No. 9 Old Virginia Cheroots. This box dates back to the 1870s as identified by the tax stamp. This is the first fiddle where I curved both the back and the front. The curvature of the top and bottom gives extra strength to these parts. I'm beginning to notice a pattern in that the "a" string has a problem with wolf tone. I took this box apart 4 time trying to eliminate the wolf tone. I think that one problem is that I should have canted the 'f' holes out so that there would be more wood between the top of them. You can see in the picture that the top of the 'f' hole are quite close together. I set the fiddle aside for several months and worked on other projects, but when I returned to it, it seemed to play a lot better. I wonder if letting an instrument set out for a while helps it settle in? None the less, I have used this one for my main performing fiddle for a while now. Nice volume and tone. Just have to keep a watch on the "a" string. Don't want to let the bow get too far from the end of the fingerboard. By the way, any staining that done to the boxes or necks is good ole tobacco juice.
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How do you curve the top and bottoms of your fiddles? Do you cut a curve into the sides and bend the top and bottom pieces over them, or do you plane a curve out of the top and bottom pieces? Hope that makes sense!
Beautiful batch of fiddles. Love the old boxes. These look right out of the civil war CB fiddles of the history book, One Man's Trash. Great work. Thanks
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How do you curve the top and bottoms of your fiddles? Do you cut a curve into the sides and bend the top and bottom pieces over them, or do you plane a curve out of the top and bottom pieces? Hope that makes sense!
just awesome !!
Beautiful batch of fiddles. Love the old boxes. These look right out of the civil war CB fiddles of the history book, One Man's Trash. Great work. Thanks