This Old Violin

For the past three years my youngest daughter has been playing a gorgeous violin that was donated to her school.  The young man the instrument once belonged to had tragically passed away during his junior year at Boise State University.  His name was Markus and he was struck by a car while crossing a busy street.  My understanding is that he was an amazing and very talented violinist.

The finish was crazed and rough

I was told by my daughter's orchestra teacher and that in supporting Markus' talent his parents had purchased him a variety of violins over the years.  After his death his parents donated his instruments to the schools he had attended and played them at with the stipulation that the orchestra teachers select a special student who would play and care for them while they attended the school.  My daughter's orchestra teacher selected her in seventh grade to take home the violin that was donated to her junior high.  All school instruments are labeled, inventoried and referred to by a number with one exception.  This violin is labeled "Markus".  And we all know it is very special.

Lots of dings and nicks

At the end of the school year my daughter must return Markus to her orchestra teacher as her time in junior high will be ending and she will move onto high school next year.  That would leave her with the option of switching over and playing her viola full time or playing her old violin, which unfortunately developed a twist in the neck.  Like any parent I want to support my daughter's talent as well so we have been violin shopping for quite a while.  Markus is an Andreas Eastman violin and it has an amazing sound.  She has enjoyed playing it very much.  To purchase a violin like Markus would mean I'd need to lay out $1500 and to be honest I'm willing to do it, very much.  However, there are other options out there and a couple weeks ago we found one.  At a pawn shop.

This little tip was missing

When I first saw this violin I thought it was absolutely sad and pitiful.  A long, long time ago I'm sure it was an amazing instrument.  It had been made in Germany for William Lewis & Son Co. located in Chicago and at some point it too had likely been donated to a school where it had been abused and neglected as borrowed student instruments often are.  But when my daughter picked it up and began to play it we were amazed at the tone and the sound it could still produce.  Nonetheless it was beat all to heck and the top was delaminated on one side.  It was incredibly dry and had a few hairline cracks on the top.  Nothing that went all the way through, but let's face it, it needed a lot of work.  So we left it at the pawn shop and went on about our day.

Pretty worn out

We had errands to run, my oldest had an appointment to be dropped off for and later picked up so while we were out and about we stopped in at various music shops and a few more pawn shops to see what we could find.  Nothing really sparked my daughter.  I know from my own experience that choosing an instrument is a very emotional thing, not just any one will do.  We would continue our search even if it meant a few road trips to find the one that would make her happy.

While we sat in the car and waited for my oldest to finish up at her appointment my daughter asked me if we could go back to the pawn shop and get the old violin.  She felt pretty strongly that it still had a lot of potential.  Could I help her fix it?  Could we bring it back to life and make it hers?  She just didn't think it was done yet, it still had some playing to do.  That violin had really touched her.  So we picked up the oldest and headed back to the pawn shop.  Not only was it still there waiting for us (I had little doubt it wouldn't be), but it had been marked down by 30% and was now only $70 instead of the original price of $99.  She scooped it up and that was that.  We brought it home.

We carefully took her apart and got to work

We carefully took it apart and cleaned it, it was pretty grimy.  Then I filled the hairline cracks with some lightweight wood filler and rebuilt a missing piece that had been broken off.  I glued the delaminated top back onto to its side which eliminated the hollow sound and made the tone much richer.  We knew that would work when I squeezed it and held it together while she played.

The missing tip repaired

Piecing it back together, first string on!

After everything dried I carefully sanded out most of the dings along the edges and smoothed it out along with the wood filled hairline cracks.  I was super careful not to overdo it and kept the sanding to a minimum.  Then we redid the finish with a little Howards and that added back some moisture.  

Markus is in the back, her old violin in the middle and
then the "new" one all completed and put back together

Once that was done and dry we replaced the strings, inserted the bridge and then added the wooden chin rest from her original violin which she preferred over the one that had come with it.

She has an interesting way of tuning a violin

She worked on tuning it and then it was time to play.  And I have to say it sounds pretty darn good.  And it looks a whole lot better too.  Not brand new, by any means, but much, much better.  I think we did a solid job on it.  Side by side next to Markus there is no comparison, in appearance, but the sound is quite good and she is happy.  That is all that matters.

All done!  It may be difficult to tell, but compared to what we started
with it has been an amazing transformation and a lot of fun to work on together

From what I've been able to research, this violin was produced in the late 1950s through the early 1960s so it is old and probably has a lot of history (judging by the character marks it had, I'm sure of it).  Who really knows for sure, but one thing I do know is that from here on out this violin will be cared for and no longer neglected.  And it will be played by a talented young lady that was all too happy to give it another shot.