Coming up is the restoration of a 19th Century replica of the legendary Stradivari violin. Let's dive into the process of repairing and transforming a broken and disfigured violin into its former glory!
I agree 100%. This channel claims to be "Masters of Craft", but they completely messed up the last part of the video where the restored instrument is played. It sounds hideous!
As a luthier of nearly 50 years standing, I have to say that the commentary was very good at explaining what was happening, there are several elements that made me cringe. Reconstituted hot hide and bone glue are my own choice for any instrument of such age. I wouldn't go near it with a commercially made product as is used in the making of this video.
I noticed that, too, and it had me wondering. I don't have any experience with bottled "hide glue," but I've heard it doesn't really approximate the real thing all that well. Any thoughts?
@@jasonbutler419 that titebond hide glue doesn't have a great reputation. Unlike real hot hide glue, that stuff can come apart with ordinary water and even then only has a life of about 2 years before it needs reglueing. If your repairing instruments of that age, please show some respect for the skills of the old masters and the materials anx technjques they used (and as for sanding down... Well nuff said)
@@Julikachen No true but even so it should have been repaired the same way it was made out of respect to the instrument.. I'm currently restoring a 1776 Tomaso Carcasse violin. It was in a far worse state than the one in the video and has taken nearly 4 years of careful wood conservation and restoration techniques, (some of which were pioneered by myself) to get the top restabilised and able to support a minimum of 27 kilos of down pressure.
maybe if it were built with glue that doesn't rot it wouldn't need a repair, it's time to change the glue. PVA is reversible with heat and moisture but it wont rot.
Precisely! But what do we expect of someone who publishes at youtube his restoration? ... I adore Mr Bassman to discuss it so patiently, but any professional get the creeps, if material is used based on synthetic resin or industrial wood glue. Because you destroy the wood each time you have to open it (which you better do not in front of clients!). If there is such thing like craftship of a luthier (apart from the golden hands), it is about using the right material and making your own glue based on organic ingredients and using the right resin for the varnish. Otherwise you better stay away from it, even if it is not made by Stradivari. But ignorants know hardly more than this name. The precious thing is always wood which has more than at least 30 or even hundreds of years.
Whoa. This is a good example of some parts of the restoration process but there are some sections which horrify me - as both a violin player and amateur luthier. The choice of glues is ghastly. The standard glue choice is reconstituted hide glue, not pre-made/commercial and most certainly not CA glue. That's criminal. Violins are made and assembled with products that allow them to be disassembled later. CA glue does not allow this. I am sorry but this is no professional's instrument, but a practice piece for the luthier at best. I am doubly sorry that the director allowed a backing track to be overlaid over the raw, clean music of the instrument itself. That demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of music performance.
Thank you. I was going to comment on the use of the commercial hide glue, which is one of the WORST glues on the market. Miserable holding strength, terrible shelf time, just NOT a good glue. I haven't even gotten to the part where he uses CA glue, thank you for the warning. There is a reason hide glue is still used in violins, though for some parts, I would consider Titebond. But the parts that are supposed to be able to be taken apart later, those should only be doe with hot hide glue. There is a reason why traditions get that way. It's because they work.
@@willmorrison1022 Exactly. Some people think it's an easy fix with common supplies (usually parents of young students) and try to do it themselves. Last year I had a student whose father tried to put the hair back into her bow with superglue with disastrous results despite me telling the father to take the bow to a luthier. Ended up ruining an otherwise good bow and had to buy a new one. I explained to him that despite the good intentions, there is a reason why instruments should be repaired by professionals and the cost of a professional repair will always be less than the cost of fixing or replacing something that wasn't serviced correctly. He took it to a luthier from then on. Again, there's a reason why luthiers exist...
@@SpookyMcGhee Oh, I just lost a "don't flinch" competition when I read that. That move just cost him a TON more than if he'd just done the right thing in the first place. I hope he learned his lesson. OUCH!
Far more tactfully put (you saved me from myself!). Nevertheless... The "piano" would've sounded better were it in tune with itself! I would like to have simply heard the violin against silence.
Anyone contemplating "repairing" or "restoring" a valuable violin would do well to disregard most of the information/methods expressed in this video. When in doubt, seek the assistance of a professional.
I thought it was just me. Something seemed oddly pedestrian about the restorer’s handling of the instrument, methods, and craftsmanship. I’m no expert myself, so I’m happy to be corrected if I’m wrong.
'Pedestrian'. Perfect word for how I felt watching the video, and I thought it was just me, too. Of all the youtube videos I've watched of true master craftsmen at their work, this seemed very imprecise and uninspiring.
Fun fact: The Stradivarius violins amazing sound and build was due, in part, to the wood from which it was produced. The wood came from trees that had survived a harsh drought and had very tight growth rings due to the very low growth rate during the harsh times. This wood made for a better sound in the Stradivarius due to the density of the wood. A prospective project to plant trees that were from the same forest and tend to the trees as if they were in the same conditions that resulted in the famed wood was planned. I am not sure if the project ever came into realisation.
Fascinating work. What I found must puzzling is why the finger board, nut, bridge, and tuning pegs are done before any body repairs. It seems to me it would make more sense to have a structurally sound platform before working on things that attach to it. I would also like to have seen a more comprehensive professional demonstration of the instrument at the end without the incidental music playing.
I think it could well be that he is giving the turpentine time to work on the heavy resin burning on the body. Saves workshop time I guess. Only a suggestion though.
While this video is informative, and the repairs shown are either good or passable for the quality of the instrument in question (and done well and consciously), I have apprenticed in full violin shop, and this was clearly a skilled repairer that works more primarily in a “music shop” that deals more with guitars than violins. There are things done here that wouldn’t find their way into a purist violin luthier shop, but would in a guitar shop that does occasional repairs on other types of instruments, but had reasonable and stable results for the quality of the instrument (they say very clearly in the video it’s “built on the strad pattern”, and so many people - myself included when I was young - think his means it’s high quality, when in fact a large majority of instruments are built on the Stradivari or Guarneri pattern, many of which are in expensively made in a production shop, or by machines, some very poorly indeed). I build guitars, and use PVA for laminations, but not for fingerboards due to my background and the ease and excellence of hide glue. I also am an orchestra director that repairs all school instruments myself (very poor district) and I stick to more accepted Luthery practices unless the instrument is already a total loss anyway and I can win a few more years out of it with an epoxied neck but it’s not worth grafting in wood to completely repair correctly (eg. It’s a $500 cheapo that plays but is bad quality in components and sound, but a young musician that has no money could use it for a time). I do have a cello from 15 years ago that had a complete break mid neck, and I glued it together hogged out all but a shell of maple, epoxied a new piece of maple that now comprised most of the mass of the neck, and it’s still going today! It was a better quality instrument, but I was young at luthiery and am still proud of my repair on that one. Still a fantastic sounding cello for a school instrument. So that is to say, no shade on this luthier because I’ve done some non-traditional repairs myself, but some of the choices here (especially the glues used) are not in line with traditional, time tested techniques and the well reasoned philosophies behind the techniques and I wouldn’t use them.
I think you are being too gentle, as it's hard to tell what was the quality of the instrument when it has so clearly not been properly set up (or maybe played). It's basically not been given a decent chance. On the other hand, I have no objection to repairing a structural member such as the neck with high-grade epoxy - indeed, I believe this is the correct thing to do - and definitely infinitely preferable to replacing the neck following a simple break, as was done to ny 'cello (by a renouned luthier company) in the 1950s (before I owned it).
Well, everyone is allowed to to do whatever they want with their instrument. But... Quite some stuff done in this video is not very "traditional". Some hundred years of experiance with violin making and repairs couud be worth considering.
Yes. Anything under about $100 and for use by persons in the 4-11 age range. But as for persons age 12+ or violins priced > $100, see an actual luthier instead.
I would have expected to hear a serious audition of the instrument at the end...It was nothing! Why do I hear an electric piano where I want to hear a violin??
Yeah..., well; this..., " Luthier" took perfectly sized peg wholes and reamed them till they now look big and gawdy. Now many years from now when it needs to be redone, it will need an entirely different head piece! The man who created this would be furious to have his name on this! It's like the difference between delicate butterfly antennae and bull horns!
Yep. It's especially egregious since peg heads can very easily be turned on a mini lathe to whatever diameter and taper is needed to achieve the correct snug fit.
*@crgaillee* - “Gawdy”?? I think the word you want is, “gaudy,” unless you meant to add some kind of misunderstood (by the reader) emphasis of the rustic, “Gawd,” for “God.”
1) if the wholes are bad you gotta ream them. no way around it. they may be perfectly sized but if they arent round anymore thats worth a wet handshake 2) in case this ever becomes an issue in the future it can be easily addressed.
I wondered why they were doing that. I thought that was a technique when first making the headstock rather than fitting keys for a new one (please forgive my use of guitar part lingo, I’m very new to violins). Thank you for catching that! I can’t wait to keep learning! :)
Very nice production values in this video, but the luthier work is sub par. I would never use or recommend the use of cold hide glue for any violin repairs, especially gluing on a fingerboard. It will fall off. Been in the trade for thirty years and have heard a number of bad outcomes from Franklin/Titebond cold hide glue. Use the correct stuff, traditional hot hide glue. Oh, and don’t use Titebond carpenter’s glue or Elmer’s white glue either, cause problems of their own. This was not meant to be a tutorial, but wish videos like this would show correct ways of doing the work. I’ve watch a number of RU-vid videos and rarely do masters of the trade make these kinds of videos. They are too busy doing fine work on the instruments.
I once had a student whose father tried to put the bow hair back into her bow with superglue with disastrous results despite me telling him to tske it to a luthier and that it won't be very expensive. Ended up having to buy a new bow. After this I gave him my preferred luthier's business card (No affiliation or anything, she's just a great luthier hence why I recommend her to my students) Long story short, he's been taking his daughter's violin to this luthier ever since and hasn't ever tried to do it himself again.
@@SpookyMcGhee Any luthier that has been in trade for a time has encountered poor amateur repairs that need to be redone. Sometime it is just redoing the work and sometime the problem has been made much worse by people with just enough knowledge to make them dangerous. Using the wrong adhesive is very common and can make a real mess of things. A simple rule is only use glue that you know you can soften with water and will hold things together provided the parts fit together well. Not all violins are rare and valuable and I don’t care if people want to mess around with them. Just don’t like when people make videos and give others poor advice on how to do repairs. I once watched a video a guy posted to demonstrate how to rehair bows. He said from the beginning he had never done a rehair before! It was a disaster, he broke the bow and the hair was way too long, uneven and unusable. A real waste of time and money.
As a retired bookbinder who remembers the aroma and adhesive strength of hot hide glue, these criticisms make a lot of sense. As a craftsman too, it is evident that the young luthier has enough gaps in his praxis to qualify his repairs as workmanlike, but not masterful. Unless you can learn from a master, the only way to get very far along that path is to try and fail with a multitude of materials and methods. Not only is that impossible in most commercial settings, it would require an uncommon kind of curiosity and perseverance in the apprentice.
@@PaulRicard936 No sorry, it’s been a few years so it may not be available. I’ll look for it. I find it relaxing to watch a true craftsman work, like Norm Abram’s old show. But when a hack makes a video, it just makes me wince. Especially when they are using a cutting tool.
Modern-day spelling of the ancient word "crap". I don't doubt that this guy is a "professional", working in the back of some music store somewhere. But he is not a luthier.
I'm a guitarist and I make classical and flamenco guitars. I can see he's got good hands. He used that scraper well. I'm no violinist, or luthier but as a lay person I was a bit surprised to see commercial hide glue being used for fitting the fingerboard. If someone used C.A. glue on a guitar I had made I'd be upset at someone hurting one of my babies. I tend to think that whatever you do needs to be reversible. Select your glues accordingly. Wherever you can make them yourself to a trusted recipe and method. I've fitted guitar fingerboards with hot hide glue, and you can do it in about ten - fifteen seconds if you've honed your method. I was surprised at several methods and materials I saw in this video. Interesting video. I'm pretty sure if someone looked over my shoulder when i was making guitars they would probably critique my methods and materials too.
Yep, this is a carpenter making a "violin-shaped object", not a luthier making a playable violin. If you want to see the real techniques, there are several actual luthiers with channels on here; just search for "luthier" or "violin maker" or "violin repair" to see how the actual professionals do it.
Excellent work but I have a couple questions. I'm assuming the interior was fine but why not include the inspection? You replaced the sound post at least. Why place the fingerboard etc. prior to cleaning and repairing the body? Were you not concerned the body repairs may cause shifting of the neck? I would also add just a demo of the violin alone at the end would have been preferable.
its a piece of crap violin, you can tell look at the grain on the top plate super wide indicative of cheap wood. This is a cheap early 1900s factory violin that anyone could make sound half decent with any sort of professional experience. That's why the guy covered up the violin being played with music
@@ahh1180 Apart from the dispute about the glue he employed I did not observe any repair techniques inconsistent with professional work. What are your points of disagreement?
The master performed a real miracle! He's just a magician! Such people should be valued for the weight of gold - after all, they give a second life to musical instruments!
Musical instruments are amazing, I've had a cornet trumpet sitting in my closet for 15 years finally brought it out fixed it. Only to find out it's from 1899, its amazing to think that over 100 years ago someone used this instrument to bring happiness to people. Amazing work absolutely beautiful
You were able to clean up that fiddle pretty good. Why did you not clean up the body before attaching the fretboard? It would have been easier without it in the way.
Violins do not have frets. (Needs to be said again.) Why would you want all of that ebony dust on your freshly-finished violin? But I would have done just about everything else differently from this video. Besides, completing the fingerboard is an iterative thing. And you really need to string the instrument to finish the fingerboard, unless you don't care about how well it can be played. Considering how they overlaid other music over the person playing the instrument, I suspect it was not a priority.
How refreshing that no attempt is made to re-finish the instrument. So many people do not realise that the original varnish is an essential, integral part of a violin. Over the years I’ve seen so many beautiful instruments ruined by re-varnishing!
Thank you! What a interesting array of tools you have. As an passionately learning wood worker, I’d love to nose around yr workshop…for me your video opens a whole new world of methodologies I always look to use in other applications …inspirational Thank You.🙏🙏🇦🇺
18:44 "We would like to think the renowned luthier himself, would have been proud of it" 😅 And I would like to think that statement wasn't completely detached from reality. Oh well, at least you did a nice job filming and covering the horrible sounds at the end with stock music.
I am a novice at repairs and I had the same question, I spoke to a pro luthier and he was adamant about only using Hide glue on violins and the like as it allows easier removal and repairs in the future as well as better expansion and contraction of the woods. Was that the original sound post? there is a tremendous amount of important information on the subject, what it is made of, how to make it, and placement is extremely important to the quality and tone of the instrument.
I know nothing about restoration and I'm just cringing at the order they did it in. Why would you replace the neck before repairing and polishing the body?
I don't know anything about violins, I saw a lot of criticisms but I'm glad I could just watch it for the enjoyment of something being restored. Only one thing, I cringed at the end when background discordant music was playing over the violin, I really did want to hear it played but just pure violin.
I am no professional violin player. But I agree with others about when to put on the fretboard, the glue used, and never heard enough of the violin. I definitely heard enough of the damn piano!! Especially while the violin was played, and not long enough!!
This is fascinating!! My favorite thing is that you didn’t try to use a dark stain or anything to cover the patina the wood had developed over time. Simply cleaned and repolished and let that history become central to the look of the violin. I also had no idea that violin pegs are a simple tapered friction fit. That’s so cool! And the custom detailing on the pegs and bridge is wonderful. I wish that the background audio was muted while the violin was being played since it clashed with the violin melody though.
I found the video very interesting and informative. Kudos to anyone capable of bringing life back into any instrument when so neglected for so long. I myself build Native American style flutes using bamboo and every flute is unique.
Keep in mind, this video shows a carpenter ( _not_ a luthier) "refurbishing" a destroyed fake Stradivarius in order to make a display piece. The end result would not be playable. (Which is why we never see & hear it being played.)
My violin was built by a master luthier, who showed every step in making one just like mine. Pretty much nothing he does is shown here (no disrepect) but lovingly creates a work of art that will endure for years.
🥰😍🎻In love, fascinated by the noble work of a Luthier, there are no words for such a restoration, this beautiful piece of art came back to life. Congratulations. 🥰😍🎻
Interesting video. A few observations. The instrument is typical of the thousands of student models that were produced in Europe in the last couple centuries. I have worked on hundreds of them and still have around fifty in my shop. Many are without corner blocks or a viable baas bar. Their only redeeming quality is the fact that many have decent wood which makes restoring them a worthwhile effort. Agreeing with others who commented, using bottled "hide glue" is not a satisfactory substitute for quality hot hide glue. Also it appears as though the pegs were much too thick which if so would be a case for not having to bush the peg holes.
Something that was never addressed in this video: yes, the violin was old (not ancient!), but what made it intrinsically worth putting the effort and money into restoring THIS violin? Had it been made by a well known luthier from its time? Had it been played by some well known violinist? To be honest, I didn’t think that the sound of the instrument at the end was all that impressive (granted the music playing on top wasn’t helpful.) But I didn’t hear the depth of sound from the instrument that I expected from the lead in to the video. Thanks, though, for showing some interesting specialized tools and clamps during the repair process.
Aside from being a mid-19th century copy of a stradivarius, there isn't anything notable. Which is good, because using titebond on an instrument is criminal
0:26 "makes sure to wait to the end to hear the fixed instrument being played by a professional" 19:16 turns out the professional is an expert cat killer, and all we hear is the wailing of the poor creatures as they depart this Earth, with copious amounts of stock music overlay to try and hide the true horror.
As a restorer and luthier (yes, state certified) this comment section is just hilarious and a perfect example of the dunning-kruger effect. People with just enough knowledge to feel like they are masters in the field proudly telling everyone how wrong the maker of this video is. Probably have seen a few youtube videos or talked/watched their local luthier do their work for a bit. And now roaming the youtube comment section. Telling everyone about reconstituted hide glue, turpentine and CA glue. marvelous.
very interesting to watch but you can't help but think that after all that the sound of the restored violin was not all that iimpressive when you play music over the top of it being played
When you put a rag over a bottle of solvent and tip the bottle to moisten the rag, you risk contaminating the solvent still in the bottle with whatever grime is in the rag. Safer is to pour the solvent onto the rag. A $10,000 airplane paint job was once ruined by contaminated solvent... had to be repainted.
Great video sir. Might I suggest you look into getting a hand held pen style drill for the holes drilled at 11:04 into the pegs for the strings. The handheld drills make those types of holes easier to drill.
New title "Replica Strato Kazoo Restoration" That violin might sound like a banjo or an Oscar Mayer Weinie Whistle for all we know. The piano at the end was playing in a completely different key than the violin, making the newly restored entire purpose of the video sound like a band of demons.
Refreshing, I use to search auction sales, music store with aged owners and flea markets, lately I find I 3D print almost as many as I acquired originally.
For the record, at 13:50 he says he applies wood glue. It's not wood glue but Hide Glue. Hide Glue can be removed if needed for later restorations, wood glue cannot (without damaging the instrument). I learned this from Olaf Grawert.
its not the curve in the bridge that transmits sound, it is thinned so its harmonics are changing with the string vibrations and can make the strings have a fluid support
Absolutely. And taken a look inside, at least with a mirror if not a top off, to make sure that the bass bar was ok. I did expect, however, that he would be doing deeper varnish work though, so maybe that was his reasoning (that he was only polishing it up - but it still would’ve been easier and achieved a slightly better result done fingerboard last)
@@lowstringc He did check the sound post much later in the video, so maybe the bass bar got a going over as well. I'm surprised that he didn't take the top off entirely and clean up any crystalized bone glue. No telling where else along the seam the glue might have been ready to let go. This was not a professional at work.
I remember a beer commercial 60’s or early 70’s a guy was crafting a violin, making little notches in interior support joining pieces that didn’t seem to serve a structural purpose and his pal saying “why?…whose gonna know?” He replied “I’ll know”. Tied into special care brewing angle. I remember the notches but not the beer.
Johnny Parker... No fair posting facts... blows the BS story. This is a typical inexpensive copy likely made in a large shop or factory by apprentices.
Probably a Mittenwald or Mirecourt copy; there are lots of them. Some are credible but many are blockless crackerboxes, unfortunately. Paul Schuback describes such copies in the GAL red books, as he trained in Mirecourt as a child.
@@jeffhildreth9244 yes - why I led with Mittenwald. MIrecourt is def a stretch but there were a lot of odd midcentury designs coming out of there, and the top carv4 looks a bit too good to be further east - though I could be wrong, I haven’t seen a huge number of old Eastern European violins.
I agree with mrbassman49. I have an old violin (Circa 1796) with a fingerboard that had been replaced with one attached with white glue. I had it replaced, because frequent playing had gradually worn down the original fingerboard, with a new one using an animal hide glue. I winced as the first fingerboard was removed leaving shreds of wood still attached . The animal hide glue is much more forgiving and can be softened with heat to make repairs. We're just custodians of these old masterpieces. I needed to add wooden bushings, and repair the cracked pegbox. I keep it in a humidified case.
As a new student, understanding how a violin is put together and what gives it its unique sound helps you understand why finger placement is so critical.
Mechanically yes, but this is not how a master luthier builds or restores a violin. Mine was built by a master and it shows in the love they put in every step of the way. Banging the end pin into a bench is one thing a master craftsman would NEVER do. Ever.
Thank you very much for saving me the waste of time... I was about to watch this video, but I hate watching 'pretend' restorations (quite common nowadays).
I have nothing but agree with comments on some strange restoration techniques and the music attitude at the end. The second still can be fixed though. Otherwize - fair work and thanks for the effort and video.
My first thought was Hide glue. My second thought was Forsooth!Methinks he overindulgeth in Tofu, Mungbean sprouts, Wheatgrass smoothies, and Herb. All the while wearing leather sandals. Just my $.02.
Thanks for the great video and congrats on the lovely restoration. Still... it's crazy that when we finally get to hear the violin played, its sound is drowned out by the background music. :(
Very interesting. I don’t play any instruments, so I have learned things watching this. Pity about too much piano plaid, rather than the violin itself.
