VSO#5 ep. 8

and we're crawling... crawling ... crawling...

 

the blocks went on a couple of days ago. normally i hate corner blocks and prefer cutting corners, but some insanity came upon me and i glued on a few corner blocks.  

a few thoughts also came thru' about the pegs i want to put on this VSO. thinking about using Argentinian osage orange wood or maybe paduak... can't make up my mind... i guess it all depends on how dark the finish is going to be eventually.    

 

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sublime...

to be continued...

my old fiddle

my old high school fiddle has seen better days.

it is in disrepair. i haven't really played it since going to flute school. sometime this year, i would really like to fix her up nicely.

 

how's that for a short fingerboard? 

the fingerboard is worn out and there are random flat spots. for years when i was a kid, i could not figure out why my fiddle buzzed so much. i thought there was a crack somewhere, and it drove me nuts! i also had a really bad bow and i was dumb enough so that i didn't know a bad bow could set you back a few years. 

anyway, the fingerboard is badly glued to the neck. there is a 3/4 mm gap between the neck and fingerboard from nut to shoulder on the bass side. the neck was starting to bend underneath the fingerboard from the pull of strings.

 you can pretty much see from all that fuzz that the strings were buzzing the fingerboard pretty bad, the A string in particular was torture. i think its time for a new fingerboard.  

  

 

there is a shoulder crack on the bass side that runs several cms. ditto on the treble side:

here's a shot of the long crack that runs from the upper eye of the treble  sound hole all the way down to the saddle. i have no clue what it's going to look like underneath and didn't think to peep inside while shooting these pictures. but either way, the top will have to come off for a number of repairs. 

there is a wing crack on the bass side.

on the back, the center seam is open from button down several cms.

the same at the lower back:

the lower bout ribs on the treble side have some serious looking cracks...

i intend to do full repairs on my fiddle and make it sound better than it ever did.

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Ensemble Ditto, encore. Seoul Arts Center. South Korea, 2008.

to be continued

VSO #5 ep.7

"graduating" the back is done with the help of my marking caliper. which has a resolution of + 1mm. so depending on how much coffee i had to drink today, the back is either 2 or 4mm thick. 

 

getting closer....

i never said i was precise.....

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violist Ken Hamao, performing Wieniawski. accompanied by James Lent.

eh... wow?

to be continued...

VSO #7 ep. 2

VSO #7 is going to have to wait until i get my rotary tool thing fixed. but this is where i'm at now:

 

my pattern is drawn onto the plank and a quick trip to the band saw produced:

 

on we go....

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6. count them. 6!
to be continued 

VSO #6 ep.3

VSO #6 is progressing off to a slow start. the two halves were hollowed out in preparation for joining:

 

the edges are reduced with my reciprocating powered carving thing so that a novice like myself can join the two halves. 9mm thick is easier to join than 25mm thick planks.

but things of course never go easy when you are on a mission, otherwise, it wouldn't be fun now, would it? just as i got done, my rotary tool started rattling like nuts. i took it apart and a cap had apparently broken off the board. now what are the chances of that? this toy saw less than 30 hours of action... i tortured my last one for 5 years before i lost it.... just my luck i suppose. need to find a replacement cap and we'll be ok. or i might as well spring for another one and have two. don't know... we'll see.

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to be continued

VSO #7

VOS #7 will have a one piece top and back, since its a small soprano VSO.

the back is half a leftover pair of planks i was going to use to make my first archtop guitar, but motivation for that project dried up partway through, as if a hippo jumped into a baby pool. i will stay clear of making Guitar Shaped Objects for a while. they make me want to punch holes in walls.

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may Adrian and Ariana (formerly known as Thugs At Bay) take over the world one day.

to be continued

VSO #6 ep.2

i have started marking out the back for initial hollowing out, it doesn't have to be accurate, in fact, i need to leave room for error:

 

here are the planks for the top. they have medium to wide grain, which i think are so beautiful on violas. none of that false modesty of a fine grain top:

and the neck:

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Members of the Ensemble Ditto playing Beethoven Str.Quartet Opus 59, No. 3.  IV movement. Seoul Arts Center. South Korea, 2008.

Johnny Lee, Stefan Jakiw, violins. Richard Younjae O'neill, viola. Patrick Jee, Cello.

to be continued