I recently had a violin come to me for repair that had seen a pretty major mishap… the neck had been broken clean off! The customer didn't really know if it was repairable, merely I told them I would have a await. Made in West Deutschland, that would point something in the belatedly 1940's or the 1950'due south. Something about the quality of the woods, especially the beautiful grain of the maple back, made me think it was worth a endeavor. Plus, a challenge similar this doesn't come my style every day!

With the mislaid confidence of someone who has never attempted something like this before, I fearlessly began past doing what I usually do… I consulted YouTube.

The biggest problem was that the button, the 'backbone' of the violin, had been cleaved off along with the cervix. I before long learned that a 'button graft' was the proper manner to exercise the repair. While quite involved, the procedure would exist possible, but would require removing the dorsum of the violin. I assessed some of the repairs that had been done in the by, and suspected that the back had been removed at some time in the violin's life. Worried that the glues used may not have been animal hide, I was afraid removal might crusade irreparable impairment. The fact that the torso of the violin was audio (no pun intended) acquired me to opt non to do a 'push button graft'.

The other serious thing I discovered by inspecting the span was that the previous neck angle was completely incorrect, so while putting it back together, I would also have to practice a complete neck reset… quite a bit more work than first thought.

Resetting the neck angle is tricky, as specifications are quite explicit and precise. Here, I'thousand using my handy-bang-up, homemade jig:

I noticed some esthetic damage, specifically that a couple of pieces of the top had been chipped off, so decided to attempt these repairs as well:

Here's the best I could manage. Matching colours and varnishes is extremely tricky:

The concluding upshot. In lieu of a proper button graft, I opted to 'dowel' the cervix to the front cake. I'm sure luthiers will cringe at such a repair, and I don't recollect the musical instrument would survive another such mishap, only ya gotta practise what ya gotta practise. So far, it seems stiff and solid.

A Nico polish and a new set of D'Addario Ascente strings, fresh bridge, new chinrest and shoulder balance, and the customer is fix to do some serious fiddlin' !!!!

I played the violin a chip to see if it was equally adept as I had hoped, and after some soundpost adjustments, it shows some hope. While it is not overly loud, information technology has a mellow quality fifty-fifty after what is probably years of disuse.

The complete outfit: