What strings and parts to repair a 100+ year old violin?
A friend lent me a violin to repair to playing condition, for sentimental reasons, as it is over 100 years old (Ole Bull), and belonged to his grandfather.
I confidently took it home that night and set to re-stringing and tuning the strings up...finally got the two lower strings in tune and it sounded like a violin to play. So then thought I would continue with the last two strings...the E string was about a semitone out of tune when the whole thing went "BANG!" The tailpiece flew off, the bridge popped out and the strings were left hanging there...It seems that the parts are in general too old and brittle.
So the question is now, what would be the best choice to replace these parts? I think it needs a new tailpiece and also a bridge, as it's been broken before and has been glued back together. And a bow, as it's broken. I would also like to get a set of strings, but I'm not sure which ones would be best, at budget price. Personally I like strings with a rounded, mellow sound, rather than bright.
I really don't want to spend too much, as the people who I'm doing it for don't play the violin - it's just for sentimental reasons really, to get it playable. But I'm hoping to make an informed choice on which parts to get, and also any notes of precaution anyone might have, so I don't cause a disaster with my lack of knowledge.
Just so you know, I'm no violin repairer, and I'm making it up as I go. I'm actually in part an intermediate/amateur viola player.
Also on that note, I have always used Dominant strings on my viola, which sound kind of full bodied and almost husky/dusky and heavy. But even though I've tried a few different brands of A string, this string always sounds a bit bright and glary next to the others. Does anyone have experience with viola strings, A strings in particular, and ones that sound nice and rounded and mellow?
Sorry this is long-winded! Thanks in advance for any help!
Replies (10)
A new bridge, at the very least, needs an expert touch. I would call around to see how much it costs to cut a new one.
Whoever you take it to should also be able to tell you more about whether it is worthwhile to fix up...and what the minimum cost would be.
It could well have cracks, etc., that need to be addressed.
A lot depends on the actual purpose of the repair. It sounds a lot like what broke was the tail gut, which is easy to replace with modern nylon. However, if you are not able to determine that, I would recommend not causing more damage.
Thanks for your responses.
Regarding whether it's worth fixing up, and the cost - it's really just a bit of fun, and as these people often have get-togethers with lots of people and sometimes have a bit of a music jam (mature adults), it's likely it will be played from time to time. But this is why we don't want to get it done professionally and spend money on especially made parts.
It is the tail gut that broke, but the bridge also I think isn't strong enough, as it's been broken in the past, and one of the strings is damaged. I wanted to get a tailpiece with fine tuners, to make it easier to tune.
By the way, the friend who lent it to me is aware I could damage it, and doesn't mind at all.
I guess what I'm really after is whether you have any advice or warnings about some of the cheaper products for sale. Example - on Ebay there are quite a few cheap parts such as bridges and tailpieces - even Wittner...while I know these wouldn't be brilliant, would they be absolutely terrible, for this purpose? Again, all we want is to get it playable so it sounds like a violin, not a professional-grade repair.
I know you are on a budget and that nobody intends to do any serious playing on this violin, but what you are describing is more than I would attempt, and I've been playing violin professionally for thirty years. I also think it is more than likely to have other problems that you can't see, such as cracks.
If you want this violin to be playable at all, take it to a luthier. If you don't want to spend the money to have someone fix it up right, then probably best to give up the idea of making it playable.
If you want a fine-tuner tailpiece, your best bet is the Wittner Ultra. It comes with a nylon gut. If the bridge fits well and did not break again, it is probably better than anything you can fit. I don't know how string prices are where you are, but two good bets are Helicores for steel and Zyex for synthetic. Another good synthetic is Tonica and among the lowest price steel strings that are decent is the D'Addario Prelude. For all around occasional use, Helicores are hard to beat, in my opinion.
I would avoid the cheap stuff on EBay. Some of it is OK but some is not and you have no way to tell.
Thanks for those brand names Lyle - that's really helpful. I actually can't wait to have a chance to start fixing it up...if I fail, at least I will have learnt a little in the process! I think it's mainly peoples' disbelieving looks when they see the violin and go, oh that old thing's past its use-by date! That just adds purpose to my goal to bring it back to life.
Dalton Potter's book "Kitchen Table Violin Repairs" or some such title, is a good place to get an idea what you can do on your own. Basically anything that is not in Potter's book should be done by pros.
Please do one extra thing before you string the violin up again. Check to see that the sound post is still standing! An instrument left for many years, and especially one that just had all its strings go limp from a broken tail gut, could easily have the sound post fall down. Stringing it up with a sound post down can lead to (at the least) strings constantly go out of tune, and (at the most) to the top splintering into matchwood!
Thanks again for the good replies. Yes, thankfully the sound post is still standing!
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July 1, 2015 at 02:16 PM · I don't mean to offend or sound rude, but I would get somebody in the family to learn violin (any young kids?), otherwise it just seems like a waste to get the thing fixed and have it sit there gathering dust...
Just my honest opinion. :)