Del Gesu up and moving again.

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Posted by Chet Bishop on Wednesday, December 26, 2012

1 person likes this

I closed the corpus on the Del Gesu model today, and will work on the scroll some more. It's looking pretty good. I wish I had gotten it done a long time ago. Gotta take life the way it comes, though. I will post photos soon.

Right now I am attempting a repair/restoration (sigh) for a friend, whose grandfather had aspirations at fiddle repair. As far as I can tell, the only thing "right" was that he used hide glue. On the other hand, the old gentleman loved his fiddle, so I don't mind loving it one last time for the family's sake. I think I can make it look OK...maybe even playable.

I think what he had started out with was a very cheap violin that had been smashed... there are several poorly repaired cracks in the back, and the heel was snapped loose from the button, having taken about a millimeter of the button with it. Ribs were loose, but partially re-glued to the back. Neck was loose in the block, tail-block split and badly glued. New sound-board carved from slab-cut pine, about 7 mm thick all over. Bass bar about 6" long, and 1/2" thick, by 3/4" tall. No purfling in new top, though the back was purfled; no corner blocks at all. Ah, yes...

They will be happy to have it back, and it won't take me all that long.

I hope to begin another cello this week...we will see how the time vs. work goes. I also have to be ready to teach a CWI class (certified welding inspector), beginning the 7th, so I need to get ready for that, too.

3 comments on “Del Gesu up and moving again.”

Chet Bishop Says:
Friday, December 28, 2012 @5:28:14 AM

Turns out I was mistaken about several things, regarding the repair job:

First, the soundboard is not pine, but cedar-- Port Orford cedar, if my nose tells me aright.

Second, though it was very thick at the edges where the recurve is, the belly is about 3mm all over, so, not bad, though it has a very exaggerated "Staineresque" arching. It has a ring like a wooden bell. Very clear, with lots of sustain. This will be an interesting project. I think I will have it all reassembled today, as all internal repairs are complete, and I am ready to close it up. I put new pegs on it, as the old ones were hopelessly misfit and mismatched to boot. Refit and installed the FB, cleaned and polished the back, enough to mask the sanding scratches (sigh). I will probably do more once it is all together, but it will never look great. I am beginning to think it just might *sound* great, though.

We'll see.