Pictures of your fiddles

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 7:43 am

Since the Uilleann Pipe forum has its' version of this, I thought I'd start one for fiddles... or other stringed instruments for that matter. This is my french made 'fancy back'.

Will O'B · Post by **Will O'B** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 8:48 am

Very nice.

Fergmaun · Post by **Fergmaun** » Mon Nov 28, 2005 4:59 pm

Old French Fiddle that my late Grandfather played (died in the 1970ies) but never hear the fiddle been played until few years ago and sounded good but was told that the fiddle needed to ne played in more.

The fiddle would have be made around about the 1st or 2nd World War Time.

Fiddle was restored by Rab Cherry in Belfast about July 2002.

What was repaired or missing or replaced?

Repaired was F hole
Missing was chin rest, bridge, fine tuners and steel strings
The old bow was warped so new bow was made

The cost for fiddle to be restored was £85.00 GBP.

Cheers

Ferg

GaryKelly · Post by **GaryKelly** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 2:43 am

My Gliga... taken from a purveyor's website. Mine has four gold-coloured fine-tuners on the bridge, but apart from that, this is it:

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 8:30 am

GaryKelly wrote:My Gliga... taken from a purveyor's website. Mine has four gold-coloured fine-tuners on the bridge...

Beautiful axe! I love the matching maple chin rest, tuning pins and tail piece.

Screeeech!!! · Post by **Screeeech!!!** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 9:59 am

That's gorgeous!

Almost feel like taking up playing the fiddle looking at that one.

Doug_Tipple · Post by **Doug_Tipple** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 10:15 am

Joseph, I probably am going to sound like your mother telling you to clean up your room, but I suggest that your violin is in need of cleaning. I have seen a lot of folk fiddles that look like yours, but most violinists and fiddlers will make an attempt to clean the rosin dust off of the fingerboard and top of the fiddle. With time the rosin dust will affect the varnished finish of the top, and you will not be able to wipe in clean. I also think that the fiddle will play better if the strings are wiped free of rosin after playing and not so much rosin is used in the first place. Like I said, this is my personal preference and not necessarily the way that it ought to be. Likewise, I prefer to drive a car that is not full of empty soda cans and old potato chip bags.

rh · Post by rh » Tue Nov 29, 2005 12:00 pm

my fiddle was made by a friend of my great-uncle in Wisconsin, 1968.

i don't play it as much as i should, but i'll never part with it, except to hand it onto my son.

here's the back

talimirr743 · Post by **talimirr743** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 2:07 pm

GaryKelly wrote:My Gliga... taken from a purveyor's website. Mine has four gold-coloured fine-tuners on the bridge, but apart from that, this is it:

WWWWOOOOOOOOOWWWWW!!!

That is really nice!! I want one like that!

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 6:34 pm

This is my 19th C. forgery of an 18th C. Techler, complete with
painted-on cracks and a fake painted-on neck graft. I love it,
but will never master it.

rh · Post by rh » Tue Nov 29, 2005 6:48 pm

the denim sets it off very nicely...

Doug_Tipple · Post by **Doug_Tipple** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 7:19 pm

Here are a couple of small photos of my fiddle. I do not know the maker or how old it is. It has an old repair label inside when a patch for a sound post crack was done. I fitted new ebony pegs for it and also repaired a crack along the bass bar on the top. I just added a new ebony Pusch tailpiece with built-in adjusters. This old fiddle is loud and has a great tone.

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 8:09 pm

mine is no great shakes, but it has great sentimental value as it belonged to my deceased Uncle Lenny. I had it repaired and the fellow who did the work thought it probably dates from the mid to late 1800s. There was a penciled notation inside that it was also repaired in 1925. Once my uncle started med school, he rarely touched it. He lent it to his sons and later their sons but they never stuck with it. When he told me that he still had it, I asked if I could borrow it to learn Irish music. I had more grandchild induced damage repaired and learned on the fiddle. When Uncle Lenny passed away, Aunt Mil told me that he would have wanted me to have it.
Ah, the stories I could tell about Uncle Lenny...

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 10:58 pm

Doug_Tipple wrote:Joseph, I probably am going to sound like your mother telling you to clean up your room, but I suggest that your violin is in need of cleaning.

Yes, it did need a cleaning when that photo was taken. Generally, I keep her rosin free when not being played, something my jr. high orchestra teacher drilled into us rowdy kids . She has been rosin free for over a year now.

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 10:20 am

My fiddle is in this picture, somewhere! Same make as Gary's. They really are great fiddles at the price.

BTW GJ, I hope your fine tuners are on the tailpiece, not the bridge.