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Type: Posts; User: Stephen Perry

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    Re: French Polish Final Coats

    Exactly. Alcohol polish. Very carefully. Practice on junk!!

    And I'm not looking for a gloss as much as a gleam!
  2. Re: Stephen Perry updates, shop running again, located N. Va.

    I considered a retail shop in Old Town Alexandria, one of the walk ups. But folks expect one to show up, keep regular hours, be friendly, be dressed, all that difficult stuff. If I had a business...
  3. Re: Stephen Perry updates, shop running again, located N. Va.

    Thanks all. I'm actually doing pretty well, overall, was stretched very thin for a good while, spent a lot of time in hospitals and rehab! It's nice, but demanding, to have a family of sorts back...
  4. Stephen Perry updates, shop running again, located N. Va.

    Greetings mando peoples. Things have settled down sufficiently that I'm starting to touch mandolins again. I'm just outside of Old Town Alexandria, VA. After fits and starts, my shop is fully up...
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    Re: Eastman 314 vs 514

    Long ago, the differences in production were nicely explained to me:

    An experienced old guy loads up his cart with wood. He goes to the carving room. He distributes the prettiest wood to the...
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    Re: Refinishing a Flatiron F5?

    I've used chemical strippers, but only when I knew what they would do. Easier to get by with if a very dark or antiqued finish is going on!

    Mechanical removal is the sensitive approach. A friend...
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    Re: Toning down a bright instrument

    I distinguish harshness from brightness. Lots to be done to smooth things out, take "too bright and harsh" into "brilliant and luminous." Doesn't always work. Really changes violins!
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    Re: Making an Eastman Sing

    More to it than picks. Look up my how to do mandovoodoo post, somewhere in here. Lots of warmth and sweetness in the Eastman line. Just have to bring it out.
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    Re: Eastman 514 vs Eastman 515

    Attack especially is different. And the tonal consistency between lower and upper registers. Night and day to my ears.

    I have to say I like the F hole better by a goodly margin, although I...
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    Re: Mandolin to Violin

    Violin is pretty easy. No frets to trip over, and a big stick. But only if you have excellent trained hearing for intonation, and can relax into the instrument.

    The Stringworks instruments are...
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    Re: Abandoned instruments???

    Fun times. I've had those oddball elements in cases. In general, one also wants to learn about bunches of other things when one's property is in another's hands. What happens if the bailee goes...
  12. Re: Red Spruce uses in musical instruments question

    Some of us will quietly slip red spruce into violins as bass bar material, without mentioning it. Just an example!
  13. Re: What can I expect in quality from upgrade?

    "For the most part, yes. Mandolins are finicky little beasts where minor tweaks can yield significant differences." This is rather true. Some of the things that ultimately made a substantial...
  14. Re: Anyone make an 8-string (4 course) violin?

    Interesting sound. I can see that the changes from a normal fiddle involve at a minimum wider neck at the nut, and a custom tailpiece. Were I making one (which I could be talked into), I would...
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    Re: Loar LM 700 VS information

    The bridges were a bit soft and clunky. Cumberland Acoustics made a bit of difference Mainly fitting. These always responded to my mandovoodoo work well. Some were really excellent at that price...
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    Re: Abandoned instruments???

    State law issue. Well developed in NC. Read and consider: https://www.nctreasurer.com/Claim-Your-Cash/For-Holders-Of-Unclaimed-Property/Pages/Forms-and-Guides.aspx
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    Re: A mandolin/violin relative price story

    Setup is so much. I like making my slightly fat soundposts like this: https://trianglestrings.com/soundpost/
    Peg fitting isn't a thing to ignore https://trianglestrings.com/fittingpegs/
    A real...
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    Re: A mandolin/violin relative price story

    Hey Jeff! Cool stuff. I noticed the American work is often hard to kind of place in the schools.

    I made a bow once. Ended up with about a $400 student bow as to performance with about as much...
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    Re: A mandolin/violin relative price story

    Thank you: "Years ago I got my wife a violin setup (case, bow included) from Stephen Perry for about 5 bills. I am a pretty good judge of tone in acoustic instruments, and to me the thing sounds flat...
  20. Re: Really neat little jig for sharpening small chisels

    I'm glad I never realized that the small ones were difficult!
  21. Re: Differences between various Eastman A models?

    Re differences: A room full of people carving tops and backs. An old guy brings in wood. He hands the wood he thinks is prettier to the people he thinks carve best. Lots of noise in that system....
  22. Thread: New Guy

    by Stephen Perry
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    Re: New Guy

    As mentioned, setup. Two things hard squeezers have in common are 1) ergonomics are not efficiently allowing accurate movement and relaxed finger use, and 2) fretting isn't right up against the...
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    Re: How do YOU sharpen your finger planes?

    Main thing is to not have a corner exposed. I shape the edge to a curve where I get the bite I want in the middle, but fades to nothing at the sides. I make overlapping trenches in the wood, with...
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    Re: Were I to take up the fiddle ...

    That's been my experience. And when I played gamba a lot, I kept finding myself trying to push the frets a little for better intonation!! Rather odd feelings.
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    Re: Were I to take up the fiddle ...

    Fiddle is easy. Big stick, and no frets to trip over!
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