O/T a touch of lutherie

[rabbitgirl]

Many of you know I am a violinist by trade andalso am a luthier (lutherie is the craft of repairing and/or buildingstringed instruments, especially violins).

In April, after 5 years or more of searching and a year of negotiating,Ibought a replacement for my beloved "little Strad", apowerful deep-voiced German Strad copy I still love to play. However,as my style changes, I needed an instrument capable of more subtlety.It was a quest of many years and many many violins, but I found abeautiful French Lupot copy with a tone like crystal and a thousandshades of color in its voice.

Unfortunately, like the little Strad, it needed huge repairs. Therepair bill was nearly $5000, and very complex reconstruction wasneeded.

I am very thankful to be a luthier, because I was able to fix it myselfat no cost. It is currently in several pieces, to be rejoined tonightafter three days of hard work. I was up at 5:30 this morning to finishlast-minute patches.

Most old violins have patches--the real Stradivaris have many!--but theaverage old instrument has about 10 or less. I believe my little Stradhas 7. My Lupot has 22. Each patch, or cleat, iscarefully made and placed by hand, and the whole process takes hours.While it looks odd, the cleats do not affect the sound of theinstrument but will greatly prolong its life. To make matters worse,some IDIOT varnished the inside, a real taboo, which means thatin order to place each patch I have to scrape off the varnish verycarefully in order to let the cleats adhere. Added lots of extra timeand problems to this job.

This is my new-old instrument:

Belly

Back

Ribs and neck

Inside of back

Inside of top (notice the little white patches--3 days work!)

While it looks sad all taken apart, I am very pleased with the results!The top is much stronger andshould hold up to my playing now.

Sorry for the OT post! I will be good now!I'm just excited to be almost done with the repairs.

Rose

 

[LuvaBun]

Rose, it looks beautiful. What a wonderfultalent to have - not only to be able to play one of these wonderfulinstruments, but to be able to repair them as well. I wish I could hearyou play - I think violins have the most lovely sound.

Jan

 

[naturestee]

Even taken apart, it's stunning! I hadno idea you played the violin- especially not professionally!That's so cool! My brother's instruments aren't quite thatbeautiful. He plays jazz and classical guitar. Hehas one more semester of college to go, and then we'll see how he makesit in the "real world."

 

[RosieRoo Jones]

it's too bad that i can't see he pictures, there is just little x's on the page

 

[bunnydude]

Wow! That is AMAZING!

 

[pamnock]

rabbitgirl wrote:

. . .with a tone like crystal and a thousandshades of color in its voice.


Rose

Wish I could hear you play someday --I'll betitsounds fabulous. Quite an accomplishment to beable to restore and play such an instrument.



Pam

 

[lyndsy]

WOW! Thats pretty neat.

Too bad we don't have any sound... I bet you sound awesome!

:monkey::monkey:

 

[Jenniblu]

Your violin looks sobeautiful,Rose. I can't believe how accomplished ineachfield. I've always wanted to play a violin, butnever learned. I like listening to stringed instruments andparticularly like"Bond" the all-female string quartet - theyrule!

 

[rabbitgirl]

Well, the parts have been reunited!!!!Crossing my fingers and praying for a good tight bond!!! The glue driesfor eight hours--it's hide glue,the standby of luthiers formore than 400 years.Very touchy. Gluing is an art in itself.

For some odd reason violins have gender to me, and thereforethe little Strad is the "King" and the Lupot is the "Queen", in thegrand old tradition of naming great instruments--i.e., "Le Messe"Strad, "Eugene Ysaye" Strad, "Cannon" del Gesu, etc. Theyare a lovely pair of instruments. It will be several months before Imake the final transition to this new one as my main violin. ButIhope to keep them both.

I wish you could all hear it, but I don't do it justice yet. You reallyhave to live with a violin to make it sing, and I've only playedit three times or so, as it's been toofragile. There is asaying thatmost musicians playtheirinstruments--violinists live with them.It's true!!Most violinists are very very attached to their instruments!

It will beabout six weeks before it "heals" from "surgery"and the wood settles in again. Those six weeks will be full ofadjustments to the fittings as well. It's a beautifully craftedinstrument and should sound great after that.

Anyone who wants to learn violin--never too late!!!!It's soworth it. There's nothing like the almost human timbre of a violin,andthere's so much emotion in it.

I'm all violin-happy tonight.sorry!

Rose

P.S. naturestee, the "real world" is kinder to musicians than mostpeople think. Couldn't ask for a more fun job!!! Tell your brother goodluck!

 

[sfritzp]

rabbitgirlwrote:

with a tone like crystal and a thousandshades of color in its voice.

Oh, you do have the passion of a gifted musician!
I play accoustic guitar - not real well but I enjoy it immencely - andI love visiting good guitar shops, in search of the one that 'plays andsounds like 'butter'.
Now, what that means - is hard to explain if you are not a guitarist -but a guitarist knows exactly what 'butter' means... :inlove:

That instrument is beautiful! May you be blessed whenever you touch it and make it sing!

 

[rabbitgirl]

thanks!

"Butter", eh? Violins are described like fine wines.....thedescriptions get rather funny sometimes since they are so flowery.Butter makes sense though--and you know it when you hear it!

Rose

 

[FreddysMom]

im in awe !

 

[Zee]

My sister used to play the violin when she was little.

She still has the 3 that she played. Unfortunately they need a little repair work done, then my nephew can have a go at playing.

Beautiful instruments, amazing sound that they make.

 

[sfritzp]

rabbitgirl wrote:

Butter makes sense though--and you know it when you hear it!

"Like butter" is Jewish expression I beleive, and roughly translated means "smooth and sweet".
It might be a 'New York' term - but it says it all!

 

[rabbitgirl]

lol, it sure does!!

Zee, violins do make amazing sounds, both good and bad.Hope your nephew enjoys his once they are repaired!

Rose

 

[bluebird]

My aunt and neice play the violin,i am not musically gifted i like to sing but im not good.only in a choir.bluebird

 

[rabbitgirl]

It's alive! Itsaliveitsaliveitsalive!!!!!!!!!

Folks, we are up and running. The new violin is strung up and sounds,oh, very beautiful and not describable. Wow. The best of all possibleoutcomes. That was major surgery!!

Just completed the fittings today to make it playable. Had beencrossing my fingers to see if it would work after the reconstruction,and boy oh boy did it ever. I am SO happy. It's always nerve-wrackingto see if the tone remains the same after a totaloverhaul. Ifit's changed, it's better.

Wow. Wow. It almost made me cry. Can't believe it's mine.

Five months later, and she sings again.It about killed meto take it apart after only playing it a few times. Haven't heard itsince, until today.

Rose

 

[Pet_Bunny]

GoodNews Rose! :bunnydance:

I love the sound of violins. I could listen to it all day. :inlove:

Rainbows! :dude:

 

[ariel]

Congratulations Rose and well done!:star::clap:

I can hear the passion in your words and it's truly amazing.

Maybe you could do a recording and post it on here so we can all hear!
I know a recording may take away a bit from the real thing but if you have the time to do a recording I would LOVE to listen!!

If you run windows ( I say that because we use firefox) you could usethe recorder thingy in your entertainment section of your programmes.*hint, hint*

In saying that, there's no pressure,,,, well not much anyway LOL (jkn)

 

[sfritzp]

That is WONDERFUL!!
Congratulations!
Kinda like bringing a 'new life' with a beautiful, unique voice into the world!