Folk Art Fiddle Help

[Chamberlain]

I have this folk art fiddle made by Oakley C Brannon. From what I have found he was a lover of music, played multiple instruments in bands and must have enjoyed making these style fiddles also. At least 88 of them?? (In US Florida Area?)
I realize it’s not going to win any violin beauty or tone contest awards, but I do respect passionate makers’ work and would like to set it up nicely and try to protect the wood. 
Any suggestions on what the wood is and how to best protect it when this wood and “natural” approach is used? 

[Brian in Texas]

My gut says it looks like an all chestnut fiddle. The grain itself is very walnut looking, but the coloration is way too light to be walnut. Ergo I think it's chestnut, as they are very closely related species. The neck seems to be laminated with chestnut and a central core of walnut. Fingerboard looks like rosewood, and the tailpiece appears to be rosewood with a huge streak of light sapwood. Very peculiar choice, but the maker was likely limited by their stock available to them.

I'd protect it like any other instrument. Try your best to keep it from experiencing excessive heat, cold, and sudden extreme shifts in temperature or humidity. When you're done playing every day, wipe any rosin dust off the strings and the top to prevent it from building up over time. Basically, keep it from looking like this picture below. This is bad. It adds excess weight to the strings, makes them less responsive, and damages the finish.

[Chamberlain]

1 hour ago, Brian in Texas said:

My gut says it looks like an all chestnut fiddle. The grain itself is very walnut looking, but the coloration is way too light to be walnut. Ergo I think it's chestnut, as they are very closely related species. The neck seems to be laminated with chestnut and a central core of walnut. Fingerboard looks like rosewood, and the tailpiece appears to be rosewood with a huge streak of light sapwood. Very peculiar choice, but the maker was likely limited by their stock available to them.

I'd protect it like any other instrument. Try your best to keep it from experiencing excessive heat, cold, and sudden extreme shifts in temperature or humidity. When you're done playing every day, wipe any rosin dust off the strings and the top to prevent it from building up over time. Basically, keep it from looking like this picture below. This is bad. It adds excess weight to the strings, makes them less responsive, and damages the finish.

Thank you. The only thing laminated I have like this is my cutting board and I do extra steps to maintain that. (Which it oddly reminds me of )  But it’s new to me in a violin. Just wanting to make sure it doesn’t need anything extra with the dryness here since the finish is very minimal. 

[Brian in Texas]

In that case, do the same as you would for a laminated cutting board: Don't put it through the dishwasher.

[Chamberlain]

8 minutes ago, Brian in Texas said:

In that case, do the same as you would for a laminated cutting board: Don't put it through the dishwasher.

You mean after I slather it in board butter I shouldn’t just throw it in the dishwasher? 

[Brian in Texas]

Oh, that's wild. Looks like the same wood choice and everything.

[GeorgeH]

How's that cutting board sound?

[Chamberlain]

1 hour ago, GeorgeH said:

How's that cutting board sound?

After some good ole beeswax and oil she’s playin Cacklin Hen like a champ! 

[Matthew_Graesch]

It looks incredibly similar to those made by a guy here in Iowa circa 70s to 90s.  He hade hundreds of them and many of the characteristics (neck, button, scroll, etc) are extremely similar.  I have a few of them around the shop as curiosities.  I agree, it may not be made to high standards, but you have to appreciate that someone cared enough to follow whatever whim they had. I like it.

 

[Brad Dorsey]

9 hours ago, Brian in Texas said:

...it looks like...chestnut...

The chestnut that I am familiar with -- the near-extinct American chestnut -- looks a lot like oak.  The wood of this fiddle does not look like oak.  Ergo, it's not chestnut.  I have no idea what it is.

[Brian in Texas]

Maybe white walnut, then?

[Chamberlain]

5 hours ago, Matthew_Graesch said:

It looks incredibly similar to those made by a guy here in Iowa circa 70s to 90s.  He hade hundreds of them and many of the characteristics (neck, button, scroll, etc) are extremely similar.  I have a few of them around the shop as curiosities.  I agree, it may not be made to high standards, but you have to appreciate that someone cared enough to follow whatever whim they had. I like it.

 

Thank you. I am not sure if he was always in FL or not. I will try to look him up a little more. Yes I agree. I do appreciate his passion and work enough to try to keep it nice for him. 

[Marty Kasprzyk]

13 hours ago, Brian in Texas said:

Maybe white walnut, then?

Pecan wood might be a possibility.  It often has both light and dark color areas in a board.

[Chamberlain]

17 hours ago, Brad Dorsey said:

The chestnut that I am familiar with -- the near-extinct American chestnut -- looks a lot like oak.  The wood of this fiddle does not look like oak.  Ergo, it's not chestnut.  I have no idea what it is.

Do you think it could be Ash? I showed it to my dad who’s pretty good with woods and he said it kind of looks like an old ash baseball bat but wasn’t sure about the dark parts. 

[Marty Kasprzyk]

3 hours ago, Marty Kasprzyk said:

Pecan wood might be a possibility.  It often has both light and dark color areas in a board.

 

3 hours ago, Marty Kasprzyk said:

Pecan wood might be a possibility.  It often has both light and dark color areas in a board.

Hickory is another one with widely different colors.

The ash, chestnut, and walnut woods I've used have mostly uniform colors.

[Spelman]

Did he exclusively use local woods? Weirdly looks like acacia or even olive to me.

Acacia (not me in the pic):

Olive:

[Chamberlain]

4 minutes ago, Marty Kasprzyk said:

 

Hickory is another one with widely different colors.

The ash, chestnut, and walnut woods I've used have mostly uniform colors.

Thank you! I will look into these to try to match it up. 
Do you have any suggestions for the very matte finish? I’m not a maker nor an expert on varnishing techniques. It just feels as if it wasn’t sanded or sanded down after applications enough or burnished?  Or when it’s wet to raise grains and then resanded? Etc Do you think it’s ok that way or should I try something to protect it better? 

[Chamberlain]

5 minutes ago, Spelman said:

Did he exclusively use local woods? Weirdly looks like acacia or even olive to me.

Acacia (not me in the pic):

Olive:

I have no idea! I don’t know too much about the maker. It’s a second hand fiddle that I’m just giving a little love to to get it set up and playing a little nicer and possibly trying to protect the wood if needed. 
It does definitely give cutting board vibes though.  Those are some beauties too! 

[Brad Dorsey]

4 hours ago, Chamberlain said:

Do you think it could be Ash?…

No.  I am very familiar with ash; I cut a lot of if for firewood.  In addition to the different grain pattern, I have never seen ash with dark areas like that.

[LCF]

5 hours ago, Chamberlain said:

I have no idea! I don’t know too much about the maker. It’s a second hand fiddle that I’m just giving a little love to to get it set up and playing a little nicer and possibly trying to protect the wood if needed. 
It does definitely give cutting board vibes though.  Those are some beauties too! 

I instantly thought acacia. It looks much like some of the smaller types of 'wattles' that grow prolifically here.  Africa also has a wide assortment and they are grown in plantations everywhere else. 

Local types are a great source of gum arabic fwiw. 

[Chamberlain]

12 hours ago, LCF said:

I instantly thought acacia. It looks much like some of the smaller types of 'wattles' that grow prolifically here.  Africa also has a wide assortment and they are grown in plantations everywhere else. 

Local types are a great source of gum arabic fwiw. 

Thank you! It does definitely look like it could be that. The gum arabic is interesting too. I will try to look up the wood density. It sounds dull and nasal currently so trying to adjust set up to help it out a little.
With it being so prolific it’s too bad it couldn’t be used for bows like bamboo. It would make an interesting looking bow. 

[LCF]

Just now, Chamberlain said:

Thank you! It does definitely look like it could be that. The gum arabic is interesting too. I will try to look up the wood density. It sounds dull and nasal currently so trying to adjust set up to help it out a little.
With it being so prolific it’s too bad it couldn’t be used for bows like bamboo. It would make an interesting looking bow. 

It is used for non-violin instrument bows in some countries. It tends to be a bit splitty also lightweight but there is a huge range of types. Koa is one I believe.

[LCF]

Hmm yes, What's a wattle? is now a  question with a complicared answer.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia

But acacias/mimosas are distantly related to most of the more interesting woods including caesalpinia. And peas.

I've given up collecting the huge knobs of gum you can find on acacia pycnantha, golden wattle, since I don't have much use for it but it makes an interesting beverage dissolved in water and as a base for things like Turkish delight. 

 

I don't think you'll be able to work many miracles with the sound of that fiddle. Perhaps interesting to accept it as-is and work out what types of  music it can produce.

 

For instance

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabeca#:~:text=The rabeca or rabeca chuleira,descended from the medieval rebec.

 

[Chamberlain]

1 hour ago, LCF said:

Hmm yes, What's a wattle? is now a  question with a complicared answer.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia

But acacias/mimosas are distantly related to most of the more interesting woods including caesalpinia. And peas.

I've given up collecting the huge knobs of gum you can find on acacia pycnantha, golden wattle, since I don't have much use for it but it makes an interesting beverage dissolved in water and as a base for things like Turkish delight. 

 

I don't think you'll be able to work many miracles with the sound of that fiddle. Perhaps interesting to accept it as-is and work out what types of  music it can produce.

 

For instance

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabeca#:~:text=The rabeca or rabeca chuleira,descended from the medieval rebec.

 

Not to be confused with a turkey wattle because I have about 40 of those waddle through my yard on a regular basis 

I did look up the gum and that is interesting the number of uses that has and medical use also. 
The acacia varieties seem to also have a large range of density, flexibility and heartwood variations. Finding the ideal one could be challenging. I did see someone posted on attempting to make a bow with it but had challenges. I would think there could be potential to work with it for bows like bamboo. Maybe in a hybrid to help with the weight. 

I just looked the rabeca up and found a YouTube short about their sound and history. What an interesting and fun traditional instrument! With its use in culture and folk type bands I can see it being like these US folk art fiddles.  Lots of creativity and an anything goes mindsets. Love it! Thanks for sharing that.