He was surprised to find that the labels on the two violins were the same. Please comment on these two violins, thank you!
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As I read some conversation here, I found some of the experts can tell if the violin constructed by BOB or inside mould by a just a photo. I wondering how and which part of the violin can tell the method of the construction. Just curious and would love to learn about it. Thanks -
This is my moms old violin that she inherited from her grandpa a long time ago. I am wondering if it is authentic and if it is, what is its value? (Not looking to sell just curious of my family history)
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Has anyone ever tried the small-batch Deja "Soloist" Rosin? What were your thoughts?
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Hello everyone, I want to give some background to contextualize my need for a luthier to consult with on a custom electric violin My name is Cooper; I'm 24 years old and have been playing fiddle for about 19 years. I am classically trained and also grew up playing country music, particularly Western Swing. I'm from Bakersfield, CA and I am very proud of "The Bakersfield Sound," Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, etc. Currently I play in a Bakersfield Sound band with my brother and our friends. So much fun! Mosrite was a Bakersfield based guitar company that left its stamp on country music and music in general. With artists like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, Fender, a California brand, rose to prominence because of the Bakersfield Sound. Why do I bring up electric guitars when I'm looking for a violin? Well, I am looking for a custom luthier to make a guitar shaped electric violin (filled body, non-acoustic), one either in the style of Fender Telecaster or a Mosrite Ventures model. The idea is not completely unfounded (check out Mark Wood's "Katana" and "Legend" electric violins). I do wonder how realistic it is to make one. I have some details in mind (shorter body, issue of bow clearance, putting a "saddle" on the neck where it would sit traditionally on an acoustic violin, geared pegs, guitar-esque tail piece or regular one, fingerboard height, etc.) Of course, these issues should be fleshed out in more detail with whomever is interested. It would be ideal to discuss price range first too. I am new to this forum. If you have public contact information (website, business email, etc.), please do share! Or, let me know what way is better to get in touch! Thank you so much for your time and consideration! Cooper
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Hi there I have an old-looking violin, purchased in the 80’s. At the time it was attributed to Andrea Castagneri. Would you agree with this? It doesn’t have a label and doesn’t look like your typical Castagneri violin, but has some similarities, I agree. It was recently valued for insurance purposes by Bromptons at £13,000. Thanks for your input in advance!
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I've bought 2 bows from a current auction, I would like some common and identificaiton on those bows. The W.E Hill&Sons one looks a bit doggy to me, because the wood does not look like pernambuco to me and I don't think that happends to a legit H&S bow. The HRP one has a crack on the bottom but has been repaired, anyone knows if that's gonna affect the playability?
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My violin had a sick sound for a while, and I took it for repairs. The top was removed, and cracks on the top plate fixed with cleats. Some work was also done on the varnish. The sickly, weak sound is no more, and there are nice overtones on every string. The G sounds great, the D is fine, but the upper register and particularly the A.... it has become nasally. As if it has its nose clogged. This wasn't an issue before the repair. I tried moving the soundpost closer to the bridge, but that just made the overall sound harsher. I tried a different, longer soundpost, placed more towards the center of the violin, again no effect. I changed the tailgut, from kevlar to a nylon one, no real change. I also put a new A (thomastic dominant), didn't change much. Is there anything else I could try? Or ask for a luthier to check? Another thought I had, was maybe the violin just needs time to adjust after having the top reglued? It's only been a couple of weeks and I haven't been really playing much on it (due to the fact that I don't enjoy it that much anymore). Thank you
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Hello, Could you please give me your opinions on the build quality of this violin. I am sorry for the photo quality, will try to get some better ones later.
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This thread is about building a violin which doesn't follow a symmetric outline for ergonomic purposes. At the same time the weight was initially kept at the bare minimum to find out in which parts of a violin mass and accompanying stiffness is needed to produce a 'good' sound. It was the idea that starting from unconvential patterns and working with a different concept would necessarily and automatically lead to failure. Thus this would have become additional proof to the idea that the violin seen as a concept of classical makers can't be improved. While this seemed to be true at the beginning, it came clear in the continuation of various constructional experiments, that a different construction concept at least seems to be possible. As said, it was in the first place not the goal to produce a violin with 'superior' sound characteristics but while experimenting with the violin useful hypothesis were elaborated to link constructional features with various characteristics of the sound. Princples were tested and judged by playing the instrument as well as recording sound spectra for objective comparison. Currently this project finds itself at the turning point from being merely experimental. (Andreas Preuss, Tokyo, 2021/5/11) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Though the original introduction of this thread has outlived itself, I believe that the general mindset is still valid. Serious violin making must not always follow already explored paths and even if there is the risk of making something foolish, there is ALWAYS the benefit of learning from unusual experiences. Everything below is the unaltered original text of this thread: Here you can follow me constructing the super-light violin. It will be the craziest thing I ever made and please don't take it too seriously. It is the violin maker joke from my workshop. But at least I am serious enough to make it the most professional way I can imagine. So following the footprints of Antonio Stradivari everything starts with a drawing. I decided to throw over board symmetry as well and came up with the funny design below. To save weight the length is only 351mm and all distortions follow the 10 percent rule which means that one f-hole is 10 percent longer than the other.
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1743 German violin is date correct or close? I want to make a decoration of it but don’t want to mistake the date on it. thanks in advance.
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My violin's sound suddenly became weak and hollow one day. I brought it to a luthier and they glued an open seam that had appeared on the top plate, on either side of the neck of the violin. The sound was good for a few days, then a buzz developed. Brought it back and they re-glued the same seam (it had reopened). After this last visit the sound is almost as weak and hollow as it was before bringing it for repairs, but a different luthier could find no open seam or any other issue with the violin. I am at my wit's end, can't bring myself to play the damn thing anymore and really would like to avoid having to get a new one. What can I do now? Is it possible that the seam repair was poorly done? I won't attempt to fix anything myself but maybe there is something I can ask a luthier to do. Thank you
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Hello everyone, I am about to embark on restoring this violin to playable spec and keen to understand where/when it was made. Originally when i purchased it five years ago from a seller who advised that it had been appraised and is "most likely" a circa late 1920's German Trade violin. Frustratingly the label doesn't tell my inexperienced eyes very much. If anyone has the skill to assess what it might be /when/where it was made I would be rapt. Otherwise any suggestions on who in Melbourne Australia is best placed to take a look at it (for a fee naturally). Thanks
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Hi there, Im finally having my first attempt at varnishing a violin. This is a violin that I bought off Ebay, with the purpous of varnish experimenting, trying different varnish techniques etc. (The violin was literally painted over, so I felt no guilt in stripping the paint) My question for this topic is: When you varnish, must the varnish be perfectly even in both color and texture? Or do you even out the color when you are "rubbing it down"? Also, when do you actually "rub the varnish down"? After it has completely dried? And what would you use to "rub it down"? Thank you, and I look forward to reading your replies.
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Hello! I have had this violin for a little while and I would like to know more about it. On the inside it says “Tone ____ and Repaired by A.W Van Dorsten, No. 542 Maker Dec. 1916” I also am really interested in the design on the back, and would like to know more about who could have put the design on it, and if it was common to have that design. Thank you!
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Today my 91 year old Grandma gave me her old Violin inside a case with 2 bows and asked me to find out what I could, she doesn’t remember much about the Violin anymore. She did say she played it last over 30 years ago but when she played, she played, she was a hippie. A few things, I know nothing about Violins, there isn’t a label in the Violin, it’s well loved. Inside the case I found what I think was the original bridge? It has DRESDEN carved/stamped into the wood. There is a bag full of wood pegs she had previously used. One of the bows looks to be Ebony with some type of pearly shell and is stamped DODD. The other is very similar but has a circular dot on the side of the ducky? and is stamped B & S Stienman, I think. Aside from that, there were Heisel (sp) Replacement Strings, some Rosin and a product made by W.E Hill. The body is 14 inches and with the head it measures approximately 24” Thank you for any information and help! Michelle
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https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/instruments/violin/luthier-dishwasher-violin-torture-instagram/ I must be missing something; this seems incredibly stupid, sort of the insane art that was really trash, popular in the 80's or so. Or has classic fm stooped to new lows?
