Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on December 15, 2010 at 4:52pm

For the fingerboard, I'd recommend drawing out the radius that you want on a sheet of paper and cutting that out.  Use that as a guide and cut it into a chunk of wood using a block plane.

I don't have any experience with muting so can't help you there.

As far as the pegs, they ought to be tapered so that you can wedge them in there securely.  If they're just straight then you don't have a way to make them tighter.  They make specialized reamers to create the kind of holes that you need.  I couldn't say what they go for though.  You might be able to get away with buying an economy bridge and end pin reamer off ebay.  I got mine for something like $12 - $16 and it works great.

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Permalink Reply by Ben on December 15, 2010 at 5:24pm

The thing about carving your own fingerboard is that the radius is not consistent. While it is close to symmetrical at the nut, it becomes more asymmetrical towards the bridge. My suggestion is to buy a fingerboard. Here's one for $11! As for the pegs, either splurge on a peg shaper/reamer, or go with geared tuners. As someone who tunes 30-40 violins a day, 5 days a week, the most notable difference between an $89 violin and a $350 violin is the fit of the pegs. If you can't tune your instrument, there's not much use for it. I usually end up replacing my students' pegs right away. If you're not planning to work on a bunch of violins though, its probably not worth it to shell out the money for the shaper/reamer set.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Harrison on December 15, 2010 at 5:48pm

Ben, you are on the money.

Ben said:

The thing about carving your own fingerboard is that the radius is not consistent. While it is close to symmetrical at the nut, it becomes more asymmetrical towards the bridge. My suggestion is to buy a fingerboard. Here's one for $11! As for the pegs, either splurge on a peg shaper/reamer, or go with geared tuners. As someone who tunes 30-40 violins a day, 5 days a week, the most notable difference between an $89 violin and a $350 violin is the fit of the pegs. If you can't tune your instrument, there's not much use for it. I usually end up replacing my students' pegs right away. If you're not planning to work on a bunch of violins though, its probably not worth it to shell out the money for the shaper/reamer set.

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Permalink Reply by St Ginger on December 15, 2010 at 5:51pm

the reamer is a bit out of my league at the moment, what with being an impoverised student and all.

would the geared pegs be less likely to go out of tune than friction pegs?

are uke pegs going to be suitable? they seem to work on a friction system as well, not gears. the advantage it that they are striaght, with the tuning knob in line with the string hole, rather than at 90 degree like on a guitar peg.

 

I think i will go for a bought fingerboard, but i'm in the uk, so shipping from that site would probably be a bit much. couldn't find out how to see the shipping costs without buying the item though. i can get one from ebay for about £8 / $13. if i buy a fingerboard it means it will be reusable if i make another violin latter as well.

 

Ben said:

The thing about carving your own fingerboard is that the radius is not consistent. While it is close to symmetrical at the nut, it becomes more asymmetrical towards the bridge. My suggestion is to buy a fingerboard. Here's one for $11! As for the pegs, either splurge on a peg shaper/reamer, or go with geared tuners. As someone who tunes 30-40 violins a day, 5 days a week, the most notable difference between an $89 violin and a $350 violin is the fit of the pegs. If you can't tune your instrument, there's not much use for it. I usually end up replacing my students' pegs right away. If you're not planning to work on a bunch of violins though, its probably not worth it to shell out the money for the shaper/reamer set.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Harrison on December 15, 2010 at 5:58pm

St Ginger,

There are some friction pegs made for violins, may be Glasser brand. Check with a company that sells violin parts.

St Ginger said:

the reamer is a bit out of my league at the moment, what with being an impoverised student and all.

would the geared pegs be less likely to go out of tune than friction pegs?

are uke pegs going to be suitable? they seem to work on a friction system as well, not gears. the advantage it that they are striaght, with the tuning knob in line with the string hole, rather than at 90 degree like on a guitar peg.

 

I think i will go for a bought fingerboard, but i'm in the uk, so shipping from that site would probably be a bit much. couldn't find out how to see the shipping costs without buying the item though. i can get one from ebay for about £8 / $13. if i buy a fingerboard it means it will be reusable if i make another violin latter as well.

 

Ben said:

The thing about carving your own fingerboard is that the radius is not consistent. While it is close to symmetrical at the nut, it becomes more asymmetrical towards the bridge. My suggestion is to buy a fingerboard. Here's one for $11! As for the pegs, either splurge on a peg shaper/reamer, or go with geared tuners. As someone who tunes 30-40 violins a day, 5 days a week, the most notable difference between an $89 violin and a $350 violin is the fit of the pegs. If you can't tune your instrument, there's not much use for it. I usually end up replacing my students' pegs right away. If you're not planning to work on a bunch of violins though, its probably not worth it to shell out the money for the shaper/reamer set.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Harrison on December 15, 2010 at 6:03pm

CHAMPION VIOLIN PEG SET
Adjustable tension friction pegs w/ metal shaft and ebonoid button. Each peg has a specially sized bullet-shaped tip, the E-string having the shortest and the G-string having the longest. From Grover.
sku: VP18 .. list $33.50 ours $26.95

Bob Harrison said:

St Ginger,

There are some friction pegs made for violins, may be Glasser brand. Check with a company that sells violin parts.

St Ginger said:

the reamer is a bit out of my league at the moment, what with being an impoverised student and all.

would the geared pegs be less likely to go out of tune than friction pegs?

are uke pegs going to be suitable? they seem to work on a friction system as well, not gears. the advantage it that they are striaght, with the tuning knob in line with the string hole, rather than at 90 degree like on a guitar peg.

 

I think i will go for a bought fingerboard, but i'm in the uk, so shipping from that site would probably be a bit much. couldn't find out how to see the shipping costs without buying the item though. i can get one from ebay for about £8 / $13. if i buy a fingerboard it means it will be reusable if i make another violin latter as well.

 

Ben said:

The thing about carving your own fingerboard is that the radius is not consistent. While it is close to symmetrical at the nut, it becomes more asymmetrical towards the bridge. My suggestion is to buy a fingerboard. Here's one for $11! As for the pegs, either splurge on a peg shaper/reamer, or go with geared tuners. As someone who tunes 30-40 violins a day, 5 days a week, the most notable difference between an $89 violin and a $350 violin is the fit of the pegs. If you can't tune your instrument, there's not much use for it. I usually end up replacing my students' pegs right away. If you're not planning to work on a bunch of violins though, its probably not worth it to shell out the money for the shaper/reamer set.

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Permalink Reply by Ben on December 16, 2010 at 12:14am

Bob, you're doing pretty well yourself! As for geared over friction pegs, the ones listed below look pretty good. When building from scratch though, geared tuners will eliminate the need for fine tuners at the tailpiece. Yeah, they aren't that expensive but trying to tune without them is horribly frustrating (especially with poorly fitting pegs). If you're going for the traditional violin look, but want geared tuners, check out these Planetary Pegs. They're expensive (probably prohibitive for a student budget...especially since you may soon be paying the actual cost of your education), and I think they still need a tapered hole since they are meant to replace other pegs.

Bob Harrison said:

CHAMPION VIOLIN PEG SET
Adjustable tension friction pegs w/ metal shaft and ebonoid button. Each peg has a specially sized bullet-shaped tip, the E-string having the shortest and the G-string having the longest. From Grover.
sku: VP18 .. list $33.50 ours $26.95

Bob Harrison said:

St Ginger,

There are some friction pegs made for violins, may be Glasser brand. Check with a company that sells violin parts.

St Ginger said:

the reamer is a bit out of my league at the moment, what with being an impoverised student and all.

would the geared pegs be less likely to go out of tune than friction pegs?

are uke pegs going to be suitable? they seem to work on a friction system as well, not gears. the advantage it that they are striaght, with the tuning knob in line with the string hole, rather than at 90 degree like on a guitar peg.

 

I think i will go for a bought fingerboard, but i'm in the uk, so shipping from that site would probably be a bit much. couldn't find out how to see the shipping costs without buying the item though. i can get one from ebay for about £8 / $13. if i buy a fingerboard it means it will be reusable if i make another violin latter as well.

 

Ben said:

The thing about carving your own fingerboard is that the radius is not consistent. While it is close to symmetrical at the nut, it becomes more asymmetrical towards the bridge. My suggestion is to buy a fingerboard. Here's one for $11! As for the pegs, either splurge on a peg shaper/reamer, or go with geared tuners. As someone who tunes 30-40 violins a day, 5 days a week, the most notable difference between an $89 violin and a $350 violin is the fit of the pegs. If you can't tune your instrument, there's not much use for it. I usually end up replacing my students' pegs right away. If you're not planning to work on a bunch of violins though, its probably not worth it to shell out the money for the shaper/reamer set.

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Permalink Reply by Mungo Park on December 16, 2010 at 5:07am

This guy sometimes has necks, but nothing today, he does have some mutes take a look at them and make your own.

http://shop.ebay.ca/String-/10176/i.html?_catref=1&_fln=1&_...

 

Can you radius the fingerboard like a guitar, cut a curved pierce of wood to use as a "jig" to sand it, I don't know how much it changes shape as it goes up the neck. Maybe 2 jigs and smooze the transition.

Cheers Ron.

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Permalink Reply by Bob Harrison on December 16, 2010 at 5:31am

Ron,

A violin fingerboard has the shape of a section of a cone. A small radi at the nut end and a large radi at the bridge end. Sanding it with a fixture is the way I have build them..

Cheers

Bib

Mungo Park said:

This guy sometimes has necks, but nothing today, he does have some mutes take a look at them and make your own.

http://shop.ebay.ca/String-/10176/i.html?_catref=1&_fln=1&_...

 

Can you radius the fingerboard like a guitar, cut a curved pierce of wood to use as a "jig" to sand it, I don't know how much it changes shape as it goes up the neck. Maybe 2 jigs and smooze the transition.

Cheers Ron.

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Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on December 16, 2010 at 6:21am

As for a mute, generally a CB fiddle is fairly quiet, compared with a traditional fiddle.  I use two clothespins on the bridge of my fiddle to cut the sound some, one sticking out on each side.  Another is to roll up a dollar bill as tight as you can, and weave it under the G, over the D and A, and under the E.  Slid up close to the bridge takes the edge off (and a good idea for general practice with a "real" fiddle so you have some hearing left in your golden years), and slid towards the tail keeps it handy for when you are ready to put it back in place. Plus, can't beat the price.

 

I don't care for those rubber mutes, they make my intonation go all wonky and you can't get a good handle on your playing skills.  Both of the cheap methods above don't give me that problem.

 

I second (or are we at thirds?) the vote to purchase a ready-made fingerboard.  That is a hard one to craft so that it matches a traditional fiddle, and if/when you transition to a traditional fiddle you'll have an easier re-learning curve if you've been putting time in on a fiddle with a traditional profile, regardless of the sound box.

 

I'd say also it is pretty important to position the bridge the same distance from the tail as on a "real" fiddle, for the same transition reasons.  Also, scale length, but you probably already have considered that.

 

I"m looking at this book before I attempt my next fiddle: http://www.adventurousmusestore.com/servlet/the-141/cigar-box-fiddl...

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Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on December 16, 2010 at 7:22am

You're describing a compound radius, I believe.  In that case you can draw out two radius templates and use one at the nut and one at the bridge end.

Ben said:

The thing about carving your own fingerboard is that the radius is not consistent. While it is close to symmetrical at the nut, it becomes more asymmetrical towards the bridge. My suggestion is to buy a fingerboard. Here's one for $11! As for the pegs, either splurge on a peg shaper/reamer, or go with geared tuners. As someone who tunes 30-40 violins a day, 5 days a week, the most notable difference between an $89 violin and a $350 violin is the fit of the pegs. If you can't tune your instrument, there's not much use for it. I usually end up replacing my students' pegs right away. If you're not planning to work on a bunch of violins though, its probably not worth it to shell out the money for the shaper/reamer set.

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Permalink Reply by David L. on December 16, 2010 at 8:14am

Hi St Ginger,

 

I bought a batch of 3/4 sized violins off ebay a while ago - I am planning to convert at least one of the bodies to a guitar once the weather improves which means I have a spare neck/fingerboard/tuning pegs/tailpiece with fine tuners (all have a well used look).  Sizewise it is 25.4cm from nut to the end of the fingerboard and 2.3cm across the nut. Student sale price is free but if you could cover postage I would be grateful (I live in the UK) If you are interested email me.

 

Regards,

David

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