Inside my violin, there is a small cracks, does it affect sound?

[alex2036]

Just brought a violin for my son who is learning how to play violin.

I was happy to get this violin for $140.

However, when I got home and looked inside, there is a small crack on the inside of back plate on bass bar side partially covered by the label,so I don't know how long the actual crack is. (Ps: thankfully, the Crack is not on soundpost side) see photo 1 and 2.

The outside of the back is perfect, no sign of any crack at all (see photo 3).

Correct me if I am wrong, but it appears to me the crack is not from dropping but caused by originally tree nut/drying process (the edge of crack is dark/balck), so who make the violin may consider the crack?

Do this crack affect sound? (It sound good at the moment with the crack. Will it sound even better if fix the crack?)

Do I need to fix it, or just let it be? 

Many thanks in advance 

 

[GeorgeH]

12 hours ago, alex2036 said:

Do I need to fix it, or just let it be? 

Let it be. It looks like it might be worm damage.

[Brad Dorsey]

Leave it be.  It is not in a highly stressed area, and it is stabilized by the rib.  And, fixing it would require major disassembly of the violin -- either removing the back or removing the top and the C bout rib.  The cost of this would be many times your purchase price.

The only way to determine if it affected the sound would be to compare its sound with that of an otherwise identical violin without the crack (or whatever it is).  In other words, it is impossible to know if it affected the sound.

[GeorgeH]

9 hours ago, alex2036 said:

I recently noticed there is a horizontal crack which I dont think I ever noticed few years ago (not sure if this crack is new or was there before).

13 hours ago, alex2036 said:

Just brought a violin for my son who is learning how to play violin.

I was happy to get this violin for $140.

However, when I got home and looked inside, there is a small crack on the inside of back plate

I am curious as to why you changed your story from one thread to another.

[Don Noon]

1 hour ago, Brad Dorsey said:

The only way to determine if it affected the sound would be to compare its sound with that of an otherwise identical violin without the crack (or whatever it is).  In other words, it is impossible to know if it affected the sound.

Any "otherwise identical" violin will sound different anyway, so that would not tell you anything.  

IMO this defect (not a "crack") would not have a noticeable affect on sound, and even if so, it might be better or worse.  Not worth worrying about.

[HoGo]

Looks like exposed pin knot. The first mandolin I built has pin knot going all across one half of back mostly on the outside. No problem in tone or longevity after nearly 25 years.

[Riccardo964]

$140 (£104)? I 'waste' that on only a good back and belly these days!

Quite a bargain...

 

[FiddleDoug]

Since you can't see it from the outside, it's probably a resin pocket or knot. Probably OK as is, but if you're worried about it, a good luthier could install a cleat across it. This could be done through the f hole, so it could be done pretty non- invasively.

[alex2036]

Hi George, 

Sorry for the unclear. My was complicated.  The full background, is brought this violin for my son who were on 1/2 at the time. So i stored it for future.

 

Later on, a friend of my heard i have a 4/4 violin at home, she want borrow it for her daughter who just moved to 4/4. So I did. They had a year or so until now.

 

When I got my violin back from them, I notice the crack when I was checking and cleaning. 

So in one of my threads, I leave them out, and in one of them I have them in as I just got violin back from them as additional considerations.

Hope this full explanation helps clear out your questions 

 

[Lisa Chamberlain]

5 hours ago, GeorgeH said:

I am curious as to why you changed your story from one thread to another.

It’s a choose your own adventure post!  I guess they both lead to the same ending anyway. 

[FiddleDoug]

22 minutes ago, Chamberlain said:

It’s a choose your own adventure post!  I guess they both lead to the same ending anyway. 

Yes, but what's the real story??

[Altgeiger]

5 hours ago, GeorgeH said:

I am curious as to why you changed your story from one thread to another.

There are lots of reasons someone posting anonymously might obfuscate a bit. We don't need to be the Truth Force.

[Riccardo964]

9 hours ago, Altgeiger said:

We don't need to be the Truth Force.

it is similar behaviour in IT, the user telling different stories as to why the laptop is misbehaving... and "they never installed anything", and "it was working yesterday"  go with the flow, accept the multiple story variations  

[Mark Norfleet]

On 6/1/2026 at 2:35 PM, Altgeiger said:

There are lots of reasons someone posting anonymously might obfuscate a bit. We don't need to be the Truth Force.

He merely said that he was curious.

[Greg Sigworth]

Just a thought: one might expect a crack to go in a longitudinal direction and not in a transverse direction. Then this would not be a crack but possibly something else. Just a thought.

[FiddleDoug]

On 6/1/2026 at 2:35 PM, Altgeiger said:

We don't need to be the Truth Force.

Perhaps, but we all should expect truth when dealing with people (As opposed to AI hallucinations), and very often, changing stories are a sign of a potential Troll.

[GeorgeH]

On 6/1/2026 at 1:06 PM, alex2036 said:

Hope this full explanation helps clear out your questions 

Yes, thanks, Alex.

On 6/1/2026 at 2:35 PM, Altgeiger said:

There are lots of reasons someone posting anonymously might obfuscate a bit. We don't need to be the Truth Force.

Yes, there are. And there are lots of reasons this is not a good thing.

[Brad Dorsey]

4 hours ago, Greg Sigworth said:

...one might expect a crack to go in a longitudinal direction and not in a transverse direction. Then this would not be a crack...

You are correct that a grain-based crack would run longitudinally.  But it's pretty safe to assume that whatever we're looking at is flame-based, because it runs transversely, so it could be a crack running along the flame.