Violin Forum/Message Board

jwalker · Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2008 2:05 am Post subject: Hardanger fiddles

Hello all, new to the forum here. im really interested in making a hardanger fiddle and want to find some information on how the symapthetic strings work. anybody know about this? or just anything anybody knows about these things, so far I havent been able to find much information on the rest of the web, but i get most of my knowledge from forums anyways. i really enjoy the forum and im getting a lot of info reading through it.
Thanks
-Joe

chrisandcello · Junior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2008 Posts: 18 Location: UK

Here's an interesting conversion thread that may be worth viewing for general info.....

http://www.fiddlehangout.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=979

jwalker · Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2008 5:23 pm Post subject:

Oh yeah thanks, I actually read that last night right after I posted this thread. That was really cool, and she finished it and everything! I actually tried that before on a (very) cheap fiddle i had bought in mexico for about 15$. but i could never get the sympathetic strings to work. maybe they were to thick (0.009). or maybe i didnt have them close enough to the other strings, which I've read should as high as possible without touching the underside of the fingerboard. anyways does any body have more info at least about sympathetic strings? I've heard a viola D'amour is supposed to have them also. I hope we could keep this thread alive as there is hardly any info out there about hardangerfele's and no forums for them, at least that I've found.

Mat Roop · Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2008 8:27 pm Post subject:

here is alink that might lead you to good info... http://www.hfaa.org
Cheers, Mat

jwalker · Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 2:22 am Post subject:

Ok, just finished this hardanger type fiddle. its my first fiddle so please tell me what you think. when it was still in the white i strung it up with the understrings too and i had them working, but you can see in these pictures they arent on yet. it sounds pretty good, a little quiter than other spruce top fiddles ( this is african mahogany, maple back and sides, mango fingerboard,tailpeice chinrest and pegs.no purfling). i put about 4 days total of work into it. but a nice tone and evenness across the strings. the strings are red label medium, do you think if i changed to a heavier string i could get more volume? I think ive heard of orchestra rated strings as being louder, i dont know much ive only been playing fiddle for about a year now.

jwalker · Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 6:12 pm Post subject:

Hmmm... Although im pretty happy with the mahogany sounboard, i wish i could find a better alternative that i could find locally. i havent found spruce here. i can get poplar or pine (from home depot), anyone know how these might work? its pretty much a rainforest here but mostly hardwoods and palm trees. i guess i could get cedar to, which ive heard is close to spruce. but is it really important how the grains are layed out? ive noticed on all other fiddles they are cut so the grains are side by side so you can see parrallell lines (is this called qaurtersawn?) rather than layed out flat. also the different body style makes it a little bigger that a 4/4 violin maybe 5-10% bigger. should i make the f holes bigger too? longer or wider?
Thanks for any answers.

Mat Roop · Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 1:06 am Post subject:

jwalker · Posted: Fri Mar 21, 2008 10:12 pm Post subject:

Well lets just say i have pretty unorthodox plate carving techniuqes,
i used to do a lot of fiberglass work, so a 4 inch soft disk grinder is like an extension of my hand, i use that to do my "rough gouging" then finish up with sand paper.
thanks but its nothing compared to most the work ive seen on here.