Kology Violins: May 2011

5/26/11

Knots...whatever.

This violin surprisingly does not suffer in sound, despite the two large knots in the top. I don't envy the person who had to carve, and scrape this evenly. The knots must have taken some time to work into an even surface, with some wacky chisel moves around the swirl in the grain.

5/25/11

Fingerprint Varnish.

This fiddle has a cool fingerprinted varnish. something I had not seen yet. The gradation in the finish is done by layering varnish thickly using your fingers and supplementing with brushing on and polishing off further layers. the upper bout of the back looks like leopard spots.

5/21/11

Fingerboard Shaping.

Sometimes results are slow in the coming. This is an afternoons work shaping fingerboards and fittings. The pile above is about the size of my hand. Fingerboard blanks are pretty big and need a lot of material removed. To the right are two boards one new and one shaped and finished. the size difference is pretty apparent. below is the board and nut ready to be glued into place.

Scroll Scale

Here are a set of scrolls. You can see the quality of carving improve from top down. Getting a nice even ascention from step to step with each curl is a good indicator of quality. The scroll, while contributing nothing to the sound, is a nice indicator of the overall quality of a violin. If you know what to look for that is.

5/11/11

Best fake label.

People always ask about and, for some reason, trust their violins label. The truth is they may as well all be like this. Its rare to find one that is 100% factual. and most are utter lies, or half truths. I understand the impulse to cling to a nice easy to read label written in fake latin or italian. but never trust a label. The only important thing is how the fiddle is made.

Anyway..this made me laugh, and inspired me to make my own faked labels.

Luthier jokes are terribly rare and inside.

anyone?

(..crickets..)

My Philosophy on Fiddles

I believe that the violin is an instrument that stands alone in it's versatility, history, and accessibility. Its application in music is nearly universal.

My Philosophy is that nearly any fiddle can be worth playing. I think that the mystique of the violin can seduce anyone and it is in part this fact that leads many luthiers to utter the phrase: " I could fix it but the repair would cost more than the fiddle is worth." In my opinion this is rarely the case, and a very sad state of affairs. My own Violin that I play joyfully every day had this phrase uttered in reference to it. I shudder to think of other fiddles that sound as sweet as mine ending up in a dumpster or being poorly repaired by an uneducated repair person.

I find value in an instrument through its ease of play, sound output, and to the least extent its prominence. With this idea in mind, I repair and assign a price to these repairs on a basis of the potential of the violin as a tool to make music. That is what I pride myself on and that is the type of musician I truly appreciate.

I love to meet beginners. This is the most difficult time with the violin as it can seem viciously unforgiving at first. Much of this is due to beginners getting their hands on a violin that is terribly set up. The changes in playability that come with a correct and custom set up are unbelievable. Intonation, fingering, bowing, speed, volume control, tuning, and playing comfort can all be tweaked through a correct setup.

Part of this difficulty for fledgling fiddlers can be attributed to using standardized measurements rather than customizing for the individual. It is remarkable how sophisticated a beginning fiddler can actually be. Much of this sophistication is overlooked as it is unknown, untested, and often beginners lack the language to describe what they need or what they naturally require. With this in mind I encourage the beginner to try as many violins as possible! And get a personalized set up!