How To Examine Your Violin Bridge, Strings, Tuning Peg And Assess Overall Condition Of Your Violin
It's a good practice to examine your violin every time you pick it up to play it. You would like to look at its condition in general and a fast overall check goes a long way to stop significant repairs in the future.
First inspect the body of the violin for fine cracks, which can happen from sudden changes in temperature and humidity, being improperly handled or from the tension of the strings.
The Violin Bridge
The violin bridge should be in the right place and not leaning too far. Each time you tune the violin utilising the pegs, the top of the violin bridge moves a small amount toward the pegs. It's a tiny amount and often not noticed. Nevertheless over the passage of time this could cause theviolin bridgeto lean towards the fingerboard as the strings are tightened. The right angle of the violin bridge can be set by looking from the side of the bridge facing the tailpiece. It should be perpendicular to an imaginary straight line or tangent beginning at the point at which the bridge rests on the curve of the violin. If the violin bridge leans too much off vertical, then the bridge may warp and potentially break. The proper position for the violin bridge is to align the feet of the violin bridge between the 2 small nicks on the inside of the 2 f-holes. To correct the violin bridge angle, you need to lay the violin down on its back on a material or in its case. Rest your hands just above the widest part of the violin and grip the violin bridge between thumb and index finger or thumb and middle finger. There's a lot of pressure required to move the bridge. This has got to be done steadily without moving the placement of the feet.
Look at fine tuners shouldn't be touching the wood of the instrument. You must look to be sure that there's a space between each tuner and the top of the instrument. Fine tuners have been seen to have caused damage by digging into the wood in this manner.
Inspect the pegs. They should move easily, though not slip too much. Either way, they might need attention. If a peg sticks too much, you can loosen it with commercial peg drops like Hill Peg Compound. Be careful to do this one peg at a time. If you loosen too many strings at a time, you can most likely damage the sound post because you are causing unsymmetrical pressure on the instrument. If you do not have peg drops, a little, dry scrap of soap can be used to rub a miniscule amount on the places where the peg passes thru the peg box. Use sparingly! Inversely, if a peg is too loose, you need to use blackboard chalk or pastels that artists use on the peg, as the chalk dust may help to hold the peg by causing friction. If the chalk doesn't seem to do the job, this is a case where it would be recommendable to take it to a luthier to refit the pegs.
Inspect the strings on your instrument.
Is there a build-up of rosin and dust? Violin strings need to be modified intermittently. As already debated, the rosin is slightly acidic and so is the sweat and oils from your hands. This essentially degrades the strings. An instrument that is played solidly will definitely need a brand new set of strings at least one time every six months to a year.
Greg Weir is a fiddle player from Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. Greg runs the Violin Price Website. A web resource for folk excited about learning, playing or collecting violins. Visit http://violinprice.org/class/violin-care/ for more in-depth information on violins and violin care.
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Tags: examine violin, violin bridge, violin condition, violin strings