Yes - the peg box is black on Cellos and Basses, too. Of course, these are drilled out, then chiseled to a clean surface and thus have a back wall.
I plan on painting mine black inside, too. I saw that on Norwegian and German "folk fiddles" and Basses, that the front of the peg box was beveled - not square as on classical instruments. I stared this bevel on mine, for a lighter appearance, and to allow the E and G strings to pass into the peg box, without bending corners.
I read recently that on violins that the peg pocket is traditionally painted black. I forget why but maybe to draw less attention to it and draw more attention to the scroll
Condolences offered for the Gerbil. When my son's rat passed into the great beyond, he pined for years.
Yes, I am going to put the little wheels on. It looks like "too much" when the headstock is seen alone - it is more elegant without them, but the box is large, and the head is proportionally too small when the neck is matched to the body. By adding them, a balance is achieved. I will be beveling the backs of the small wheels, so that they sit at an angle that mimics a real scroll. I am also planning to use ebony stain, thinned to transparency for underpainting the finished headstock for a more sculpted effect, in places. The whole will be stained heavily in dark red mahogany. I expect the underpainting to help complete the look of this.
Thanks for the Hobby Lobby tip! I was unaware of them, and now have to look into the whole site. My wife will have to endure, I am afraid... :-)
Looking NICE! Are you still going to apply the smaller wheels to complete the scroll? I noticed yesterday while at Hobby Lobby they have those wheels in different diameters and different profiles. Its worth a look. And currently all thier unfinished wood stock is 30% off too. They have a small selection of craft boxes too that would make for some real nice CBG's. I bought 2 real small boxes just for the hardware only, 8 decrative corners, 2 hinges and a hasp per box for like $4.50. Seperatly the hardware alone would of ran $18 easy at a bib box store! And as it turned the boxes I got was a good small size for a gerbil casket, as I my sons died friday morning.
Comments
I plan on painting mine black inside, too. I saw that on Norwegian and German "folk fiddles" and Basses, that the front of the peg box was beveled - not square as on classical instruments. I stared this bevel on mine, for a lighter appearance, and to allow the E and G strings to pass into the peg box, without bending corners.
Yes, I am going to put the little wheels on. It looks like "too much" when the headstock is seen alone - it is more elegant without them, but the box is large, and the head is proportionally too small when the neck is matched to the body. By adding them, a balance is achieved. I will be beveling the backs of the small wheels, so that they sit at an angle that mimics a real scroll. I am also planning to use ebony stain, thinned to transparency for underpainting the finished headstock for a more sculpted effect, in places. The whole will be stained heavily in dark red mahogany. I expect the underpainting to help complete the look of this.
Thanks for the Hobby Lobby tip! I was unaware of them, and now have to look into the whole site. My wife will have to endure, I am afraid... :-)