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Rick M Member
Joined: 18 Sep 2016 Posts: 65 Location: Okotoks, AB, Canada
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Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2017 11:38 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the comments guys.
Ken, did you guys get "iced up" again? or was that further east? |
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Mat Roop Senior Member
Joined: 24 Mar 2007 Posts: 911 Location: Wyoming Ontario
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Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2017 7:36 pm Post subject: |
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Hey Ken... where was the crack? An extra sip of that medicine you have , and you'll never notice!
A common problem is where the saddle is fitted too tight.... then the crack starts at either end of the saddle where the plate can't shrink
Cheers, Mat |
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Rick M Member
Joined: 18 Sep 2016 Posts: 65 Location: Okotoks, AB, Canada
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Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2017 12:37 am Post subject: |
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Mat, I expect you were looking for response from Ken, but thought I'd put this in.
It appears to me that this kind of f-hole crack is fairly common too. I guess I'd like to hear a little bit on this. Is this kind of crack (this location) just because that is where the plate is weakest or most vulnerable to damage? Or is there a carving technique or something that mitigates it in better instruments?
Second, since it's not an uncommon repair, is there a technique to use to reduce the visibility of the repair? I saw something on guitar repair that used a mild oxalic acid solution to lighten. |
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ollieken Super Member
Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 281 Location: New Brunswick Canada
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Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2017 12:53 pm Post subject: Mat |
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Hello Mat The split was in the top joint seam & one away from the saddle . The neck was broken off at the slots where the ribs to go into
also no neck block .I was told how to glue it up & pin it with a wooden pin
Rick No we missed the ice the second time & Mat you know that a little .sip of the medicine made by the lite of the moon helps sometimes
not to worry NB gov .& Justin will have all us seniors on Marijuana soon
& we wont have a worry & I will be able to throw my walking cane away Yipeeee
ken |
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Rick M Member
Joined: 18 Sep 2016 Posts: 65 Location: Okotoks, AB, Canada
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Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 11:00 pm Post subject: |
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After a long delay I finally got this one finished up and playing again.
So all in there was;
- cheek repair
- new neck block and reset neck
- patch a couple of cracks
- new bass bar
- re-graduate both top and back plate
- new fingerboard and nut
- new saddle
- new pegs, sound post, bridge and strings
Everything ready to go, I happily strung it up and it sounded........AWFUL!! Really, truly terrible........
But, having read lots of the adventures of others I persisted. I made some adjustments to the sound post and bridge and after a week or so of being strung up and played it has settled down to be a nice fiddle. It has a bigger voice than I expected but I think that with a little more time and use it will be a pretty good student instrument.
All in all a pretty good project to learn on. Thanks for the advice - here and on a couple of other threads.
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Mat Roop Senior Member
Joined: 24 Mar 2007 Posts: 911 Location: Wyoming Ontario
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Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 9:01 pm Post subject: |
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Good work Rick!
what's worse for me than a fixed fiddle that sounds awful when you first tune it up, is one that sounds great and then goes downhill after a few days and weeks... that is discouraging.
Give your fiddle some time ( couple of months) to settle in and then make a new soundpost, do various ajustments one at a time. You will be surprised how well it can respond.
Also... when not in play, keep it out in the open exposed to voice/noise/music... that will help liven it up.
One other thing I like to do is give these old instruments a varnish rub... finger rub varnish into the cracks and dents & all over ... then immediately wipe it all off fairly thoroughly... that leaves just a micro thin layer of violin oil varnish. That does not affect the character and livens up the look. I do about 1/4 of each plate at a time |
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Rick M Member
Joined: 18 Sep 2016 Posts: 65 Location: Okotoks, AB, Canada
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Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2017 10:56 pm Post subject: |
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Mat, thanks. Good suggestions, I hadn't thought of varnish. I sealed a couple of spots with shellac, but didn't want to go too far down the path of "refinishing." I'll give that a try. |
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Mat Roop Senior Member
Joined: 24 Mar 2007 Posts: 911 Location: Wyoming Ontario
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 1:37 am Post subject: |
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Yeah, touching up with spirit varnish or shellac is a tricky task... it can go down hill real fast! ... that is why I use just oil based violin varnish for touch up.
Cheers, Mat |
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