Carving Violin Bridge With Rock

[humbertsin1994]

ya, ur a genius

[JustAnotherBeth]

@humbertsin1994 haha I was so totally being goofbally when i made this video 3 years ago. Id NEVER actually fit a bridge and sand it with a rock hahaha. I am just silly sometimes , especially about violin because its taken so seriously. I tend to offset the seriousness with sillyness to keep a balance - AND... the video was made specifically for someone that had said i wouldnt carve a bridge witrh a rock. I had no idea anyone would ever really think i was serious. genious NO, goofball YES

[Monotaurino]

hey Beth!!!!! This is Andrew (the other violin player at the winedale). Just stumbled upon this video as I'm adjusting a bridge with movable feet for a low-grade fiddle I have and want to string it with my lower-octave strings.

[lucasaaronstrough]

Holy crap, that's Beth from Fish Fry Bingo!!! The bluegrass band I used to be in opened for them at a show in Dallas awhile back. She was so nice, she sat down next to me and inspected my fiddle, she even gave me a set of her strings and let me use her top-quality rosin! She taught me more about the fiddle in thirty minutes than I learned in months on my own. She is truly a kind soul and a darn fine fiddle player!

[Gasocaster]

although I couldn't see what you were doing or where (i can't see in the dark) might I suggest the one thing most women might have in their purse. an emery board. diamond nail file. Beth seems to be right but if you use a nail file you can see what you are doing better

[McElhinney65]

And when determining the curvature of the top of the bridge reference must be made to the curvature of the fingerboard. I used to use automotive feeler guages to check the action of the strings close to the nut. As others have said here luthiers charge a lot of money to fit a bridge.

[McElhinney65]

The idea is to make the feet of the bridge take the shape of the table of the instrument. To do this you place a piece of very fine abrasive paper on the table and rub the bridge back and forth from fingerboard towards tailpiece area. Problem - the bridge will "waggle" and you'll "round the feet". There is a little machine that you can buy to do this. It has small wheels and braces the bridge at a perpendicular angle to the table as you move it. Good luck.

[jgrave10]

Thanks, very informative... Perhaps you have stumbled onto one of Antonio Stradivari secrets... or perhaps I stumbled into a retarded video.

[JahdielAC]

what happens if i broke my bridge?? its still in one piece but my question is? can it work that way?

[amehoelahoep]

Please show me how to sand down the feet of a new bridge into place. The top-curving you can easily copy from your other instruments. My luthier charges me $70 for installing a $17,- bridge, the basterd. Next time I'll try myself...

[JustAnotherBeth]

well I wrote this big comment that got lost somehow woo hoo!- but my point was that every violin achieves it's best sound (or "fit) with a number of variables, like the shape, height, and placement of the bridge. let the luthier do it THIS time so you learn what the right FIT sounds like on your violin- so that when you CAREFULLY attempt to file one yourself you can have the goal of creating the sound the luthier made on that violin (little bits at a time and DONT use a rock) hehe

[Chad48309]

@JustAnotherBeth Don't forget that the cut and style of the bridge is also influenced by your playing style. I've had to adjust the radius, thickness, etc to suit player's individual needs many times. A good luthier listens to the needs of his client and adjusts their instrument accordingly.

[JustAnotherBeth]

also, feel free to drop me a mail in youtube here and maybe I can show you some examples of how they are different on different violins, what happens when you slightly even move it... etc. it's pretty darn fascinating actually (dont tell anyone i said that... if people start realizing i am sometimes serious it'll ruin my image ;)

[amehoelahoep]

It IS darn fascinating! But very complicated and even luthiers are still tuning their opinions during their lives. Then again it's impossible to show us these little differences through YouTube because it's already hard enough to really tell if a violin sounds good due to poor sound recording. All sound great in the bathroom...! But we'll get there. I play the violin and now I'm reading myself into the luthier secrets and most of all I like doing it myself and like working with wood:)

regards

M

[nimuroji]

@amehoelahoep If you understood how much knowledge and experience goes into properly shaping a bridge it's well worth the money! A badly shaped bridge can warp, cause injury to your hand, alter pitch; lots of things. And there is no "rule" as to how many millemeters it should be here or there or where it should be placed. Everything is a combination of knowledge from decades of experience and a true mastery in understanding the maths and physics of violin construction.

[JustAnotherBeth]

Actually, I have been playing Violin for over 25 years. One good swipe on the rosin will do me for about 1 set ( about 25 songs) on stage. Admittedly I should wipe the rosin off more thoroughly, however when you play for up to 6 hours a day- you might collect a little rosin.

And yes that is why I do the bridges separately. They are not all the same. in any case the phrase "you really know nothing about violin" is pretty rude, because if you knew me, it'd be obvious i am joking around here..

[lucasaaronstrough]

@jmuzic77 Hey pal, I've met this kind gal in person and I can attest that she is an expert fiddler as well as a truly nice person. So watch what you say if you haven't met her or seen her play, I've seen many good fiddlers and she can play circles around most of 'em! Also, she can sing and she's a real sweetheart!

[JustAnotherBeth]

@lucasaaronstrough wow hi! hahaha god to hear from ya! thanks for all the compliments.... this video was never truly mant to be taken that seriously.... and anyone who actually criticizes it.... either has no sense of humor, or no sense of adventure... hahhaa. I hoope you are doing well!!!!

[dolmere]

pfft to your rock, haha

[ReallyRick]

I never knew you had 3.

[JustAnotherBeth]

actually i have 4 now. i got that one yesterday.