Fiddle Rescue Project

We're knee deep in Fall here in the Finger Lakes and the leaf piles are ripe for jumping in. It's a great time of year to get outside for some last-minute fun before the snow arrives. When you get out for a bit of adventure, however, you never know what might turn up.

For years now, it seems that the local antique shops have been devoid of instruments except for cheap, old guitars that haven't gotten any better with age. But, for more or less kicks and giggles, I'll ask shop owners from time to time if they have any instruments tucked away somewhere. In hindsight, it probably would be cheaper if I didn't. lol.

Case in point, "Oliver". (You name your fiddles, don't you?) He was stashed away in the back room of a local shop. Along with Oliver was a decent Pernambucco bow in need of hair, several packets of unused silk E strings and a couple of gut strings (which don't exactly age well - they looked rather, well, nasty...). My significant other was looking rather longingly at that bow and offered to split the purchase price with me. He'd get the bow and I'd get everything else (including those scary strings).

Well, the price was decent and I guess I felt sorry for the fiddle, so it came home with us. I always get caught up in the history of stuff and this fiddle is no exception. It was wrapped in the 1941 sports section of a newspaper that headlined Ted Williams. I'm guessing that newspaper is worth more than the fiddle now!

Kidding aside, this was obviously a fiddler's instrument. There is no chinrest and no evidence that there ever was one. There is a wear spot on the back of the fiddle though that would be indicative of a shirt button rubbing against as it was played held against the chest. The existing bridge was also cut down so low and at such an angle that it would be nearly impossible to play a single string without hitting another - not unlike the bridge on Tommy Jarrell's fiddle as seen on the video 'Sprout Wings and Fly'. Finally, there is a judicious crust of rosin embedded in the finish, which was enough to convince my boyfriend that I should restore it as "obviously, it was well-played at some point in time".

There's also no label, although labels don't carry a lot of weight with me anyway. To me, it looks like a turn of the century import of decent quality when it was built - lightweight with nice flame, lower corner blocks. That said, I can count at least six cracks on the top, which itself looks to have been off at one point and reinstalled askew. It could use new pegs, there's a "bump" in the fingerboard, it will need a new bridge...and the list goes on.

I'm calling this my rescue project (aka, basket case). Like I said, I kind of feel sorry for it stuffed away since the 40's. So, I've sent it off for repair. We'll see how much the crack repair alone sets me back before I get in any deeper, but I'm hopeful it will be worth it in the end. The luthier is backlogged a bit, so he's given me a couple months window in case I come to my senses...I'll let you know if I do!