Violin repair is an art as difficult to master as the playing of the instrument. It requires a skilled craftsman with dedication to his art. Apart from restoration, the owner of the violin is responsible for executing daily maintenance to ensure that the violin does not need to make frequent visits to the shop.
From your own home, you can ensure that your violin lives a long happy life by giving it daily care. The most basic and perhaps essential task is cleaning the rosin off after playing. Excess dust from rosin will not only wear the string out quickly, it can also build up on the face of the violin and eventually cause damage to the varnish.
If the tuning pegs on the instrument are sticky or they slip easily, one may apply peg drops, which is a solution made from rosin and alcohol, or just some regular chalk. A violinist must be sure to wind the strings around the pegs so that they do not stack on top of each other. If they do, they may break easily.
Replacing a broken string is a simple repair that may be done by the musician himself. This is simply done by threading the string through a tiny hole in the peg and winding away from the body. When tension is first sensed, one should take care in continuing to twist the peg little by little to tune the instrument. Fine tuners are a good idea, especially for beginners, because they allow the strings to be tuned in small increments and reduce the risk of breaking a string.
A bridge is a small wooden object that supports the strings on the surface of the instrument. Sometimes it breaks or warps from either tension or humidity. If this occurs, the bridge may be replaced by the owner. This small repair and the replacement of strings are the only adjustments that the musician is recommended to do himself.
There are some repairs that should only be handled by professional luthiers. One of the most essential tasks is the replacement of the sound post. This is an important job because the thickness and position of the sound post has a huge impact on the sound that the instrument produces. In addition to this repair, professionals should be sought to fix any cracks in the body of the instrument.
Although violins are fragile instruments, they are made to last for centuries. The sound quality actually improves and opens up with age. Nonetheless, great care must be taken to ensure that it does live a long life. Regardless if there is an obvious need for restoration, every musician should take their instrument to a professional from time to time for violin repair.
From your own home, you can ensure that your violin lives a long happy life by giving it daily care. The most basic and perhaps essential task is cleaning the rosin off after playing. Excess dust from rosin will not only wear the string out quickly, it can also build up on the face of the violin and eventually cause damage to the varnish.
If the tuning pegs on the instrument are sticky or they slip easily, one may apply peg drops, which is a solution made from rosin and alcohol, or just some regular chalk. A violinist must be sure to wind the strings around the pegs so that they do not stack on top of each other. If they do, they may break easily.
Replacing a broken string is a simple repair that may be done by the musician himself. This is simply done by threading the string through a tiny hole in the peg and winding away from the body. When tension is first sensed, one should take care in continuing to twist the peg little by little to tune the instrument. Fine tuners are a good idea, especially for beginners, because they allow the strings to be tuned in small increments and reduce the risk of breaking a string.
A bridge is a small wooden object that supports the strings on the surface of the instrument. Sometimes it breaks or warps from either tension or humidity. If this occurs, the bridge may be replaced by the owner. This small repair and the replacement of strings are the only adjustments that the musician is recommended to do himself.
There are some repairs that should only be handled by professional luthiers. One of the most essential tasks is the replacement of the sound post. This is an important job because the thickness and position of the sound post has a huge impact on the sound that the instrument produces. In addition to this repair, professionals should be sought to fix any cracks in the body of the instrument.
Although violins are fragile instruments, they are made to last for centuries. The sound quality actually improves and opens up with age. Nonetheless, great care must be taken to ensure that it does live a long life. Regardless if there is an obvious need for restoration, every musician should take their instrument to a professional from time to time for violin repair.
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