Attachment 173683 A while ago, a friend came to me with a repair request. It wasn't a mando, but he was desperate for any help. His wife's concert grade violin had been crushed and was told it was unrepairable. He brought it to me and it was pretty bad. I've done some mandolin repairs, but thought this was well above my skill level. We took his pocket knife and was able to pop off the back to see the inside. It was really bad. The neck was separated with a part of the back broken off at the heel. The back had two separate cracks, one running from above the center cutouts all the way to the end block. But the top was the worst. There were seven splits and an entire piece broken off on the base side upper bout. To add more, there had been a repair done to a three inch crack many years ago. But it was cleted and all held very well. All of the damage was left in the hard case, all of the splinters were there except for a pin head size piece that was under the bridge. That was the only spruce that had to be replaced.
Not being into that kind of music, I told them that I would try, but that I know nothing about violins and their setup. And, there could be no promise of restoring the sound or that the thing might just cave in when done. Even if it was to end up a wall hanger, they wanted me to try.....
Long story short, after a couple of weeks I got it all put back together. I was fearful of putting any finish on it but they insisted. A bluegrass player would have been proud of those war scars. But we are talking about long hair music. So they took it to a professional and had it set up with a new bridge and strings...
So just before Christmas, I was treated to a concert with some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard. This instrument was over 200 years old and sounded so sweet. Just to think of all of the people over the years that this violin has brought enjoyment to. It was worth every second of work to also see the smiles on their faces. She has several other instruments besides this but this one was her favorite...…...
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