I Face My Nemesis: Fixing Thick Plates on the 1966 Czech Violin 

That went from speaking to singing to something special. I'm very grateful to you for doing this demonstration! A lot of work. I hope that violin is cherished for what it has become.

Not sure what’s more impressive. Your ability to completely change the tone of the instrument or the ability for me to hear it through the speakers of my iPhone that my children have dropped in a toilet 50 times. But seriously. Love your art form. Wish I had a reason to buy a violin.

This is really exciting for me. I’ve had two violins re-graduated. Both came back totally changed for the better. Both were trade violins from Germany; one was a Hopf. The Hopf was almost unplayable even with a good set-up. It sounded like a cat in heat on the best days. Now I get to see what all of the magic is about. 😊

Wonderful, and so informative. Feeds my creative hunger to understand the physics of function. Greatly appreciated.

I think I can hear much stronger sympathetic resonance, especially on the 2nd and 3rd octave G. Thank you for taking the time to do this!

I would love to see videos about the violins you are making and your violin making process. You have a lot of videos, I haven’t seen if you already made one.

I don’t play any instruments and I’m not able to hear those sublte changes in tone. But I love the craftmanship in your work. Impressive Olaf.

Olaf, the few short strokes, on each string, at the end, really showed how it now rings out, like a bell. Something it could not possibly do as it was when you got it.

That hole in the scroll from someone drilling a peg while it was in the pegbox was funny, a little sad but still kind of funny! Poor scroll!

What a fantastic craftsman! Thank you for sharing your skills with us.

Wow, that's stunning , the tone is very different, much warmer. I had no idea that the sound could be changed so dramatically. I guess that making these critical adjustments for free must be your ticket to heaven. I'm only half kidding; you gave this instrument the gift of a beautiful singing voice that it wasn't born with. This instrument will now be appreciated and treasured in a whole new way. This video is the most educational violin tutorial I've ever seen. I'm glad I saw the previous tutorials about this same violin. It would be so great to hear what someone like Ray Chen could do with it. I mean, now that we know how well the violin can sing it would be fantastic to hear a virtuosos put the new violin through it's paces. The story of how this violin was improved is genuinely inspirational. Thank you for sharing this video and all the hard work you did to create a much better instrument. You've made a lot of people very happy. Lux Sit.

Fantastic job Olaf even my 80 yr old ears could hear the difference thru my computer headphones!. thanks for sharing. ECF

Man the sound of you splitting these instruments open never gets better for me 😂 gives me the heeby jeebies

I think this will help young violin makers more than players... I think everyone will thank you for your service. Merry Christmas

Ich verstehe als Tischlermeister nicht viel von Streichinstrumenten und spielen tu ich sie schonmal gar nicht, aber es ist ein Genuss dir bei der Arbeit zuzuschauen. Handwerkliche Grüße aus Norwegen, dem anderen Ende der Welt😉

Thanks for doing this. A good instrument deserves to be the best it can be. I hate working on something and not being able to get it tip top. Love seeing you do this for free, I'm sure a lot is for the video and all that, but I know at least some of this is for the instrument, and for the music. For that Olaf, you're one of my favorite people on here. May the blessings be ❤

Wow, was für ein Unterschied. Gute Arbeit und Grüße aus Hamburg :)

I did this with my first violin, an old german violin with two massive cracks up to the f-holes and an horrible sound. I took the top plate off (thanks to Olaf for showing how this has to be done). I glued the cracks and then realized that the top plate was very thick. Up to 7mm in the centre part. I sanded it down to about 4mm. Now it's a decent sounding violin, not as good as my "good violin" but much better than before.

At last video a non- scientist can understand. I can't wait to do my Czech violin (about 1950) so thanks very much Olaf.

I'm so glad you do these videos. They're super informative and interesting 😊

Such a beautiful transformation! And fascinating video. Thanks for taking the time and effort to demonstrate this for us.

That was impressive, I didn't expect so much of a change! Well done!

Full, clear and sweet... what a delightful transformation! Thanks for undertaking such a challenge as it adds greater clarity to an appreciation of the magic in your artistry.

That might be my Piere Lomont Master! I just got the shipping email, and patiently waiting here in Texas. Thanks Olaf for all you do!

Olaf, thank you so much for doing this. I had sent you and email about this very thing. This is a very nice result! Thanks again!!

Another great repair video and an repair/improvement for the books. Happy Holidays. ✌️👌✌️

Amazing video!

Glad you're having lovely summer weather outside the door ... Christmas Day in Canada, dreaming of motorcycle / sailing weather. PS Love your Picasso t shirt

A master craftsman!!! Well done!

Excellent conversion. That’s quite a process. I enjoyed your video. I hope that the owner enjoys the improvement.

WOW! The difference is amazing. Thank you so much for your instructional videos on repair. While I am a wind player, not a stringer, I am faced with little repair chores for my wife who teaches grade school instrumental music! This week she brought home a Cello that a student's little brother landed in and added over a half dozen cracks/splits to! Even a couple of chips around one inch square broken out of the top plate near the bottom! I will do my best to see if I can restore this instrument to playable condition, as i like a challenge!

❤️ Merry Christmas to you, & also to that "new" owner!

It always amazes me that something as fragile as a violin is so stable. As a non-violin player, i am afraid that it will break as soon as i pick it up 😅 Keep up the good work!

I could be wrong, but I noticed the huge difference when both plates were adjusted, not so much when just the top one was. Loved it!

A longer format, no commentary, just planing and scraping the plates would’ve been so cozy ☺️

Good work! You should have a label with improved by Olaf..

Thanks for doing this!

Great improvement! 👏

That was great!

What an incredible difference!

I've been waiting for this!! Merry Christmas Olaf (I know I'm a bit late 😂)

Just WOW! amazing

Surprised didn’t insist on changing the bass bar out! You still have the extra thickness under it. Thanks for sharing!🙏🙏🙏

Great job!

Good show! Makes a lot of sense. Hmm, some old old piano SB's were constructed in a similar manner, only very largely.

So COOL love it!

Love your videos! I wish I could be your apprentice haha! Greetings from Austria 💪!

My Juzek Fiddle, was mid tone, without much bass and note separation...not silky. I had it re voiced, and its great! The guy said there was alot of wood.

I’ve tried this a few times with cheap violins to try and improve the sound and wasn’t sure if I was doing the correct thing or not. I have more confidence in what I did now that I’ve seen you do exactly the same as me. Difference in the sound and response was quite noticeable

Yes, now it's come alive and is responding 😊

Even I, with hearing loss, could hear the difference. I thought it sounded 'richer' only seconds before you said it sounded "richer". I found this video interesting.

Now it sounds like my D. Legierski Guarneri model. Very nice!

Amazing difference

Hello, thank you again for another fascinating video. When you have some time would you be able to make a video about different bows? Materials, spars, pros and cons. Thanks in advance

You should add a label to de violin that reads “rethickened by Olaf”

That fiddle's been wanting to clear its throat for 57 years. Amazing difference.

The top plate shaving make it more loud and experiment. Sharing the bottom gave it depth and sweetness!

Definitely sounds better now

Did you weigh the top plate before and after? If so, what were the measurements?

I'm guessing the finger planes are to do the real hogging, and the scraper is mostly to make the gradations smoother

It really sounded a ton better after the regraduation. I am so surprised

Holy cow! Much better! I'm just curious why you didn't rethickness the back plate with the top plate off without having to take the back plate off?

This is the kind of job I wanted to do on my viola since quite a while... It is a very heavy instrument, with way too thick top / bottom plates, and it simply doesn't sound resonant. I guess, there is a lot of potential to improve this instrument, and at some point, when I'll find the time and I cleaned up my workshop, I will do.

One day, I may rethickness my (late) Mum's Amati copy violin. It looks good externally, but tonally, it sounds more like a lump of wood.

Olaf - Amazing amount of work in "Only" 27 minutes and 49 seconds! ;> In reality how many work hours did you have to put into it including blending the varnish, polishing, etc to blend things and make removing the plates less obvious? Most also don't think of the time it takes to unbox, repack, take care of the client and shipping paperwork along with other administrative costs of keeping a shop open while performing these services. I see others transfer their thickness chart to the plates and then use a drill press with a small diameter bit to put dimples in to mark the depths to make the carving process go faster. Are your tap-tones a little off natural to help keep the Wolf at bay or... For a real "Sows Ear" Challenge what about doing similar to the Aldi's Violin Shaped Object or is there not enough silk available to pull that one off? Best!

Hi Olaf, very interesting video, thanks for sharing. Did you weight the violin before and after thinning the plates?

Kool 😉

Hi Olaf. We love your videos. We noted a keloid scar on your right wrist. What is the story behind this? We are doctors and play string instruments.

Fourier transformed 😮 👍

Not a musician. I instantly heard the difference on the first note. I can't wait till the end of the video....

i want to see a video with you make an instrument with every string on it (violin strings, viola strings, cello strings, and bass strings) and then play it

I am working on an old trade violin whose back plate is upwards to 6 cm thick.

Oh wow even to my untrained ears I could hear a huge difference in the sound, now that strange hum/buzz it had is totally gone, it sounds like a completely different instrument all together. I am curious though, does this work you've done to it increase its overall value?

I wish I could take my cello to you and have you give it a once over. I wonder what your thoughts would be about optimizing it.

When I started watching I thought you would be using rough sand paper but I see you are using what I think is a plane?

How do you know the timber used can withstand the string tension after being thinned? I imagine on the extreme side of things if you tried to do this to one of those cheap modern plywood plates they would collapse.

Olaf, I’m still waiting for the video when you will test the strength of the violin, by standing on top of it.

❤

From my hearing it sounded kinda of muted before, and after the work it now has a more clear and louder sound. Is that what you guys are hearing?

The sounds of a violin being opened up is a source of literal nightmares for me. 😂

Tell me, why do violin makers not use orbital hand sanders to thin the plates down when making or repairing a violin?

I'm a school band director, kind of forced into teaching beginner violin. I have a violin handed down from a distant cousin. Brought it to my local luthier and she said she would definitely work on it. It plays fine for my use. My question is about fine tuners. I have 4, the one in this video has 4, but everywhere I look, it seems to be ridiculed to have more than one. I can NOT hold my violin and tune it with the pegs so I'm fine with that, but what's the stigma with having more than one?

I was surprised you took the back off. Couldn't you have thinned it when the top was removed and you had access to it?

By not removing the bass bar have you not lost some sound. You will still have that area to thick?

tHE SOUND DIFFERENCE I NOTICED WAS WHAT I WOULD DESCRIBE AS, BEFORE, IT SOUNDED BREATHLESS...THAT IS SIMILAR TO WHAT A SINGER SOUNDS LIKE WHEN OUT OF BREATH. aFTERWARD, IT HAS A MORE BREATHY SOUND.

interesting

before adjusting the thickness of both plates, it almost sounds as if there's a practice mute on the violin.

What does it mean that the violin doesn't have the body for a high notes? What affects good sounding high notes? O_o because I have doubts if mine instrument is able to play higher notes well (or just I can't do it yet) :D

Are you gonna play the rest of Shahrazad when you are done with this thing?

When a violin has traveled an enormous distance, like between Texas and Queensland, you obviously can't just yank it out of the case and start playing. How do you acclimate the instrument?

There was a nasal tone until you thicknessed the back of the violin. Quite the difference in sound.

Let's modify the Stradivarius too.

You can hear the difference between

In my opinion the difference between a great violin and a poorly made one has everything to do with those low notes. The violin (as opposed to the larger bowed instruments) is a small instrument so the high notes that are loud are easy to achieve. But without a huge bottom end even THOSE can sound shrill and tinny. The bass notes on a cheap violin sound boxy and dull and lacking in volume in balance with the high notes. So instead of worrying about other elements of sound response, it's all about getting that bass to be loud in relation to the high end. This is achieved by making as much of the plates flexible as possible. But the devil is in the details. As you make the plates thinner and more responsive, WOLF NOTES will start to appear. The violin will start to have notes in certain areas of its range that are louder than others....so you have to be careful not to make the violin too thin and light for these to start to occur as they are very unpredictable even for master violin builders. Finally, there's also the unpredictable element of not knowing how the violin will age and how this will affect the instrument's response over time. All this being said, the violin will never play itself and the player plays a huge part in getting the best sound out of any instrument.

It's a fourteen inch Viola

G'day Olaf. I have a bit of a controversial question/ observation. Granted that basic luthier maintenance includes sound post adjustments, new bridges, nuts, fingerboard planing, but these things dont really affect the resonance of the instrument. In that you have made some major structural changes to the instrument, do you have to annote anywhere that you've modified it? With the original label, would it now be classed as a forgery, as if it's sold as a (Czech violin circa 1966) but is outside of the specifications of that maker, or potentially altering the reputation of that maker? I know it could be compared to a luthier who has the apprentices do most of the work, and then the master finishes the instrument, and adds their label to the instrument, but wouldn't such a drastic modification after completion void the label? Dont get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of your work, and really appreciate and admire your craftsmanship, so this is just me thinking out loud, I mean no disrespect.

Did I miss it? Was there a sample of the sound BEFORE the instrument was worked on?

First I'm glad this was a Czech student violin. Second the Cannon is 4.5 to 5 mill center of top. Third alot of Ceremonese, French, and German instruments are thicker. Most admired by Henley as the best makers of their times. Fourth exact setups are need to get some of those thicker instruments to sing, a tailgut 1/1000th mm of will throw the sound off. Fifth, regrading destroys the original makers work and now it's yours and won't get the price of others with the same name. Sixth never do this to a well known makers violin, just because you can't make it sound the way you want doesn't mean somebody else can't. Sorry I'm harsh, because we have some really nice violins that have been ruined by shops that didn't know better and devalued some nice Italian violins by $30,000 by doing this. By notable Luthers!

If you're the owner, you know who you are, don't worry I'm looking after your violin CRACK CRUNCH SPLIT CRUNCH 😂😂😂

I don't make violins there are plenty that are in need of serious repair.