Violin Forum/Message Board

John Cadd · Posted: Wed May 01, 2024 7:18 am Post subject: Carved in Bassbar.

This is a restoration subject .What is the best action to take when the inside surface of an old violin is a disgusting mess? The general surface inside was like a half started job of gouging the wood with clear gouge scoops running down and a "bassbar" crudely carved out of the surface itself. Too short and thick at the bottom end and thin at the top .The outside ,varnished surface was completely normal for a violin. One ripple in the upper bout was smooth outside but ragged and rough inside . The label inside referred to A&H Fr Amati but the date was 200 years too late for them . It`s a long pattern and a bit narrow in the body .The inner surface of the back was smooth and professional in appearance . This violin was given to me by my sister after the previous owner had passed away and left them the house . The bow inside the case was a very nice French model by Nicholas Duchene which works really well .

Michael Darnton · Posted: Tue May 07, 2024 12:34 pm Post subject:

That's basically a bottom end German factory violin. They look really nice on the outside and bad everywhere you don't see. I'd also suspect it doesn't have upper corner blocks.

The right approach is to replace the bar with a real one if you can smooth the top in that area without getting too thin. It's good to have it smooth around the post, too. The rest doesn't matter, though you can thin it if/where it is too thick. All of the roughness won't hurt the sound.
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John Cadd · Posted: Wed May 08, 2024 6:38 am Post subject: carved in bassbar

Yes the parts out of sight had been left very untidy .Overall the thickness was mainly just over 5 mm with a patch in the upper bouts at 2.3mm . The glue holding the top on was far too strong .I made sure to clean all that off .And there were no corner blocks but the linings had been very neatly fitted right into the corners . It seems to indicate a mental state to have such a sharp cutoff between outside and inside . Maybe it was a desperate way to stay in business . Internally the ripple in the grain had chipped out near the edge and a square 1/4 inch had been glued in sideways to put the edge level . The rough sawn surface that meets the ribs was a clue to cutting corners .
This violin has been in my house for years and it was a fill in project so close to getting my cochlear implant fitted . I had a chance to repair the old case too while it was near the bench . Handles and hinges can be revived or replaced using a rivet gun . The aluminium rivets split 4 ways inside to spread out and hold the papier mache material . I also mended an aluminium ladder with this thing .

Michael Darnton · Posted: Wed May 08, 2024 7:13 am Post subject:

An acquaintance of mine whom I only see at concerts said his cochlear implant was such a good thing that concerts sounded better afterwards than he could remember them ever sounding before. Amazing tech! Hope yours went as well.
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John Cadd · Posted: Thu May 09, 2024 5:06 pm Post subject: Carved bassbar

Thankyou .The implant was activated 6 days ago , and today the first adjustment to volumes was done. Amazing amount of sound compared to almost nothing a few weeks ago . I had no drawbacks from the surgery. No pain or taste effects . Just some vertigo that may peter out . I bought a bandurria as a distraction before this. I had to sort the strings out and get the pegs working smoothly . The tone is very sweet . Last week it was tinny . I made it into a six string instead of 12 string . I don`t like strumming . I was busy repairing 4 cases that needed hinges and handles .