This is another "copy" not the real thing. But it is a nice old fiddle and it sounds pretty good even if I am the one playing it. LOL Support: / rosastringworks Website: www.rosastringworks.com
A million - a thousand - maybe not that many. Reminded me of a story told about my Dad when he was a little lad. He came running into his house saying there were millions of dogs outside fighting Jack, his pet Jack Russell. When questioned, his estimate did a Jerry and gradually came down until he admitted that their next door neighbour's dog was having a fight with his Jack.
I was surprised to see this video come out after 3 years. Thanks for the work you put into the fiddle. We did order a new case for it. The great grand kids of the original owner now have a great instrument to play. Beautiful job....
I mentioned a comment on a previous video about violins that I put a Stradivarius back together that had been in the family for years. Note I did not say restored. It was missing the bridge and strings and I had to work on the tuning pegs as well. My point here is that the bow had the tip broken off and I glued it back on and wrapped it with thread I use for tying flies as a way to make it whole. The hair really needed to be replaced but I had not clue how to even start so watching you do this one tells me my decision to "leave bad enough alone" was the best decision. It is nothing more than a display piece as no one in the family could play the thing and when Dad passed away I took it so it wouldn't go to the trash heap. So thanks for the lesson on installing new hair, I will leave mine the way it is.
Nice video..Fiddles have always been a mystery to me.You have opened a few doors to get me more into fiddle maintenance.Thanks for sharing..Stay safe my friend.
WoW! You got your third hand you always needed! I never knew that keeping those bows was such a long, intricate job to keep them repaired and maintained. That's incredible to me. I had no idea it was that difficult to fix a bow. Reminds me of my grandpa. He was a fiddler of some renown down in northwest Arkansas (lived in Green Forest) back in the early 1900s. He died before I was born, unfortunately. Everybody says I am like he was in several ways, though i was not a fiddler. He played most of those bluegrass type instruments, and i was into rock, blues, contemporary country. But i have (and have had) many cousins and uncles on both sides down in the Ozarks. My dad moved to Wichita during WW2 so i lost touch with my mountain heritage and my down homies. But i have a soft spot for all these instruments and listening to bluegrass. I'm absolutely impressed!! You transformed that fiddle, entirely! Looks GREAT!! Sounds good!! I'm blown away. TWO thumbs up!!
Thank you once again for a fine video. "And I'm sure I can accomplish making it look much harder then it should be." There, at that moment it was like i heard myself talking.
Hi Jerry; Just want to say that the tail string with a knot in it ruined a beautiful custom made tail piece on my first violin. The string actually cut the wood between the holes in the back of the tailpiece right out of the tailpiece (it took 7 years). I tried to repair it, but it was no longer structurally strong enough and the patch came right out too. You had a video on repairing a tailpiece that was a better repair, as you put the grain cross ways to the tailpiece if I remember right. Also I believe a modern tail gut with threaded ends would have helped spread the load better and maybe saved the tailpiece. In any case I took your advice and used a tailpiece with the adjusters built in. You told us that in your video on repairing a tailpiece.
This was a very interesting repair to watch. Reminded me of fly tying there for a minute when you were repairing the bow. Keep up the good work Mr. Rosa. Also on a side note, followed your tip about filing down the pins for my 6 string. Thanks a ton, what a difference!
Jerry, I have been digesting every violin video you have. This violin is a beauty! Over the weekend now, I have actually seated the sound post in a violin. I'm here to tell you, "it ain't easy," as you say but after dropping it and recovering it from the inside, I learned what it takes and feel a lot more confident with that exercise. I have a number of violins to work on now, they're all mine so I'm not going to destroy someone else's instrument. The things some folks have done to "fix" their own. It boggles the mind. Epoxy or crazy glue to fix and smooth cracks. Cracks glued together that don't match properly. More videos, I love 'em!!!
You might be surprised. Plastic started to replace ivory well over a hundred years ago. My piano keys are plastic, and it was made in 1909. I thought they were ivory, but found out that ivory keys have a line across them where the two pieces of ivory are connected.
Back in the early 70s, I salvaged the ivory from the keys of a, very old, upright piano, which I am looking at right now. There is no such division of pieces, except for those which wrap around black keys. For those, there is a short, fat, rectangular piece, for the front end of the key and the long narrow piece, which goes beside the black key. Also, mine are very definitely ivory. Plastic does not yellow or curl with drying and age, nor does it split along the grain, since it has no grain.
Jerry, you are worth a million. Well maybe a thousand or maybe a hundred. Love the videos. Get Caleb back up and working. I've figured out why do some things off camera. So we can't hear the cursing. Lol
Hello from Australia. Really enjoying your fiddle work videos, very much. Thanks for sharing. If it helps, Guarnerius sounds like Gwanarius. Looking forward to seeing more fiddle restos.
Great video as always. The big RSW400 is coming up i see :), so many great videos, enjoyed out time together so very much Jerry, and hope it continues for a long time to come. Thanks for the videos man! also if your needing a thin strong thread have a look at Kevlar thread used for tying fishing flies, might be nice.
What a great video i really love the work you did on the finish and that bow is just fab, I wonder if you've ever had a go at making a fiddle it would probably be a great video to watch.
The way to test if something is Ivory is to heat up a pin red hot and stick it someplace that is not noticeable. If its ivory, it will smell like burnt hair.
Hello Jerry, you should take a sharper and write remember the ferrule! On the frame that holds the bow. You do a wonderful job. I have to meet you one day. All the best, Edgar
If you work on a farm or ranch, and don't use a LOT of Bandaids on hands and fingers, then there is a good chance that you aren't working hard enough. This is from my own experience. Just saying... A well-cared for instrument will last for many generations, and can become an heirloom. Another 'before & after' situation, where some magic is done. Very nice, and soothing to watch.
hello my good friend did a good job on the violin and the violin bow I watch I use a technique little different from the traditional one but it worked very well congratulations
After leaving many comments on your channel I now admit to knowing nothing about stringed instruments a perfectionist I am and Mr Rosa without doubt u Sir most certainly RRRRR
There is a guy in Brisbane Australia named olaf who is a master violin maker and restorer. He recently uploaded a video on repairing bows and why they place silver wire and leather grips on the bows. He would ,I am sure , be a great source of information on violin care. His yt channel is Olaf the violin maker. He has very good instructional videos. Cheers Max
Just so people can find it his channel is called "Ask Olaf the ViolinMaker." (He is definitely a traditionalist using mostly hide glue, but he has a wonderful sense of humor and is willing to try non-traditional things.) 😀😀
Love the channel. Just a thought...Maybe you can do a side by side with a Guarnarius and a Stradivarius (or other types) and explain the differences and your opinions... All violins look alike to me but I'd like to know more about them.
Mr Rosa , I think that if you went to a fishing supply store they would have an assortment of rod tying thread that comes in different colors and sizes .
It IS a good case - for a tommy gun! For thread to tie the bowhair, you may want to use carpet/button thread. It is a lot thicker, but not so thick as to be in the way.
On that end pin: It's probably ebony, African blackwood would be more expensive. It's not a wood you'd go to if you're trying to go cheaper. But there are several types of ebony that look similar but aren't the same jet black we're used to. Plus, thanks to Bob Taylor, you're seeing ebony now that is streaked, not the solid black. It's possible it's some of that. The thing is that the solid black is about 1 in every 10 trees, and until Taylor started buying up the streaked or "colored" as they call it, the other 9 trees were totally wasted. Cut down and left to rot in the forest. When he found out about those other 9 trees, he decided they had to be used instead of wasted, and he bought them up. He now owns about 90% of the ebony market from several countries. It's POSSIBLE it's blackwood, but I would doubt it big time. It's probably just some "off brand" ebony.
I never had gut strings on my violins, but the C string on my viola is a Olive gut string and even though I lost a little response, I gained a ton of dark "power". I wonder how an Olive gut would work on the G string of a violin. There's no rule against hand picking each individual string.
Love the comment about the case - but if you find another one, hit me up. I know they're mostly useless, but I have fiddle from that era I'd like to display with a case like that.
I watched a documentary on violins, and they showed the process of making gut strings. It's no wonder the price. The process is long and laborious. One last thing, leave it silver!
Hi Jerry In this video, you mentioned that you learned some important tips about bow rehairing from a book. What is the name of the book? Thanks for the great video.
Hi Jerry; I've always thinned violin bridges down with a flat front tapering from the foot to the top. However; I see so many violin bridges that only about the top 1/4" is tapered on the front side. It seems to me that this would leave the bridge too heavy and unable to transmit the vibrations very well. What are your thoughts on this.
Upholstery thread and you can get it online. it is a thick thread that is good. also have you tried fishing line? would that work? or nylon thread..you can get thread that is nylon and it looks like fishing line.
Sharp tools and sharp knives.. there's just no substitute for it. Curious.. shouldn't you store violins etc with the tension off the strings to prevent protracted pressure damage to the instrument's face?
@@daveogarf The sound post transmits the vibrations from the bridge to the back of the fiddle, giving the fiddle its volume, tone and balance between the strings. Its placement is critical, and makes the difference between playable and sounding like crap. It's why I try to never change all the strings at the same time if I can avoid it. Taking the pressure off the sound post can cause real problems, requiring somebody far better than I am to make it right.
Min 14:12 yes cost but like sum trees in USA they haven't dissappeared but the BIG BOYS R GONE..once found a white birch stump in Enders falls Granby ,Conn bout 8ft high and I couldn't put my arms around it. Mayb 7-8 + ft around.hav the 500 year oak and a pine that was BIG and fat...is, was.. long time but might still b alive.
I've always wondered just exactly what is the purpose of the sound post. I know it's supposed to be placed exactly in a certain spot. What is its purpose and why do they sometimes come loose? Do other bowed instruments have them? Viola, cello, double bass?
What you have in a violin (and other similar instruments) is a combination of elements that all together create the sound. You have the bow and resin being drawn across the strings to vibrate them. These vibration travel through the bridge and are transferred to the body. Underneath the top is a base bar that is used to transmit sound inside. The sound post is on the treble side and transits sounds to the back. The body (top and back) reflect the sound back out the f-holes. (I am a beginning player and so I have looked into these sorts of things and I would like to build my own eventually. I have no idea though why the f-holes are that shape. It's very hard to find these things out because they've been tha5 way for centuries and some knowledge has been lost.)
35:32 Jerry, did you have to dig yourself out of a hole with your bare hands?! Your fingers are a mess. Cut, bandaged, dirty. Did they bury you by mistake or something?
