The repairs necessary for making the fiddle playable ended up being much more extensive than I was expecting.
I was hoping a new bridge, strings, tailpiece, and a re-set sound post would be all...but I was wrong.
When I strung it up, the neck was slowly pulled forward...bad news!!
I now have to take it out, and re-set it properly. A previous repair was done very badly, so that needs to be un-done. What a pain!
Oh, well...that is why I bought a damaged instrument....to learn!
Dad did some research on how to get the neck off, and I have started that process by removing the front...
It appears that the fingerboard was glued on with something other than hide glue...so it cannot be removed.
That could be an issue...but...I'll need to build a new block anyway, since it is cracked....
There is also a messy repair that I'll hopefully be able to fix on one of the ribs near the neck.
You can see in this photo the bad neck job and the broken rib.
I know this is a huge undertaking...and I'll do my best.
The fiddle is a beautiful instrument; I hope I can make it playable...and not ruin anything!
1 comment:
This is very cool, Alex! I like that you have photographed your process so far - instruments are so neat! I've been slowly repairing a harp (for the past three years) and understand the tedious progress, and love the learning experience! Good luck and keep posting, I'd love to read more. :)
Post a Comment