Best Fiddle?

meemtp · Post by **meemtp** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 5:50 am

Barry's right about the qualities a fiddle player needs. In fact, a lot of the qualities that a fine soloist's violin has can be what we don't want! I was playing a *really* nice violin for a while (not mine), that was simply lovely. Great for airs or perhaps even solo tunes. Not so good for playing with others. Too powerful, brilliant, too many overtones etc.

BrassBlower · Post by **BrassBlower** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 2:52 pm

greenspiderweb wrote: Palatino VN-450 violin

That's the make and model I have. For the price, it has good tone and comes with a decent bow and case.

I think a lot of it depends on where you get it. Where I got mine, the demo model was actually in tune, so that told me the dealer knew how to work with fiddles. I had them set it up for me, so it was ready to perform right out of the box. It helps when your first experience buying a fiddle is a good one.

Lorenzo · Post by **Lorenzo** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 9:54 am

I remember some good advice from a fiddle workshop by Frank Ferell where he said if you buy a $100 fiddle, buy a $200 bow. Most fiddlers I know don't really care as much who made it, but how it sounds. Some want a bright tone, others a darker mellower sound.

One time during a concert, Liz Carroll had something go wrong with her fiddle. She asked if anyone in the audience had brought one that she could borrow. To my horror, a friend of mine offered her his cheap cheap violin. I mean one of those generic no-name violins you can find anywhere for $25 bucks. She made it sound like a million dollars. She said it was okay. I was totally impressed.

So much on a violin depends on how it is set up. And once someone falls in love with their fiddle, you think they have anything good to say about any others?

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 5:47 am

Miwokhill wrote:The Romanian violins Doug just mentioned are good. You can get a better deal on their ebay store but for really checking them out go to their website directly. I think the best bang for the buck among their models is the Gems 2. -just get rid of the Romanian steel strings and stick on a set of Dominants.

I absolutely agree. I have a Gama 2 and a Gems 2, and apart from the Gama having a fancier finish, there's nothing between them except the price.

Since getting the Gems 2 as my #2 instruemnt, I always recommend these, and everyone I know who has one is delighted with it.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 6:38 pm

I can't contribute anything useful to this thread since mine is a 19th C. forgery of an 18th C. Techler, complete with fake painted on cracks.
I recommend any fiddle your sister's willing to give you, but then again, I just noticed the G string has gone and sprung again. Next it'll be the A. Really getting on my nerves.

dubhlinn · Post by **dubhlinn** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 6:47 pm

emmline wrote:I can't contribute anything useful to this thread since mine is a 19th C. forgery of an 18th C. Techler, complete with fake painted on cracks.
I recommend any fiddle your sister's willing to give you, but then again, I just noticed the G string has gone and sprung again. Next it'll be the A. Really getting on my nerves.

Emm,

If you have not yet changed your G string - rather unfortunate phrase - then have a look at exactly where it has sprung.
I am assuming that you mean broken.
If it is at the bridge then your bridge may have a rough edge which is chaffing the string. The same goes for the nut if the break is up the other end.
If you mean that the peg is slipping and you lose the tension on the string then crush up a piece of resin(rosin?) and sprinkle it on the peg before you replace the string.This is an old trick which works very well.

Slan,
D.

meemtp · Post by **meemtp** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 8:23 pm

Really not a good idea to use rosin. Rosin actually degrades wood fibers among other things. Very caustic stuff. Better to use peg dope or some other similar item. Also, your pegs may need to be refit as it's possible they or the holes are a bit worn. If your pegs are boxwood. Whatever you do, don't try to shove the pegs in harder to prevent slippage. This can lead to cracked pegs, or worse, a crack in the pegbox. May not be a bad idea to have a good luthier give it a going over if it does turn out that the pegs or anything else on the instrument is the culprit.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 8:53 pm

meemtp wrote:Whatever you do, don't try to shove the pegs in harder to prevent slippage. This can lead to cracked pegs, or worse, a crack in the pegbox.

Wow. I didn't know that. That's how I ruined my thumb joint, but fortunately not yet the peg box.

JS · Post by JS » Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:01 am

Make sure you keep an eye on the humidity as well. Here in the NE US, as soon as the weather shifts to more cold and more dry, pegs start slipping. Some kind of humidifier in the case or in the instrument is very helpful for the fiddle's general well being.

I think there might have been a discussion of the planetary pegs on the Fiddle-l mailing list, but I can't remember for sure. They have a good archive.

JS

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 10:06 am

I have cheap black plastic pegs on my fiddle. They never slip.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 4:13 pm

Darwin wrote:I have cheap black plastic pegs on my fiddle. They never slip.

Yeah, that's the thing. My viola tunes fine, and stays put. I could tune it when I was 13, and I can tune it now. The fiddle, however, needs to go back to a fiddle tweaker for a recheck.

(sorry about the topic tangent.)