Violin Forum/Message Board

[John Cadd]

My old violin from JTL with the Medio Fino sticker was bought on a market stall for £5 about 15 years ago . So why do I call it a Tramp violin ? Well the fingerboard has mother of pearl markers to show all the standard finger positions from open string territory . The board had been worn down by long hard fingernails and the ebony has worn more than the mother of pearl so it is a bumpy surface with deeper scarring from the hard nails that have left pressure scars .The thin varnish is a deeper mauve but fairly intact with a small singe mark near the left soundhole.That was most likely done from cigarette ash dropping off while he played . That`s not being too sexist to imagine it was a male player . That`s why I christened it as a Tramp Violin.
No matter how well it was set up the tone was always disappointing so I lifted the lid to see what was wrong with it .
The bassbar was in a good position.One edge still showed a line of hide glue .It was about 3/8th inch too long but the angle was good .Two cracks internally did not show on the surface just between the soundholes and the edges on both sides of the plate .The most glaring fault if you like symmetry was the position of the neck block .It was offset to the bass side. The treble side almost lined up exactly with the edge of the neck.The bass side stuck out sideways 12mm in contrast .
The bassbar depth of 12 mm looks ok .Thickness of the spruce top is 3.5 mm in every direction . The back which is Beech wood is 4mm also in every direction . That may give a warmer ,less soprano tone .
I took off the fingerboard with a sudden click. Hot hide glue was still used in France when these were made .
Many pieces of linings had gaps instead of close contact with the sides. I used the thin nozzle of the fish glue bottle to fill in the spaces .I dont want the thing to unravel completely . By the way I used a steamer with a one mm outlet (nozzle?) to open the top .If you start with a knife /spatula to get a start you need to pull back enough to have a crack about1/8th long which is ample for the steam jet to work .Each application of steam releases another inch as the spatula slides silently .The amount of water entering the violin is minimal .It`s dry steam which releases the glue instantly .A tiny bit longer time is needed at the corner blocks .
The neck has been cut off to fit a new top block.Getting the neck stub away from the body needed a small Chinese drill with a one mmm drill bit .The work resembled what woodworm do if they have the appetite .It was safer than sawing and no stress on the ribs .The use of wet tissue to loosen the neck join had to be balanced to protect the centre join.Small sharp chisels and knives gradually chipping and cutting achieved a clean surface ready for a new block. The neck wood itself was very dense and put up a good fight .

[John Cadd]

The neck block is glued in place.It was shaped before fitting and is now central .The top is faulty simply because the area near the soundpost is thinner than the rest of the plate.Any vibration has to fight it`s way uphill against thicker wood .
Edgar Russ recommends the top is about 2.8 to 2.7 mm thick . Even with that the soundpost area is still thinner .

[John Cadd]

If the top wedge is sawn instead of split the two plate halves with have the fibres slanted at opposite angles when they are glued together.This is shown near the centre internally where a machine has cut in one direction to hollow it out .One side of the centre join is smooth but the opposite side of the seam is still rucked up and not scraped smooth .It`s worst when a scraper has to be used in the "reverse "direction to cut cleanly . It`s all evidence to indicate what the sound quality might be .
The spruce wood in these old violins is more brittle but it`s also tough . I`m not sure if adding purfling when none was there is a good idea .This JTL has thin black lines inked in . It does not attract any attention for that . Adding purfling to a smooth varnished surface creates a technical problem best avoided . Purfling from scratch on new wood gives the chance to work though each stage in a well known sequence .
The back was thinned down following the Johnson and Coutnall book instructions. It`s a lot easier than fretting about coloured patches on Strad posters with tiny measurements scattered all over . Whatever you do it will become as bumpy as a poster picture anyway .The sound may not be any worse for that .
The Heron Allen fold out page showing Strad thicknesses seem far too thin but I used that chart for my first attempt at a replacement belly made of Parana pine. It was never seasoned but made very nice tone . That was what other orchestra members said . I made a spruce top to replace it . That worked well but was not so good .It deserves to have a new violin made around it .
I do not worry about plate tuning with the back still attached to the ribs . It is what it is .Much of the Courtnall and Johnson book refers to Carleen Hutchins. One piece of advice is not to cut along the grain which could create splitting . Which reminds me of a photo of Hutchins cutting straight along the belly with a 3 inch splinter coming up . The Japanese aways cut across the grain and keep the tools sharp .Never trust wood to cooperate .

[John Cadd]

Cutting off the neck may seem extreme but I had carved away some of the neck while experimenting with different hand positions to reach the higher positions . The neck curve was beyond repair . This violin was so cheap I disrespected it ,so to speak .But a new Chinese neck will not detract from the sound or function .
While cleaning the rib edges before fitting the top again I noticed the top left bout lining was below the edge surface
I applied damp tissue on the lining and popped it into a plastic bag overnight to stop it drying out.The lining lifted off easily next day . This method worked on the hide glue exactly as it does with Fish glue. Repositioning the lining and gluing with a row of pegs has cured that problem . These factory violins are not refined enough to insert the lining ends into the corner blocks .
The back has been regraduated but I put 2 new cleats on the back join . There were 4 originally but 2 were planed away . It gives a hint of originally . The basic Medio Fino label had been wetted and lifted off .That is back in place now .It would seem a bit pretentious to add another label to boast about my efforts . I can`t think it would sound worse now .It follows all the well known "rules" for violin building.

[John Cadd]

The top is safely glued back in place. The new neck block is willow and I will make a secure joint for the neck . The area that was under the fingerboard had not been properly varnished.It has small thick blobs of varnish colour. The looked black but when scraped they turned to red brown powder .It seemed poinless to leave it like that . I scraped it down to the surrounding colour and covered it with a film of finishing oil.There was a small bare patch of wood where varnish had flaked off below where the bridge would stand. Now that is ambiguous . So Not where the bridge Should stand but half an inch away from where the bridge should stand . Further South if you measure everything with a compass .That was given a thin dab of finishing oil as well . It can be coloured in later .