Completely wild decision to cover the final sound of the instrument with stock music.

Great video! But could you remove the stock music when the person is playing it at the end? I want to hear the violin better!

As a luthier of nearly 50 years standing, I have to say that the commentary was very good at explaining what was happening, there are several elements that made me cringe. Reconstituted hot hide and bone glue are my own choice for any instrument of such age. I wouldn't go near it with a commercially made product as is used in the making of this video.

Whoa. This is a good example of some parts of the restoration process but there are some sections which horrify me - as both a violin player and amateur luthier. The choice of glues is ghastly. The standard glue choice is reconstituted hide glue, not pre-made/commercial and most certainly not CA glue. That's criminal. Violins are made and assembled with products that allow them to be disassembled later. CA glue does not allow this. I am sorry but this is no professional's instrument, but a practice piece for the luthier at best. I am doubly sorry that the director allowed a backing track to be overlaid over the raw, clean music of the instrument itself. That demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of music performance.

Anyone contemplating "repairing" or "restoring" a valuable violin would do well to disregard most of the information/methods expressed in this video. When in doubt, seek the assistance of a professional.

Amazing how the violin sounds just like a piano at the end .

Fun fact: The Stradivarius violins amazing sound and build was due, in part, to the wood from which it was produced. The wood came from trees that had survived a harsh drought and had very tight growth rings due to the very low growth rate during the harsh times. This wood made for a better sound in the Stradivarius due to the density of the wood. A prospective project to plant trees that were from the same forest and tend to the trees as if they were in the same conditions that resulted in the famed wood was planned. I am not sure if the project ever came into realisation.

Fascinating work. What I found must puzzling is why the finger board, nut, bridge, and tuning pegs are done before any body repairs. It seems to me it would make more sense to have a structurally sound platform before working on things that attach to it. I would also like to have seen a more comprehensive professional demonstration of the instrument at the end without the incidental music playing.

As a violinist myself, this gave me nightmares. If you're going to work on an instrument, do your research first and do it the right way.

I would have expected to hear a serious audition of the instrument at the end...It was nothing! Why do I hear an electric piano where I want to hear a violin??

While this video is informative, and the repairs shown are either good or passable for the quality of the instrument in question (and done well and consciously), I have apprenticed in full violin shop, and this was clearly a skilled repairer that works more primarily in a “music shop” that deals more with guitars than violins. There are things done here that wouldn’t find their way into a purist violin luthier shop, but would in a guitar shop that does occasional repairs on other types of instruments, but had reasonable and stable results for the quality of the instrument (they say very clearly in the video it’s “built on the strad pattern”, and so many people - myself included when I was young - think his means it’s high quality, when in fact a large majority of instruments are built on the Stradivari or Guarneri pattern, many of which are in expensively made in a production shop, or by machines, some very poorly indeed). I build guitars, and use PVA for laminations, but not for fingerboards due to my background and the ease and excellence of hide glue. I also am an orchestra director that repairs all school instruments myself (very poor district) and I stick to more accepted Luthery practices unless the instrument is already a total loss anyway and I can win a few more years out of it with an epoxied neck but it’s not worth grafting in wood to completely repair correctly (eg. It’s a $500 cheapo that plays but is bad quality in components and sound, but a young musician that has no money could use it for a time). I do have a cello from 15 years ago that had a complete break mid neck, and I glued it together hogged out all but a shell of maple, epoxied a new piece of maple that now comprised most of the mass of the neck, and it’s still going today! It was a better quality instrument, but I was young at luthiery and am still proud of my repair on that one. Still a fantastic sounding cello for a school instrument. So that is to say, no shade on this luthier because I’ve done some non-traditional repairs myself, but some of the choices here (especially the glues used) are not in line with traditional, time tested techniques and the well reasoned philosophies behind the techniques and I wouldn’t use them.

WHY did you keep playing your background incidental music when testing out the newly restored violin? I would have liked to have heard it clearly.

Excellent work but I have a couple questions. I'm assuming the interior was fine but why not include the inspection? You replaced the sound post at least. Why place the fingerboard etc. prior to cleaning and repairing the body? Were you not concerned the body repairs may cause shifting of the neck? I would also add just a demo of the violin alone at the end would have been preferable.

Many of the techniques shown here are appropriate for restoring student guitars of minor value.

Based on the channel being called Masters of Craft, I expected to see the work of a professional luthier. 😣

Very nice production values in this video, but the luthier work is sub par. I would never use or recommend the use of cold hide glue for any violin repairs, especially gluing on a fingerboard. It will fall off. Been in the trade for thirty years and have heard a number of bad outcomes from Franklin/Titebond cold hide glue. Use the correct stuff, traditional hot hide glue. Oh, and don’t use Titebond carpenter’s glue or Elmer’s white glue either, cause problems of their own. This was not meant to be a tutorial, but wish videos like this would show correct ways of doing the work. I’ve watch a number of KZfaq videos and rarely do masters of the trade make these kinds of videos. They are too busy doing fine work on the instruments.

I am a novice at repairs and I had the same question, I spoke to a pro luthier and he was adamant about only using Hide glue on violins and the like as it allows easier removal and repairs in the future as well as better expansion and contraction of the woods. Was that the original sound post? there is a tremendous amount of important information on the subject, what it is made of, how to make it, and placement is extremely important to the quality and tone of the instrument.

Um... whats with the end piano/noise instead of the violin???

You were able to clean up that fiddle pretty good. Why did you not clean up the body before attaching the fretboard? It would have been easier without it in the way.

that violin sounded like a piano...how did you do that???

Wtf is this new age violin lutherie? Thank God it's not a real Strad!!

Yeah..., well; this..., " Luthier" took perfectly sized peg wholes and reamed them till they now look big and gawdy. Now many years from now when it needs to be redone, it will need an entirely different head piece! The man who created this would be furious to have his name on this! It's like the difference between delicate butterfly antennae and bull horns!

If i had a violin worth 30 dollars I would not let you go near it. You are a luthier like I am an archbishop.

"Bob, they've been waiting this WHOLE VID'JA TO HEAR IT, what say we just really turn up the pie-anner on that part, eh?"

How refreshing that no attempt is made to re-finish the instrument. So many people do not realise that the original varnish is an essential, integral part of a violin. Over the years I’ve seen so many beautiful instruments ruined by re-varnishing!

Sacrilegious!

The guy doing this is not a "Master". This was horrifying to watch!

Was anyone else looking forward to actually hearing this beautiful instrument?

0:26 "makes sure to wait to the end to hear the fixed instrument being played by a professional" 19:16 turns out the professional is an expert cat killer, and all we hear is the wailing of the poor creatures as they depart this Earth, with copious amounts of stock music overlay to try and hide the true horror.

I'm a guitarist and I make classical and flamenco guitars. I can see he's got good hands. He used that scraper well. I'm no violinist, or luthier but as a lay person I was a bit surprised to see commercial hide glue being used for fitting the fingerboard. If someone used C.A. glue on a guitar I had made I'd be upset at someone hurting one of my babies. I tend to think that whatever you do needs to be reversible. Select your glues accordingly. Wherever you can make them yourself to a trusted recipe and method. I've fitted guitar fingerboards with hot hide glue, and you can do it in about ten - fifteen seconds if you've honed your method. I was surprised at several methods and materials I saw in this video. Interesting video. I'm pretty sure if someone looked over my shoulder when i was making guitars they would probably critique my methods and materials too.

Your choice of glues will make the work of any subsequent restorer a nightmare. After all, we should not forget that such instruments, if properly taken care of, will outlive us all.

"We will leave you with the sound of the violin being played." With some random music masking the sound of the violin being played.

Would've been nice to hear the violin by itself.

I've played many fine-quality violins in my life and I can say that this instrument is not even mediocre in quality.

The luthiers who are watching this are screaming in pain

For the record, at 13:50 he says he applies wood glue. It's not wood glue but Hide Glue. Hide Glue can be removed if needed for later restorations, wood glue cannot (without damaging the instrument). I learned this from Olaf Grawert.

did he super glue the nut?

So proud of the sound you plastered the old piano all over it...

You wrecked the whole video with the piano music covering the sound of the violin. I want my 20 minutes back.

在我看来，对于老琴，尽量不要用reamer去改动弦轴孔，应该尽量修pegs。(In my opinion, for old pianos, try not to use the reamer to change the peg holes, but try to shape the pegs.)

very interesting to watch but you can't help but think that after all that the sound of the restored violin was not all that iimpressive when you play music over the top of it being played

Something that was never addressed in this video: yes, the violin was old (not ancient!), but what made it intrinsically worth putting the effort and money into restoring THIS violin? Had it been made by a well known luthier from its time? Had it been played by some well known violinist? To be honest, I didn’t think that the sound of the instrument at the end was all that impressive (granted the music playing on top wasn’t helpful.) But I didn’t hear the depth of sound from the instrument that I expected from the lead in to the video. Thanks, though, for showing some interesting specialized tools and clamps during the repair process.

My violin was built by a master luthier, who showed every step in making one just like mine. Pretty much nothing he does is shown here (no disrepect) but lovingly creates a work of art that will endure for years.

What does "19th century replica" have to do with "Ancient Violin"? Nothing that I can think of.

I would have repaired the loose joinery and cleaned the body before fitting the fingerboard.

The piano pounding in the background covered up the violin. Whats the point, if we can not clearly hear the violin?

its not the curve in the bridge that transmits sound, it is thinned so its harmonics are changing with the string vibrations and can make the strings have a fluid support

The piano playing over top of the violin music was a bit distracting. I wanted to hear the sound of the violin alone. It's tone.

Nothing like having an unrelated soundtrack playing over live music in the film.

Musical instruments are amazing, I've had a cornet trumpet sitting in my closet for 15 years finally brought it out fixed it. Only to find out it's from 1899, its amazing to think that over 100 years ago someone used this instrument to bring happiness to people. Amazing work absolutely beautiful

I wouldn't let this guy go near a quality violin or archtop guitar.

Why not use hot hide glue or fish glue instead of titebond and CA?

all so caring and considered. the end of the vid you masked the tone with background music. wanted to hear the pure violin. hmm?

18:44 "We would like to think the renowned luthier himself, would have been proud of it" 😅 And I would like to think that statement wasn't completely detached from reality. Oh well, at least you did a nice job filming and covering the horrible sounds at the end with stock music.

I don't know anything about violins, I saw a lot of criticisms but I'm glad I could just watch it for the enjoyment of something being restored. Only one thing, I cringed at the end when background discordant music was playing over the violin, I really did want to hear it played but just pure violin.

Well done, for a Blacksmith's Shop using Carpentry Tools

With nothing extensive being done/repaired to the body and neck of the violin, this is not a restoration video, it's an extreme setup video.

This wasn't a restoration, it was a refinish.

When you put a rag over a bottle of solvent and tip the bottle to moisten the rag, you risk contaminating the solvent still in the bottle with whatever grime is in the rag. Safer is to pour the solvent onto the rag. A $10,000 airplane paint job was once ruined by contaminated solvent... had to be repainted.

Great video sir. Might I suggest you look into getting a hand held pen style drill for the holes drilled at 11:04 into the pegs for the strings. The handheld drills make those types of holes easier to drill.

Just to be clear, absolutely no one thinks this "luthier" did a decent job. This is astonishing.

I love the way you put the back of that priceless violin hard against the edge of your workbench @1:43. Right fucking professional guy!

When they were adding the whiles for the strings in the tuning pegs, the narrator called the scratch awl a screwdriver💀

This should've been about the restoration of a piano because that's all I heard at the end.

'we will leave you with the sound of the violin being played, at the same time as a modern piano piece in a totally different key'

At the end of the video, the violin accompanied by the piano creates nothing other than a cacophony of sound which destroys totally the final impact of all that restoration work. Such a pity!

"We will leave you with the sound of the violin being played". Proceeds with stock music that being played over the violin...

Всегда с уважением отношусь к людям умеющим что либо делать своими руками - МАСТЕРАМ !

New title "Replica Strato Kazoo Restoration" That violin might sound like a banjo or an Oscar Mayer Weinie Whistle for all we know. The piano at the end was playing in a completely different key than the violin, making the newly restored entire purpose of the video sound like a band of demons.

This man is not a luthier, but a simple restorer.

The glue used in connecting upper and lower decks to the body is NOT WOOD GLUE. It is HIDE GLUE. That is exactly what was used here. Just to avoid a damage of violin in case some one watches this video and decides to repeat it. Hide glue is not permanent like wood glue.

lol love the comments. Thanks guys. Makes the hatchet job on the violin more bearable :)

I was disappointed that we couldn’t hear more of the violin at the end.

This is like watching a bricklayer restore a Ferrari.

I would like to hear more history of this instrument , and the value after the completed restoration.

This is violin became beautiful after restoration!!!

This is fascinating!! My favorite thing is that you didn’t try to use a dark stain or anything to cover the patina the wood had developed over time. Simply cleaned and repolished and let that history become central to the look of the violin. I also had no idea that violin pegs are a simple tapered friction fit. That’s so cool! And the custom detailing on the pegs and bridge is wonderful. I wish that the background audio was muted while the violin was being played since it clashed with the violin melody though.

Very bizarre that we could not hear the violin being played at the end. It utterly ruined the video.

He restored it so well it now sounds like a piano, must be the magic effect of CA glue 👏

My dear Mother’s father, my grandfather, repaired string instruments for Boston Symphony Orchestra. I only learned of this after his death.

I'm very glad this isn't MY violin...

They really overstated the condition of the violin at the start. It was actually in pretty good condition.

I use just water and a knife blade to clean the residuals on the neck surface.

Titebond "liquid hide glue" will separate in high humidity but curiously will sometimes be resistant to steam.

So instead of getting to hear the violin at the end we hear a piano. Nice trick.

Interesting video. A few observations. The instrument is typical of the thousands of student models that were produced in Europe in the last couple centuries. I have worked on hundreds of them and still have around fifty in my shop. Many are without corner blocks or a viable baas bar. Their only redeeming quality is the fact that many have decent wood which makes restoring them a worthwhile effort. Agreeing with others who commented, using bottled "hide glue" is not a satisfactory substitute for quality hot hide glue. Also it appears as though the pegs were much too thick which if so would be a case for not having to bush the peg holes.

Love it! I dabble in restoring old things. It connects me to the past, long before I was born and the future long after I'm gone.

Very interesting. I don’t play any instruments, so I have learned things watching this. Pity about too much piano plaid, rather than the violin itself.

Our family inherited a violin that was made in 1835 and came into the family in 1855. It had a repair made from damage that happened when someone burst into place and yelled jessy James just robbed the Glendale train.I'm 1980 grandmother took it to pro restorer and when they got it back the repair looked different and the label inside now stayed made in country that came to be in the 1920's indicating it had been switched with a cheap knockoff.I know it was not a stratavrious but had to be worth something for someone to forge a replacment.always wonder it's true value for someone to take the time to duplicate the repair and then refinish it

"Masters of Craft": not sure about that... - “Cleaning” with turpentine is a “no-no” (especially this kind of bad turpentine): it slightly dissolves the original varnish, and as it contains itself a lot of resins, it will embed and fix dust particles into the now weakened varnish. Gently cleaning with a wet cloth dripped in warm water is a far, far better choice. - Use hide glue/ animal glue. Seriously. It’s the traditional way, still today, for many good reasons. At least for serious violin makers… People using it know that it works great, how it reacts with wood, for how long, how to reverse it if necessary, etc. But we don’t know about modern glue: how will it react, over time, on the surface? One case among others: what if the top needs to be removed for a future service, and that the glue is too strong? It might very well damage the upper/ lower/ C-ribs, and make the job much harder for the luthier, and risky for the instrument. For no reason. Also, some actions displayed in the video where probably not made in the right/ best order.

I only saw a set up, a true restoration is something that concerns the structure of the violin

I am not an expert but as a violin player I can say quite surely that this violin was a 19th century, probably cheap, study violin. The maple used for the sides, the neck and the back of the instrument is a low quality one and the huge rosin stains indicate that the owner didn't care about the maintenance (very tipical of young players) . Being a stradivari copy doesn't necessarily mean quality

He’s back

A very interesting video. The owner of the Stradivari must be unaware that this luthier's methods are somewhat unprofessional. He is using the same techniques he would use if the violin was inexpensive. Stradivari would have shuddered.

Being a restorer of classic cars, I see many familiar measurements and movements in the fitment of parts, between the two crafts.

Q : why does the finger board is glued before any other operations like turpentine cleaning, side damage repairs, peg box and tuning pegs ? As a non-luthier, I would start with these few operations before installing the finger board. I've read the same question was made without getting a professional answer.

If I had the skills and training to restore an old violin like this, I wouldn't pick one with such wide grain on the front and no flame on the back, not because the sound is that much different, but just because it usually, but not always, means a lower quality instrument.

a obra mais perfeita que foi inventada pelo homem 😍🎻

Glad the piano was louder than the violin.

I remember a beer commercial 60’s or early 70’s a guy was crafting a violin, making little notches in interior support joining pieces that didn’t seem to serve a structural purpose and his pal saying “why?…whose gonna know?” He replied “I’ll know”. Tied into special care brewing angle. I remember the notches but not the beer.