Not fully blocked and lined and… bass bared

[Guido]

[LCF]

Seems a bit basic. 

[Gtone]

Has a wonderful 12 though.

[jacobsaunders]

This is presumably a cheap fiddle from the Salzkammergut, about 1830ish. Just goes to show, if you squeeze the price to much, the violin-maker will just leave bits off

[David Burgess]

I found "bass bared" to be an interesting, fun and creative description of a violin which shows no evidence of ever having had a bass bar.

[jacobsaunders]

6 minutes ago, David Burgess said:

I found "bass bared" to be an interesting and fun description of a violin which shows no evidence of ever having had a bass bar.

Interesting that it seems in relatively good condition after the best part of 200 years. Perhaps we are wasting our time with all that  linings and bass bar crap

[LCF]

Although it is minimal the handwork looks competent. It seems like a rational decision, if you have to leave something out it's probably better to have a violin with a sound post but no bass bar rather than a bass bar and no soundpost.  And you might even get a better result by leaving the top a bit thicker towards the bass side to save another minute or two of carving. 

 

The soundboard wood arrangement is similarly hasty. 

 

PS the glue cleats are natty. 

Edited June 8, 2024 by LCF
PS

[jacobsaunders]

9 minutes ago, LCF said:

Although it is minimal the handwork looks competent. It seems like a rational decision, if you have to leave something out it's probably better to have a violin with a sound post but no bass bar rather than a bass bar and no soundpost.  And you might even get a better result by leaving the top a bit thicker towards the bass side to save another minute or two of carving. 

 

The soundboard wood arrangement is similarly hasty. 

The Salzkammegut makers, who were farmers in the summer, got more and more “minimal” as you put it in in the 1830/1840 period. You should remember that they were competing (on price!) with the Schönbach wheelbarrow merchants, and their public was largely a folk music one, or parsimonious clerical school teachers. When the railway was invented, and tourism started, the violin-making largely died out

[LCF]

If you had a mind to do it how quickly do you think you could make an instrument like that? 

Perhaps a speed building event would be fun at a violin makers gathering.

[Delabo]

Thanks for posting this! You have answered a question I asked on here a few years ago. The question was about a fiddle I own that is BOB construction, but has opposing  mitres on the top and bottom bouts which this one also has. Mine has been  attributed to circa 1800 to 1820. So it would seem that at the point the OPs violin was made they were still making an effort to give some sort of mitres to their violins. Now I see one with top off it is obvious why they did it this way. The C bout ribs stay thick,and the top and bottom bout ribs are thinned to give opposing mitres. Thanks!

 

 

[Don Noon]

34 minutes ago, jacobsaunders said:

Interesting that it seems in relatively good condition after the best part of 200 years. Perhaps we are wasting our time with all that  linings and bass bar crap

You could make a fiddle like that, and in 200 years it will be in relatively good condition since nobody will ever play it, or even take it out of the case for any reason.

[Andreas Preuss]

1 hour ago, jacobsaunders said:

This is presumably a cheap fiddle from the Salzkammergut, about 1830ish

Just for my own learning purpose:

Where is the difference to cheap Schönbach violins with set through neck? The missing linings?

55 minutes ago, jacobsaunders said:

Perhaps we are wasting our time with all that  linings and bass bar crap

In some sense many things violin making could labeled as a waste of time. 

[LCF]

1 hour ago, Don Noon said:

You could make a fiddle like that, and in 200 years it will be in relatively good condition since nobody will ever play it, or even take it out of the case for any reason.

That's hard to know without actually playing it.   

[jacobsaunders]

11 minutes ago, Andreas Preuss said:

Just for my own learning purpose:

Where is the difference to cheap Schönbach violins with set through neck? The missing linings?

In some sense many things violin making could labeled as a waste of time. 

They can indeed be difficult to tell apart sometimes. Missing linings are more a Salzkammergut feature, they usually have bass bars, but sometimes only alibi ones about 10cm long, so it looks like it has one when you look through the sound hole. Also the bottom block is sometimes with lying annual rings (on the slab if you like) although you can also see this occasionally from Schönbach. In Skg, the painted purfling normally finishes beneath the button and has 3 crosses instead etc., but I’m often at a loss, which one is which

[Guido]

On 6/8/2024 at 6:49 PM, Gtone said:

Has a wonderful 12 though.

Wait till you see the matching 4s!

The seemingly original spruce core fingerboard doesn't have much wear, which should answer some of the questions about condition and the violin having been played much or not.

As for the missing bass bar, yes, the plate is just thick instead! Arguably, there is an integrated bass bar without the wood around it being removed. It's a fairly even 45-55mm thick and weighs 101g (yeah, the top).

[Gtone]

Is this getting the full treatment?

[bungling_amateur]

Quote

45-55mm

Is there a missing decimal point somewhere in there?

[Guido]

2 hours ago, bungling_amateur said:

Is there a missing decimal point somewhere in there?

Oi. There is.