Instrument PM

[wkhanna]

got the grandson a violin for x-mass last year.
it is a full size Franz Hoffmann Prelude.

well, he uses it, so it needs regular PM (preventative maintenance)…..but he is in Florida so i have to manage its upkeep from afar.
so i just had a new bridge installed along with a new set of better strings at a shop in St Petersburg which was recommended by his music teacher.
$120 total, which i felt was reasonable & the instrument is reported to be in excellent shape.

[Alaric]

Nice! I wonder, is the humidity down there a plus or a minus for wood instruments? Less chance of the wood drying too much, but more expansion and contraction?

[wkhanna]

i never really gave it much thought....but you ask an interesting question......
i suppose it would be an issue in some instances.
it spends the vast majority of its life in his room & the house has central air.

a bigger concern for me is him getting to the point he deserves an even better quality instrument.

$$$:E:E:E

[madmac]

Any solid wood instrument will react relatively fast to changes in humidity. The wood will quickly lose or take on moisture in a given situation. Low humidity being the worst. A solid wood instrument will literally crack open in chronic low humidity situations. Many people like to leave their guitars out of their cases in the winter around or near fireplaces or baseboard heaters and the results are very bad. They usually crack down the middle sooner or later.

[Hdale85]

Yes Violins get VERY expensive. If he pursues a career playing it you can expect the one he eventually graduates into for a career to cost a similar amount to a new car.... My buddy's gf plays semi professionally and the last violin her parents got her was something like 15 grand I believe.

[wkhanna]

yes, Dougie.
& that is just the fiddle.
have you seen what decent bows go for!?!?!

[wkhanna]

sadly, my late best friend, Rod Nicolas was a luthier.
i wish he could be around to encourage & advise.

[Lex]

Bows are made of horse hair, and they do not give it up easily, lol.

[wkhanna]

this year's xmass gift to my grandson:





link