RESTORATION
I entered the world of violins through the portal of restoration. For a while I thought of violin making and restoration as sister disciplines. But the truth is that they really have very little in common. The end result is more or less the same- a finished playable instrument, but the process of getting there is dramatically different.
As an instrument maker it is expected and desirable that something of you is recognizably there when you are done- your style, your hand, your varnish approach or your sound. It is a specialized woodworking project with a linear work flow. The end is in sight when you choose the wood for the instrument you are about to build.
In restoration you begin with disassembly. Almost always other hands have been there before you (some which you fervently wish had not been.) The pace of the work is often very slow and a big project can take years to complete. Restoration requires more patience, focus, and more discipline to keep things moving. The aim for the exterior of the instrument is to leave no trace of yourself behind. Your work should be invisible. The need to be creative in approach may be surprising, because even after decades of experience you can be confronted with a problem you have not seen before.
Needless to say it is very challenging work and not for the faint of heart. Restoration requires a certain mentality and temperament. I often joke that you have to be a bit of an oddball in order to handle the work. When visiting with other restorers we can find ourselves sighing anxiously and then chuckling at the lengths we go to. All of that said, it can also be very satisfying. The pleasure of working on an old instrument that has been loved and played by so many other people, over so many years, has a special magic.
This is the sort of thing you hope you never see. But it does happen!
Older instruments that have had the top removed many times tend to lose wood at the platforms (the glue surface over the upper and lower block) Sometimes new wood is added during a restoration.
A nearly restored violin top showing a new bass bar, sound post patch, many repaired cracks with new reinforcements. All of this new work will be colored to match the old wood before the top is put back on.
Preparing wood for a cello neck graft.
The new graft glued and clamped up.
Getting ready to set a cello neck. I always use this method with cellos when attaching a newly grafted neck. It adds some time but the results are always perfect.
Here is the inside of a cello at the neck block. It had suffered a fall, causing damage to the ribs on both side of the neck block. Many different approaches to reinforcing the cracks are shown here.
The above three images are of a scroll that suffered some serious damage. The “eye” on the bass side had been missing for some time. At the bottom it is approaching complete restoration.
Preparing a cello scroll for a new neck graft. Crazy looking scroll!
Restoration can involve making and correcting a plaster mold of a top or back plate to address serious distortion of the shape, or to provide a form fitting surface for fitting patches and other repairs.