Try moving the sound post back away from the bridge and just bit in towards the center to get away from the tin sound. Maybe try a thicker bridge at the top.
Holy hell! For pallet wood that looks really nice. Finished and all. I would love to make one just like this if not similar. I have a full size violin but I'm looking for something like this. Awesome job, man!
Hey @PatarTheGreat123, thank you for those kind words! It turned out better than I could have imagined for being a pallet, and I’m still playing it to this day! I’ve made a few others and refined my process as I’ve gone onwards, and it’s been very rewarding! This summer I plan on making another for myself out of actual fine wood, and I’m excited to see how it goes! I hope you’ve had good luck with your own, I’d love to hear how the making process went for you and how it turns out in the end!
Hey Justin, that would all depend on what you’d want in terms of strings, woods, and such! A pallet one isn’t much compared to the one I had a fellow ask me make of Koa, Adirondack, and Ebony. A pallet one or wood of luthiers choice would be around the $400 CAD mark depending on if you wanted a folk instrument, or exact violin dimensions and set up.
Thanks Mitchell. It's a small group of us playing these homemade fiddles and it keeps an old tradition alive. Ernie Carpenter is (was) a fellow West Virginian and I love his playing.
morbanjo there sure is a small group of folks playing our own home made instruments, but I’ve noticed that they are some of the most passionate musicians out there! I love that folks are able to use what they have on hand, mixed with a little hard work, in order to play the music they enjoy. I never knew much about Earnie Carpenter until I had learned this tune, but from my understanding he was quite the guy and accomplished fiddler.
Could you give me some of the instrument's measurements? (scale lenght, body lenght, overall lenght and top thickness for example) Also, what wood is the box made of? I found a really cheap violin neck on Amazon and figured there's no harm in trying to build one, especially if it ends up sounding even half as nice as yours! I have some experience with making banjos and I really hope I can add a violin to my collection
Hi 12D3, That’s awesome! I just started playing the banjo about a year ago myself and it’s really fun! Thank you for the compliments. I really appreciate it! Another thing you may want to consider, and I’ve seen others do it, is cut the sides off of that amazon instrument (to make is square) and build new ribs for it. A violin maker I know did that to a cheap violin when he was traveling so he would have a silent instrument, similar to a Pochette, to practice with in his hostels. So all of the measurements of these builds are the exact same as a traditional violin, with the exception of the width, (which is just the traditional width of the middle bought where one bows) and will play the exact same as any full size violin. This specific instrument was, with the exception of the neck, made entirely of hardwood I gather from pallets, and then a soft wood spruce pallet for the top. All of the thicknesses are that of a traditional full sized instrument as well. In my other video of a cigar box fiddle, that instrument is made of Koa for the back and ribs, Adirondack spruce for the top, and the neck is made of maple, all to traditional measurements once again. My theory is that the Koa plays a lot into the quality of the sound of that instrument. Here is a great resource on violin building that will include very traditional measurement that I would have used, as well as some tips and tricks for set-up. www.makingtheviolin.com It may not hurt to buy a violin making book as well! If you have anymore questions please feel free to email me at vieuxtempsviolinco@gmail.com
Mitchell Dureault wow, that's more than I could have ever asked for! And don't worry: this is just to see if I am any good at playing violin. If I am (or if I'm horrible at it but still enjoy it), in a couple of months I will start my first paid job ever, and I intend to invest part of that money into one of your beautiful violins... so keep some of that Koa wood handy! ;)
I'd just like to make a really simple one, maybe one or two strings. As simple as possible. Any resources you could recommend? Yours sounds great. I don't think I'll ever get there, but I want to make my own instrument one day, however simple.
Hi Tyler I. , Thank you very much for the wonderful compliment! The best resource that I know of that would be what your looking for would be this: www.cigarboxnation.com/m/group/discussion?id=2592684%3ATopic%3A2388 This is a great resource that you can use to make your own, simple, fiddle. You can do anything you put your mind to, do underestimate yourself! Best of luck with your project and if you’d like anymore help, please feel free to get ahold of me!
Excellent job!
@@JackHughes-yx4qj thank you!
gunboat! nice fiddle, great tune.
Thanks friend!
Fantastic! I have been hedging lately about building and learning the violin. Hearing this song is tipping me over to the "go for it" side. Thanks!
Hey @Alan56, thank you so much! I say go for it! It is a really great process and a very rewarding payoff!
Try moving the sound post back away from the bridge and just bit in towards the center to get away from the tin sound. Maybe try a thicker bridge at the top.
Holy hell! For pallet wood that looks really nice. Finished and all. I would love to make one just like this if not similar. I have a full size violin but I'm looking for something like this. Awesome job, man!
Hey @PatarTheGreat123, thank you for those kind words! It turned out better than I could have imagined for being a pallet, and I’m still playing it to this day! I’ve made a few others and refined my process as I’ve gone onwards, and it’s been very rewarding! This summer I plan on making another for myself out of actual fine wood, and I’m excited to see how it goes! I hope you’ve had good luck with your own, I’d love to hear how the making process went for you and how it turns out in the end!
Nice! Keep it up!
Thank you!
That's awesome! Bout how much do you reckon you'd charge to make one?
Hey Justin, that would all depend on what you’d want in terms of strings, woods, and such! A pallet one isn’t much compared to the one I had a fellow ask me make of Koa, Adirondack, and Ebony. A pallet one or wood of luthiers choice would be around the $400 CAD mark depending on if you wanted a folk instrument, or exact violin dimensions and set up.
Well done!
Thank you morbanjo! Coming from you that’s a great compliment! I have had a lot of inspiration from your videos to help me through it.
Thanks Mitchell. It's a small group of us playing these homemade fiddles and it keeps an old tradition alive. Ernie Carpenter is (was) a fellow West Virginian and I love his playing.
morbanjo there sure is a small group of folks playing our own home made instruments, but I’ve noticed that they are some of the most passionate musicians out there! I love that folks are able to use what they have on hand, mixed with a little hard work, in order to play the music they enjoy.
I never knew much about Earnie Carpenter until I had learned this tune, but from my understanding he was quite the guy and accomplished fiddler.
Could you give me some of the instrument's measurements? (scale lenght, body lenght, overall lenght and top thickness for example)
Also, what wood is the box made of?
I found a really cheap violin neck on Amazon and figured there's no harm in trying to build one, especially if it ends up sounding even half as nice as yours! I have some experience with making banjos and I really hope I can add a violin to my collection
Hi 12D3,
That’s awesome! I just started playing the banjo about a year ago myself and it’s really fun! Thank you for the compliments. I really appreciate it!
Another thing you may want to consider, and I’ve seen others do it, is cut the sides off of that amazon instrument (to make is square) and build new ribs for it. A violin maker I know did that to a cheap violin when he was traveling so he would have a silent instrument, similar to a Pochette, to practice with in his hostels.
So all of the measurements of these builds are the exact same as a traditional violin, with the exception of the width, (which is just the traditional width of the middle bought where one bows) and will play the exact same as any full size violin.
This specific instrument was, with the exception of the neck, made entirely of hardwood I gather from pallets, and then a soft wood spruce pallet for the top. All of the thicknesses are that of a traditional full sized instrument as well.
In my other video of a cigar box fiddle, that instrument is made of Koa for the back and ribs, Adirondack spruce for the top, and the neck is made of maple, all to traditional measurements once again. My theory is that the Koa plays a lot into the quality of the sound of that instrument.
Here is a great resource on violin building that will include very traditional measurement that I would have used, as well as some tips and tricks for set-up. www.makingtheviolin.com
It may not hurt to buy a violin making book as well!
If you have anymore questions please feel free to email me at vieuxtempsviolinco@gmail.com
Mitchell Dureault wow, that's more than I could have ever asked for! And don't worry: this is just to see if I am any good at playing violin. If I am (or if I'm horrible at it but still enjoy it), in a couple of months I will start my first paid job ever, and I intend to invest part of that money into one of your beautiful violins... so keep some of that Koa wood handy! ;)
I'd just like to make a really simple one, maybe one or two strings. As simple as possible. Any resources you could recommend? Yours sounds great. I don't think I'll ever get there, but I want to make my own instrument one day, however simple.
Hi Tyler I. ,
Thank you very much for the wonderful compliment!
The best resource that I know of that would be what your looking for would be this:
www.cigarboxnation.com/m/group/discussion?id=2592684%3ATopic%3A2388
This is a great resource that you can use to make your own, simple, fiddle.
You can do anything you put your mind to, do underestimate yourself!
Best of luck with your project and if you’d like anymore help, please feel free to get ahold of me!