Heirloom Restoration

This heirloom was given to the owner's father as a boy, when the prior owner was killed in WWI. He grew and played professionally until his retirement, and his daughter now wants it repaired for her grandchildren...
There was a long split in the face, with a second crack alongside the bass bar. An edge of a waist had been eroded, as well. Also, there was a lot of mold in the face varnish, which had also been totally worn away in some spots.

A thorough clean inside, matched spruce grafted in along the edge waist with some new purfling, splits glued and cleated, and new finish to match the body.

Strung with a matched set from the instrument's own case, and it sounds wonderful - a true soloist's instrument.

Rogue's Gallery

 Over the years my workbench has hosted many instruments that have been damaged in ways that should not have happened.  Here are a few of them:

1.     Violin bridge - hot-glued to the instrument:

2.    Double Bass - a neck repaired with two screws and a bolt:

3.    Markneukirchen Violin (Late 19th Century catalogue instrument) - the inside of the face could never be seen, so why go to the effort?  Rough gouging with what passes as a bass bar carved out.  Pictures are before and after I finished the job, 100 years later:

4.   Scissors wielded by child - pointy end into an 1877 violin.  I glued the pieces together, and then fitted a cross-grain filet into a shaped recess behind the face.

Violin f-Crack

 February 2025

This is an heirloom instrument of some value.

Made in (estimated) the 1890's for the German trade, it is a classic Maggini copy (extra turn in the scroll, double purfling) from an extraordinarily highly-flamed maple, with the neck likely carved from the same timber.

There had been an earlier single-cleat repair on a long f-crack, but the single cleat had not kept the crack from opening again.

Removing the face showed the repair history, with a second (smaller) crack cleated alongside the major crack.

As replacing the cleat would not suffice, I cut a cross-grain filet from some larch that I had already sized (see my post about a dulcimer build!).  A sharp pencil outlined the filet when placed over the crack, and some careful work with a scalpel and carving chisel soon excavated a light recess in the violin face.

Some fresh hide glue was used on both surfaces, and the filet was then clamped in place for a few days for the glue to properly cure and set.

The glued filet was then dressed down to a shallow curved profile that was lower than the original cleat.  By cross-graining it the filet gives a greater structural strength to the face along the crack without sacrificing tone.

I then reinstated the face, and late completed the normal set-up (soundpost, check-ream the peg holes, lubricate the pegs, restring).  The chin-rest was a little tired, so some linseed oil rejuvenated it nicely.

Result?  The violin has a tone worthy of a soloist's instrument, with a warm rounded sound, no treble squawk, and precision of pitch and clear projection.  Ready for another century of playing!

Guitar Bridge

February 2025 

This classic guitar had been recovered from a skip by a guitarist who only saw the case.  It had (criminally?) been strung with steel strings, ultimately tearing the bridge off.

As with all glue repairs, the process was to thoroughly clean and dress both surfaces - body and bridge - of all residue, down to the timber.  The guitar face is of small thickness, I carved the cross-hatch keying into the bridge only.

On an acoustic guitar with a body bridge, the bridge is the point on the guitar that is under the greatest tension.  Accordingly, the glue must be ridiculously strong. Also, on both surfaces take care that the glue is bonded to the entire surface and will not easily drag off.

Once glued, the bridge was clamped tight enough to push excess glue out around the edge.  This glue was left in place, so as to not smear.

The clamps were removed after three days, and the excess glue was trimmed off using a scalpel, and a bead of shellac run around the edge to seal the join.

When restrung, the strings were not brought up to full tension for a day, and then re-tuned twice a day for the next week to both stretch them in, and to ensure the integrity of the bond.

Bow - Larch #1

 This was made a trial, testing the suitability of larch as a bow wood, as opposed to the traditional pernambuco, which is losing favour owing to the need to preserve the amazon rain forest. 

The larch was a remnant from a dulcimer build.  I will also make sticks from Casuarina, Rimu, Matai and Kauri.

The curve was cut in, rather than bending a straight stick.  Cutting the curve maintains the integrity of the grain, and heat-bends can straighten over time if the environmental factors are not controlled.

The tip is lined with bone, shaped from a sheep scapula.

I carved the frog from a piece of Rimu, with a pair of abalone dots inset on each side.  I used a vinegar/steel wool dye to darken the frog wood prior to polishing.

As this was a trial to assess the suitability of larch as a bow wood, I dressed it with old hair recovered from a broken stick - as such, the hair is a little shorter than ideal, but I will rehair it at a later date.

Violin - Kowhai #3 2024

 

 

Violin - Kowhai Design #3

This instrument is the youngest, being completed in May 2024.  It is currently being played-in, but is still available for any interested players.

Sourced from Switzerland, the back and ribs are maple, and the face is spruce.  The body design is the same outline as used for the Kowhai violins. 

The face is carved from spruce, with f-holes cut long to help with the voice. 

The neck is of conventional measurements, and from maple.

The instrument is finished in a combination of pure garnet shellac, and a single coat of my shellac/rosin varnish.

As with other instruments of my Kowhai design, I carved a Kowhai flower and leaf motif around the back of the scroll.

As with my other instruments, the fingerboard, chinrest and tailpiece are all carved from the same piece of Rimu.

Mandola

 MANDOLA

This is a bespoke Mandola, created using recycled native timbers.

I created it for a performer, so included a pair of piezo contact mikes.  The face and back are from a Kauri board that I had to mill down to the right thickness (chisel, plane, sand...).  The sides are larch, using remnants from the Appalachian dulcimer.

The neck and faceplate are Rimu - the faceplate is dyed (iron and vinegar) black and shellacked.

I laid a sheet of Teak veneer over the fingerboard before fretting.

All in all, a tidy Resonator Mandola that has a great, rounded tone.

Here are images from its construction: