Old Fiddle Questions
 

My mother has a fiddle that her father played back in the 1930's on the eastern plains of Wyoming. She tells me that she doesn't know how he came about it but that it has the obligatory "Stradivarius" sticker in it as so many copy violins did. She says it is missing one tuning peg. I'm going to go have a look at it to see as to its condition and see if it can be resurrected. I want to play some mountain music and as a 35 year guitar player and 3 year piano player (wish I'd have taken theory years ago, better late than never) I think there's no reason why I can't learn it as well. I don't know if there is a bow to go with it, didn't ask. My question is, are old cheap fiddles worth "fiddling" with or would I be money ahead just renting a student violin to learn with? Perhaps I should take it to a shop for an assessment?

Given that it is missing a peg, and logically also a string, I’d take it to a violin shop for service. There are some things about violins that you really can’t do well yourself unless you have the right tools and know-how. At the very least, it will need new strings (and a peg) and the bridge and soundpost will need to be checked.

If it’s a decent instrument, it might actually sound better than a student rental. But if you are planning to learn, I’d recommend getting at least a few lessons to help you with proper position and technique and bow hold, etc. There are particular things about the mechanics that can make it more difficult to learn if you aren’t doing it correctly.

I believe you're right. I don't suppose I'd recognize what the instrument needs (aside from the obvious) even when I do get a look at it. But I'd sure like to take it forward from here. And yes, lessons would certainly be in order. Thank you for the advise.

As a fiddle player first, I'd agree that it needs to see a luthier. While fiddle pegs are a dime a dozen, they need fitting for the specific fiddle to insure proper function. And have the luthier replace all the strings with new, and check the sound post and bridge set up as others said. I wouldn't estimate this to be a very costly procedure. And I definitely wouldn't write it off as a junk instrument from the get-go. It could be a fairly nice old fiddle, perhaps a German trade fiddle. Older fiddles and cheaper ones (say under a grand) can be better than a finer one for beginners. Older fiddles are often more mellow and more forgiving, as are cheaper ones. A very fine violin will sound good in the hands of a good player, but it might drive a beginner nuts who can't make full use or the fiddle's capabilities (A constant struggle for me).

Violin is my first instrument as well. A few years back I inherited my granpa's 1880's German trade fiddle (built in Mittenwald). I took her to a violin shop up in Spokane and for about $150 they set it up great. Sounds WAY better than my original student model from 1972 (which I still have).

It could be German as my mothers family came from there in the 1880's. Thanks for the advise everyone.

That sounds like a really cool thing to have.

Could well be. Between Mittenwald (as mentioned above) in Bavaria, and Markneukirchen in Saxony, Germany produced a huge percentage of the world's violins back in the day.

More than many other wooden instruments, fiddles "stiffen up" sitting unused and even when set up anew need to be played in to restore resonance and tone.

A good short-cut is to hang the instrument (properly set up and tuned up) on a decent stereo speaker and play music to it 24/7 for a few months. The musical vibrations will soothe the box and get it back on the road to good mechanical/musical condition.

I prefer a classical station...

Be sure to check the bow as well. I recall an Antiques Roadshow where a lady brought in an old German fiddle. The appraiser advised her it was worth about 900-1000 dollars. The bow was an 18th century English bow from a prominent maker and was apprised at $50,000.

The really rare ones say "Antonius Stradivarius Cremona Made in Japan". They're valuable because he was only in Japan for two weeks.

The "Stadivarius" label is not placed there to try and fool anyone. There were three main Cremonese violin makers a few centuries ago - Bartolomeo Giuseppe Antonio Guarneri del Gesù, Nicolò Amati and Antonio Stradivari. They comprised the holy trinity of violinmaking and are considered the best there is. These labels mean the instrument is based on Antonio Stradivari's design as opposed to either of the other two.

So I got a look at the fiddle. Bridge piece is gone, tail piece pretty worn and is missing a tuning peg. The body seems sound enough, no cracks or such. Sticker says Antonio Stradivarius made in 1724 (in Italian). Mom says she has a picture of Grandpa in his 20's holding it, before she was born, maybe circa 1920. She thinks it may have been a Sears or Monkey Wards buy, but doesn't know for sure. What is sure is that he was 100% German, as his parents immigrated from Germany in the 1880's. Mom remembers him playing it and a guitar in their small home on the eastern Wyoming prairie, (he was a sheep and dairy man), during bitter winters. I can go the StewMac way and get all I need for less than 100$ but I haven't a clue as to how to carve the bridge. I'll have to look into this or get an estimate. We'll see.

You don't need to carve a bridge. I've bought near finished bridges - all you have to do is fit the feet to your fiddle with a jig.

I'll mimic what was suggested above. While one can just stick a peg in or put a tailpiece on, if it hasn't been touched in a while and hasn't had tension from strings, I'd really want a luthier to make sure the sound post is in the correct place and fit the bridge properly. I've played for 20 years and done quite a few repairs on my own stuff, but with my great grandfather's violin (also an old German violin) I just pay the money to make sure it is done right.

That said, if you really have your heart set on doing it yourself, you can get a wittner composite tailpiece with 4 fine tuners for about $30 on Amazon. I'd do a bunch of studying online to find guidance on where a soundpost should be set, and you can pick up those tools online at fiddler shop dot com as well. I have both the quick post setter and the more traditional adjuster. If it turns out you are missing the soundpost, fitting those is a bit of an art, but there are tools available to help with that as well. Once you have the post up, get some decent strings - if you want fiddle style I'd go with Helicore, but D'addario makes a budget-friendly string called Ascente or something like that. I used those on my daughter's 1/2 size and they sounded amazingly good for around $25. If you want to get the best sound out of the fiddle, you will also want to tune the length of the tail gut to be at the recommended pitches. Fiddle Hangout will likely have some good info on DIY setup, but most of the folks there will also recommend taking it to a professional.

Good luck in bringing 'er back to life!

Yes, you can get precarved bridges. But the difficult part is setting the sound post. It is a thin wood dowel that sits approximately under the right foot of the bridge. That is not something that really should be attempted unless you really know what you are doing. A violin will not resonate correctly without it, nor will it resonate well if set in the wrong place. Of all the stuff that I’ve done to my violin, that is the most difficult, and I prefer to take it to my luthier anyway.