Happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope everyone, Irish or not, is wearing some green. While we're on the subject of ancestry, I plan on doing some posts on my adventures with http://www.ancestry.com/. I had hoped to follow some family dead-ends, solve some mysteries, and iron out some heritage - what I have discovered so far is that my heritage is solidly what I started calling "American Sludge", which is a wide-ranging mixture of everything under the sun. But there is just enough Irish in there to justify a bit of green today.
I previously promised to post some pictures of my honest-to-goodness, totally finished fiddle complete with purfling. And, here it is:
Yay! While I had my fiddle apart to make the purfling easier, I went ahead and made a couple of adjustments. First, Violet and I thought the bass could be a bit "bassier", so I shortened and thinned the bass bar a little. Some of the light bass is probably due to the sassafras top, which has a unique sound a bit different than traditional spruce tops. Next, in order to to add a bit of strength, I glued a spruce patch to an area close to the chinrest that got a bit too thin. I'd been nervous about that spot for a while, and the paper-thin strip of spruce has added surprising strength. I don't feel too bad about it - it is my first fiddle, after all, and I've learned that a great many fiddles have repair patches. In any case, once I got it back together everyone has agreed the sound is improved. We had a long day of jamming to prove it.
The disbelief that I actually made this little box that produces a fiddle sound is surreal. I don't mean that to sound big-headed at all...I just mean that it's hard to believe I started with a stack of wood and ended up with a musical instrument. It's more of a testament to Violet's teaching ability than my own woodworking talent. I'm not sure how many fiddles will be in my future, but I'm glad to have this knowledge tucked away. My philosophy is that any time you have the opportunity to add a new skill to your tool belt, jump on it. You never know when it's going to come in handy.
End note: With the update of my blogger layout, I also updated the text editor, which I'm still getting used to. It also seems to be without spellcheck. I will do my best to spell correctly, but if I goof a little, don't be too hard on me.
1 comment:
Now that it's 100% complete and finished- I think you go on a very short list of truely talented people who should be commended and respected for keeping traditions like this alive. It's got my admiration.
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