March 1, 2012 at 6:42 PM
My sound post had been replaced about 6 times and nothing would help. Then, miraculously at Schuback Violin Shop in Portland, Oregon, they managed to see that there was a culprit: a worm! Sometime between when the instrument was last opened (1927, as is shown by the pencil signature on the inside top) and 2012, a worm snuck into my violin and began eating it away. The bass bar and all.So... after some extensive repairs, my violin is almost finished. It still needs a new sound post again, after two weeks of playing it settled and needs a slightly larger one.
This has been an adventure for me, but I'm glad for posterities sake and for my symphony excerpt repertoire's sake that the mystery is finally solved of the moving sound post, and that I can successfully play now without much else to intervene. That is... for now... :-)
--Ann Marie
A couple of years ago I was doing some web searches and came across an article about the restoration of a worm-eaten violin. I think it was either a Strad or a del Gesu, and a lot of careful cutting had to be made to its back to remove as little wood as possible. But in the end, you couldn't see any patches.
Anna, if you have a couple hours next Sunday afternoon (March 11), please come join us at the 2nd Portland violinist.com get-together. :)
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