Beaux Eau Posted March 19, 2007 Report Share Posted March 19, 2007 Okay--so I heard about cleating the back seam for extra strength. But--can anyone explain this top (other than the Attack of the Cleat Monster?) (sorry - still haven't figured out that live link thing . . .) tem">http://cgi.ebay.com/Old-violin...VWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesley S. Boyd Posted March 20, 2007 Report Share Posted March 20, 2007 Ok, I am amazed. Here are my straight up lies. 1. It was done in support of a crack prevention program. 2. After sanding the top to 1 mm thick, it was decided that the cleats were needed to build the top back up. 3. Each piece of cleat is resonantly tuned to a musical note. 3. The violin was placed on a tire balancer and this is where the weights were placed to adequately spin the instrument on the tip of a finger. 4. If you look at the inside the top for a long enough period of time, you will make out a picture of the space shuttle. -Wes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bean_fidhleir Posted March 20, 2007 Report Share Posted March 20, 2007 I imagine whoever did it just considered the top to be too fragile to survive without them. That's a lot of cracks! What's interesting to me is that the seller seems to have managed to get almost all his photos out of focus. That takes skill (of sorts). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stradivari Posted March 20, 2007 Report Share Posted March 20, 2007 must be the work of an amateur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richf Posted March 20, 2007 Report Share Posted March 20, 2007 If the violin had lots of cracks, I don't see that the repairman had much choice -- whether amateur or professional. Actually, looking at the top, the violin looks pretty solid. Bet it will sound great. Mittenwald, early 1800s is my guess, although the c bouts are a little peculiar. Any other guesses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bean_fidhleir Posted March 20, 2007 Report Share Posted March 20, 2007 My first thought (fwiw) was maybe a vernacular baroque fiddle. Haven't we seen a lot of fiddles like that made by somebody in a village for use in church? Lots of woodworking skill, and good musicians, but no real access to models. So they have to do it all by memory and they end up with a well-made fiddle that looks "off". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richf Posted March 20, 2007 Report Share Posted March 20, 2007 Somewhere I've seen a photo of the inside of some famous violin where the great number of cleats made it look like Frankenstein's monster. The closest I can come is this pic from the Alf Studio, showing just one section of a Guarneri top: http://www.alfstudios.com/Shop.../process_img/dg19.html . The cracks comes with age and use. I guess the trick is not to avoid cleats, but rather to make the cracks invisible on the outside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Holmes Posted March 23, 2007 Report Share Posted March 23, 2007 I think most restorers are in agreement that over applicaton of cleats isn't a desirable thing... Some nice instruments collect more than their fair share over time. How many is actually too many must be applied per case... but sometimes the sheer number used is overwhelming. Below is a link to an old patch and cleat usage thread... and although I couldn't find it with a quick search, Michael D had a great photo of cleat ovedose a while back as well. Cleat & Patch thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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