A Fiddle For Anna

Lately my teenaged daughter, Anna, has expressed an interest in the fiddle - which surprises me as her favorite bands are Green Day and My Chemical Romance. Not your typical old-time bands. lol.

She is currently taking guitar lessons (electric) and doing well (Billie Joe Armstrong better watch out), but can pick up the fiddle and pick out a tune that she's heard me practicing and have all the basic notes down within a few minutes. What can I say? She has the ear that I wish I had.

So, on the off chance that I can shamelessly convert her to playing some old-time fiddle with me, I went on the hunt for a decent old fiddle. A search through Craig's List didn't net anything in my geographic vicinity, so I opted once again for ebay - which for the most part I've had good luck with.

After a few evenings of searching the listings, I found a Salvador de Durro violin (see the pre-cleaning photo from the auction listing) in need of some TLC. I'm not familiar with too many violin makers, but according to an older post on the Maestronet Forums, Salvador de Durro is a trade name for violins sold by the Buegeleisen & Jacobson Co. in New York around the turn of the 20th century. Quality varies instrument to instrument and some are purportedly quite good. This one looked to be somewhat solid - no one had stepped on it - and the price was right, so I tossed in my bid at the bitter end and as luck (or not) would have it, it was mine.

The violin arrived in one piece, albeit very dusty. It cleaned up better than I imagined it would and is quite pretty with very stripey ribs and back. The front is a nice narrow grain spruce and there doesn't appear to be any cracks anywhere on the instrument. There is, however, an open seam on the lower bout and it definitely could use some better fitting pegs and a new bridge (the old one stood  atop the violin like a cowboy - all bow-legged).

Since about all I'm skilled enough to do is clean a dusty violin or change a broken string, today I took the de Durro to Steve Selin's violin shop in Ithaca, New York and entrusted it into his care. If you're looking for a skilled luthier (to revive your own ebay® treasures) within the Finger Lakes region, be sure to check out Steve's shop. Located at the top of the hill above Buttermilk Falls State Park, the scenic drive alone will make it worth the trip. And, if you stay in the area for dinner, you're just as likely to find Steve out and about playing his own fiddle at one of Ithaca's many fine eateries.

When the de Durro is finished, I'm going to have to rethink giving it to my daughter. It just might be nice enough to keep for myself...

Kidding, really!