A fiddle is not a violin- a fiddle has a flatter bridge allowing the player to play multiple notes simultaneously. My sister, a violinist, made sure the rest of us knew when my father teased her as a "fiddler".
uh, no. the modern violin bridge's arching or curvature is standardized at 42mm of radius. only violins from the baroque period are flatter which technically means it is baroque music that is played with flatter bridges. fiddle is simply another name for violin as called by a certain group of people who play (mostly) country/folk music. makes sense since "fiddle" sounds more at home than the classier but less relevant "violin".
Terms vary between violin makers. Yes, whether you are a violinist or a fiddler depends heavily on how you play, but the instruments themselves also vary- because differences in instruments affect how well you can play what you want! It's the reason classical violinists covet the Stradivarius violin, and despise the brighter, thinner sound of the modern violin. It's the reason I, a pianist, adore Steinway & Sons pianos. They are legitimately better instruments... for the music I play. But I prefer old out-of-tune spinets for certain performances. Not just for the sound, but for the different way I have to play them to achieve those sounds, due to differences in key size, pressure, and so on. The instrument shapes the music, and the music shapes the instrument. Listen, this is information coming from a violinist and her violin maker (and her violin teacher!). The actual craftsmen know what they are talking about, believe me. Fiddles are violins, but some (not all) are adapted to a particular sound. Also, "standardized" violins do not exist. There is no such thing as a machine-made, mass produced violin. All instruments are different. Old violins or "fiddles" as preferred by country players, especially some centuries ago, were crafted in a different way than eastern violins. Remember, before the telegram, train, and telephone, craftsmen didn't have a lot of communication over large distances to discuss exactions about instrument making. Each one developed their particular way to his or her best ability, and thus differences evolved over time as the trade branched out. Hence the differences between a true violin, and what we would more consider a fiddle. Not to mention the differences between instruments from different makers- differences that still exist today. The gap is closing again in the modern era as "standards" are reintroduced, but some makers don't follow them for their own reasons, or they prefer to make variations on the traditional variation. Craftsmen do it all the time, building an instrument to have a particular voice and ability to play certain things. They can do this by altering how pieces fit, their shape, the shape of the body, the type of wood used, the type of strings used, the bow, et cetera. The same goes for other instruments, from organs to pianos to brass and woodwinds. Don't argue with me. I'm a lifetime musician and music major from a family of musicians. I know what I'm talking about.
Ummm, well I am a fiddle player and have been for over 20 years. My father played the fiddle, as well as my grandfather and grandmother. I literally do nothing to my bridges, nor has anyone in my family. I can instantly go from playing bluegrass fiddle to classical violin at any moment. To suggest that because some players may alter their bridge means there is a difference between a fiddle and a violin is just ludicrous.
Preference of a particular instrument is relative. There are differences in every violin that is built...its a craft not a science. Just because some adjustments have been made to improve on a particular sound by SOME makers does not back up your argument that "a fiddle is not a violin"...But you can certainly hop your know it all ass off of your narcissistic high horse...as much as you would like to think you know it all, you don't.
In reality you could probably get away with any old non-porous wood, they're really talking about the upper echelon of bowmakers, who service usually the upper echelon of players since new or less invested players usually don't drop money on hand-crafted bows. But if you're looking to make one on your own, Ipe, Ironwood, bloodwood, osage orange make decent bows, and if you look up regular shooty shooty bows and what people like to do with the woods used for those you can get an idea of the rather large variety of options you have in constructing a bow. If you're pressed for cash, old renaissance bows were often made from the same blanks that their parent instrument was made from. This means if you tried a maple bow for example, it would work just fine, and it will play just as well as you would want for the most part. My only advice would be to select woods that are not "open porous" which means they have very large pores on some of their growth rings. These might be good for shooty shooty bows, but are bad at allowing sound to transmit freely through, and often dampen your instrument a tad. An example of these woods would be oak. But if you're really inclined to, just use oak. You can even use spruce if you have infinite patience for blowout. TL;DR you can just use any old wood, or any combo.
