Violin Forum/Message Board

[Fiddlegal]

I know of someone who "revoices" violins by regraduating them. What do you think of this? I have reservations about owning one (I don't).
Feel free to poll and comment.
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[John Cadd]

Prime targets for regraduating are old German and Czech instruments that have excellent arching but when you peer inside with a lamp and mirror to see the bottom side of the top you could be horrified at the deep gouges and the crudely carved in bassbar .I had one like that with a fake Italian label . As it was it had awful tone. Generally the wood is much thicker than it needs .Strad posters have all the information you need to be creative without being silly . One example I have ,the back is so thick you could have tried to make a Cannone copy . That needed a proper bassbar too .If you are in doubt weigh the violin without a heavy chinrest . The back has small dimples inside where the thicknesser gauge was used. That was a good sign . Wear and tear around the chin area showed it had some use.Inside the tops was skimped to save time and money while it was out of sight .Adding blocks is going in the right direction .Some features of violins are proved to make good sound.Sadly the top thicknessed badly was not one of them .If in doubt make your own original violin with a thick top and deep gouges with a carved in bassbar .Wrong angle and thickness --and see if anyone will buy it . Then add a label inside -Do Not Regraduate !

[Michael Darnton]

If someone regrads your violin there's no going back if you don't like it. This is the kind of thing that should be done between owners.
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[John Cadd]

What about Chinese ,unvarnished violins ? Or violins made before you were born , before your granddad was born? Or violins that have been severely damaged and would otherwise be thrown in the fire ? It would be like the French destroying paintings that might be fakes or copies .I suppose the disaproval instinct has to be fed .
Should the French destroy every violin with a Stradivari label ?

[John Cadd]

Fiddlegal asks an interesting question .Would Fiddlegal have reservations about playing a regraduated violin with a real label? What about a genuine regraduated Stradivari ? Still got reservations ? Most original Cremona violins have different necks from the original instruments . Would the reservations extend to those? The new neck may change the sound enough to make it viable in a large concert hall .It will be louder .But it`s different . It probably won`t have gut strings either . Certainly not the original gut strings .
Reservations about violins can get a bit Taliban if it gets really serious .Not like an old timer with his favourite garden spade."It`s a great tool.It`s only had one new blade and two new handles".