Predominately I am a vocalist{True Alto}, And I had studied flute for 5 years before I ended up quitting{Which is a story of itself}. Recently I have been wanting to play but lacking a flute at the moment I decided to pull out a very old violin we had up in the attic.
It has absolutely no markings, the only thing that distinguishes it is a mother of pearl inlay on its back plate{a very small amount is missing}. I know that unmarked violins sometimes meant that they were made by individual craftsmen rather then mass produced. In talking with my father there is a chance that it might have been made by someone in the family in his grandfathers time which makes me think 1900-1930s for its actual age. I found 3 that had identical back patterns that had virtually no details with them, just that its potentially German{and my family is all German on my fathers side}.
As for its condition; fairly dirty imo and some of the varnish is rubbed off from wear. Currently I have 3 strings and one good bow, the other one seems to have a busted frog{they also have mother of pearl}. There is also a very small gap like half a millimeter of separation between the ribs and the back plate about where the bottom block is. But that only showed up when I had gone to tune the violin, and really had to look to notice it{I was very slowly tightening it to be careful}. Right now its maybe a half step flat because I don't want to tighten it anymore then I did. Or it might be my fingering since I do not actually know how to play violin. But though its flat and I have no idea how to play its making a fairly solid sound. I know I need to find a good Luthier which I am searching for{with potential of a family heirloom; I really don't want it messed up}.
But to come to my actual question, do any fellows here have any tips in dealing with old violins that I might have missed?
Re: Old violin, New student 03:28 on Sunday, November 6, 2011
