Repair Series #33 - Will this violin play again? Part 1 

My Great Grandfather was born in 1856. He started playing the violin as a teenager. He crossed the Great Plains in 1875 -1876. He was a Bullwhacker from Iowa to Dodge City Kansas. He left his job at Dodge City to play for dances which made him more money. He played at dances with Wyatt Earp attending. He and his best friend ended up in Salt Lake City where he married my Great-Grandmother. No telling how old his violin was or who made it. Somehow it got wet and fell apart in about 1910. He did not bother trying to repair it but threw it away and bought 1906 Lowenthal from Montgomery Ward. My grand father left that violin to me in 1978. He made me promise to leave it to a descendent of his father who plays. I am 75 and recently gave it to a 10 year old distant cousin who plays in a youth orchestra. She is very excited about having such a violin and has expressed the desire to visit her Great-Great-Great Grandfather's grave so she can lay some flowers on it.

I have watched many, many violin repair videos and appreciate the simple, non-fussy way maestro-Kimon explains his work. Eagerly awaiting Part 2.

Hello, Maestro-Kimon. So glad to see you are well. Due to the timing of your absence, I was concerned for your health. Hope you are feeling very well rested. 😁✌🖖🌞

Thank you so much Maestro - kimon this is actually Andrews wife Tracy who the violin belongs to. My Farther Dennis has had this violin 🎻 in his loft for 40 plus years and as you hadn't realised Dennis was my Father the violin was actually his grandfather's my greatfathers 😊 I am so touched that you have done the video I was in tears as we only just buried my Father Dennis in December. I can't say how happy I am to see the video you are amazing and my Dad Dennis worked with his hands and would have absolutely loved to have seen this ❤️ can't wait to see the results ❤❤ Kind regards Tracy xx

So happy that you have taken on this project for us. Your introduction brought tears to my wife's eyes. Looking forward to the next installment and meeting with you when it is finally back to pieces. Please don't rush.❤

you have been missed Maestro-Kimon!

Happy to see you again. 🙂

Welcome back, you have been missed.

Of course it will play again. It's in the best hands!

Nice to see you again Kimon. You have been missed.

Good to see you back online again. We were all getting worried about you.

So happy to see you are back. Love your videos, so instructional. Thank you :)

Ela! I have missed your videos and RU-vid didn't suggest this when you published. Very happy to see that you are OK, waiting for the rest of the restoration and greetings from Italy (90 km west of Cremona)

Welcome back Maestro! We missed you

It's good to see you back, Kimon!

Thank you for sharing this detailed repair. I appreciate your emphasis on being patient; taking the time to do things in small manageable steps! Your display of patient craftsmanship is admirable. Thanks again!

Good to have you back maestro! Great video

Glad to see you back

Glad you're back!!! Missed ya!!!

Glad to see you back. Your content was missed during the past year.

Happy to see you back! Your videos are always fun for me. The love and care you put into the instruments is such a great thing to see. I was attempting to make my first violin up until November 2022 when I lost both my parents and then took a new job (Emergency Room Paramedic) so I lost my ambition for the project. You've reminded me to get back into making it.

welcome back! i really missed your videos!

Nice to see you again!

Welcome back! I missed seeing your videos!

Great video! Its good to see you back again!

Nice to see you Maestro. Very nice work!!! I can't wait to see the second part !!! That violin looks really very old !! Be careful with the mushrooms!!

Χαίρομαι που σε ξαναβλέπω! Νόμιζα ότι χάθηκες από το youtube! Ελπίζω όλα στη ζωή σου να πηγαίνουν καλά! Glad to have you back! I wonder will we have the rest of the videos on the making a pochette series? I was very invested!

Great work 👏

Verry nice work!👍🏻

Welcome back we miss u ^^

Good to see you back again...

Nice to see you back on RU-vid, I missed you and your videos!

Κίμωνα συγχαρητήρια, πολύ καλή δουλειά, καλή χρονιά και καλή συνέχεια.

Welcome back Maestro. You make very interesting and informative content. Thanks for sharing your expertise.

Is good ro see ya... greetings from Honduras

Good to have you back again!!

Wonderful progress. I took on a very similar project toward the end of November. Very enjoyable and informative Maestro!!

Hi How interesting! I became a subscriber recently. I am looking forward to seein next episode.

Siempre veo sus videos, me encantan, parece casi magia

Welcome back Maestro, grazie per i contenuti!!

I'm happy to see a video from you, Maestro! Looking forward to more. :)

hello. good to see you again. hope all is well.

Yeah! Thanks for posting again! Hope you had a good break.

I have a violin in a box in even worse shape than this that belonged to my grandfather. One day that one needs to be put back together again, too. Very interesting to see you tackle such a project. Greetings from the Netherlands.

Good to see you back on You tube. 😉

Hi Master, I wonder why not fix a new bass bar, it was unglued and maybe deformed. In any case I would like to know in which cases it is necessary to put a new bass bar. Thank you for your come back we learn a lot with your tutorials.

keep making videos! It's really interesting)

🎻

Hello Kimon, nice seeing you again , hope you are well, I am very curious what the violin will look like after the repair, Greatings from Almere

Enjoyed seeing your "wiggling" the wood gluing technique. That seems to work work well to spread the glue. Why is the inner surface of the wood so dark? Is that natural oxidation, water damage, wood species, or something else? I haven't seen any other repair videos where a violin was dark like that. Thanks

Μπραβο Κιμων !!Πολυ καλη δουλεια !! Εισαι κορυφη !!🎻🎻🎻

Hello Maestro-Kimon 😀! It's good to have you back. In relation to this work, a question arose that intrigued me🤔: wouldn't it be "logical" to clean all the parts before reconstruction? Or could cleaning resins and dust be harmful? Will any cleaning be carried out before the fingerboard is placed? Thank you very much, i look forward to the next video!🙏👋

Thanks a lot for the new video, very interesting! Is the inner surface of the back covered by something dark or is it just dirt?

Hello from Canada. I have enjoyed your videos and video series over time and have learned a lot. I’m about to varnish a white violin I bought as an experiment in finishing and want to use your mastic refractive ground. I am making my own spirit varnishes as I have used them in my woodworking before. What is the recipe you use to make the mastic refractive ground? Is it just mastic dissolved in alcohol or mastic plus blond shellac or something else? I would very much appreciate learning this and the amounts used because I think it can make a big difference in accentuating the figure of highly flamed maple or birdseye. Thanks!

Hello Maestro , thank you for your videos . I am repairing an old violin myself and am very inspired by your videos . I ran into a small problem that I would love a second opinion . What if a crack was poorly repaired and needed ungluing just to find out there was some glue filler , yuck ! I removed the filler , and most of the crack when clamped has a nice seam but there are two places along the seam about 13 mm long I can see through , like as if a tool might have removed a little original wood . I am not sure what to do . Even if I were to glue the crack and clamp and add cleats , I would still have to fill in or add little half mm wedges ? I am not sure now for the best result for sound is most important . My violin making teacher died couple years ago . I wonder a lot what he would say . Can you give me a tiny advice for a tiny .5 to .7 mm opening ? :o)

A student under close supervision did what you are doing, to a nice French 19c violin. Put a new varnish on. Too glossy. How can I safely dull it down? Worth about £1000 at auction.

A year! Well hello 👋 again 😅

Maestro, are you familiar with Olaf Grawert's YT channel "Ask Olaf the Violin Maker"? He is an accomplished maker/repairer/restorer, in Australia. He's a little different than you. I don't think he would use Titebond, even if his life depended on it. 🤣🤣 😁🖖✌

Nice repair. But why instrument disintegrated in the first place? Does this happen just over time or someone sped up this process?

On the road again!!!! What happend to this violin??A flood???

IKEA?

Hi Indian ' rabindar

Thought you died bruh