Violin Forum/Message Board

[famuswood]

I think it would be really cool if we had an instrument gallery of all the violins members have made that they wanted to share with the group. I know members can post their instruments (violin, viola, cello, bass) from time to time under the various topics, but it would be nice to have them all in one place, just to get an idea of what is out there. Just a thought. . . Anyone have an idea of if or how this could be done?

[Andres Sender]

You've done it. Just encourage people to post their instruments in this thread. The title says it all.

[famuswood]

You are right Andres. It couldn't be much simpler than that. I hope makers are willing to share their joy and hard work. Maybe someday it could even become sortable by maker. Please everybody - if you are comfortable sharing your work, please do so in this topic. I know for me it is always a joy to see new instruments.

[Dave Chandler]

Dave Chandler -- OP10, a Strad 1716 finished last month.



_________________
Dave in the Blue Ridge
Southern Violin Association

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm" Winston Churchill

"I took the road less travelled, and now I don't know where I am." Marco Polo

[famuswood]

The concept of a gallery didn't really take off. But in the spirit of the idea, here is my first violin with several coats of thinned dewaxed shellac, yellow varnish, red/brown varnish, added artist oil (burnt sienna) and one clear coat of varnish(should I do another clear coat?). It is not stellar by any stretch but the process seemed to go smoothly and I was pretty happy with the color. My first violin has some dimensional issues mainly because of the conflicting information in the books I first began using. I really have been enjoying the process and hope to improve with my second violin. Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[mr_violin]

I like the color.

I wonder how it sounds?

I never made a violin as of yet ,but I have tryed varnishing 4 violins .

I ended up with about the same color as yours. I have mostly dark finished violins, so I like these because they are different.

Larry Lewis

[famuswood]

Thanks for your post. As a matter of fact, I'm about to put the A and D strings on within the hour for the first time. I just finished shaving and chamfering the bridge. I'm hopeful it will have at least a moderately good tone.

[famuswood]

I strung up and played this violin for the first time today. Needless to say, I was very excited! It has been a long journey. My expectations were not too high but to my surprise this violin sounds pretty darn good. The G and D strings sound rich and full. The violin sings out well with surprising volume. The only notes I was concerned about were Bb in first position on the A string and F in first position on the E string. Those two notes sounded a little boxy to me. A half step higher on both the A and the E strings and I don't hear the boxiness. The violin plays well up and down the neck with no wolf tones, rattles, etc. Sounds quite even from bottom to top. I'm very thankful for all the help I received from everyone on this site.

[Dave Chandler]

Nice Scroll! A good looking violin.

The b flat on the A string is perhaps the toughest to figure out, and seems to persist in many first violins. I'm thinking it may less to do with construction and more to do with the bridge or some other setup issue. Not sure on the F, that's a new one on me.

Check string lengths, make sure the tailpiece hasn't sneaked up toward the bridge on you as things settle in. Play it hard for a couple days, maybe some of the boxiness will go.
_________________
Dave in the Blue Ridge
Southern Violin Association

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm" Winston Churchill

"I took the road less travelled, and now I don't know where I am." Marco Polo

[Dave Chandler]

Here's a Strad I finished late December, didn't string up till I got back from the winter in Arizona. Fabulous sound, lots of volume. The top is Appalachian Red Spruce, gathered last May at 5000' altitude in the Smokies with special permit.



The back is maple from Don Barnes in Alberta, Canada.

You know how they named Canada? They decided they would draw letters to make 3 syllables from a scrabble board, the drawer started pulling them out one at a time and announced..... "C -- ay" "N -- ay" "D -- ay" and it was done!



Sorry about a little dust on the final photo, didn't notice it till I came back in with the camera...


_________________
Dave in the Blue Ridge
Southern Violin Association

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm" Winston Churchill

"I took the road less travelled, and now I don't know where I am." Marco Polo

[famuswood]

Thanks for your comments, Dave. Since then I have been playing the instrument quite a bit, and surprise of all surprises, the boxiness has virtually disappeared on those two notes and it seems to be warming up. checked my string length and it is correct.

I saw your violin and really like the way the color came out. I would like to build a darker instrument and your comments on your varnishing sounded really interesting. I will have to experiment

[Dave Chandler]

Famouswood:

Henry Stroebel has a paragraph on Wolf Tones in his "Useful measurements for Violin Makers". Here's an exerpt...

"The wolf occurs when a strong body vibration intereferes with the string vibration. It is frequently found at the second finger, first position on the second string" ... (That's the C on the A string, I've found it more often closer to the B)... "and on the same note in higher positions on the lower strings. ... It is less severe in more highly arched instruments. Too think a top or too heavy a fingerboard may aggravate it. (Excess wood should be removed from the bottom of the fingerboard, as a general rule.) Adjusting the post, a stiffer bar, or lighter strings may help. Several kinds of 'WOLF ELIMINATOR' are found ranging from the makeshift wine bottle cork wedged under the tailpiece to those described here..." and he goes on to describe wolf eliminators in general. One of them is something that you glue inside the top, its position determined by putting a piece of putty on the outside about 45mm below the left f-hole. "the effect is least at the rib and increases as it is moved toward the strings..."

So, theres some ideas on how you may eliminate the wolf tone, if you're not anxious to go into the instrument, at lease you can pull the fingerboard off and take some of the excess wood underneath, something I generally do even though they come already shaped, I still take quite a bit more out.

I've heard this putty thing before, might be worth trying that, I suppose the weight of the piece you glue under/inside the top would equal the putty amount that gives you the best effect, at least you can try that without doing too much damage, and just might make it a terrific instrument.

Finally, I've found that it is less common with succeeding violins I've made, perhaps because I pay more and more attention to my accuracy on evenly graduating my plates, and tap tones on the fingerboard.
_________________
Dave in the Blue Ridge
Southern Violin Association

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm" Winston Churchill

"I took the road less travelled, and now I don't know where I am." Marco Polo

[famuswood]

My violin is playing quite well now. No wolf tones and getting warmer. I lowered the action at the nut and it plays quite smoothly now. I'm eventually going to lower the bridge a little to improve the string height and playability at the upper end of the fingerboard. I'm concentrating on my second violin now which is the Titian Strad Poster. I have made the rib template and the mould and have my blocks glued in. My eyes are much wider open on this second attempt.