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Balsa Violins
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gStretch

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August 30, 2011 - 8:10 pm
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what do y'all think of balsa violins?  have you ever played one? if not, what do you think they would be like?

here's a video of one guy playing one

-g

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myguitarnow
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August 30, 2011 - 8:52 pm
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Well, welcome to the forum gStretch ;-) Isn't balsa wood just one step ahead of the materials we use to make paper airplanes? I wouldn't want one because I don't think it would last too long ;-(

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GennaLea
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August 30, 2011 - 8:59 pm
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It would be super light, that's for sure. But I agree with MGN, it wouldn't last very long and I'd assume that they're extra fragile. Not good for me, that's for sure!

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gStretch

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August 30, 2011 - 9:04 pm
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thank you myguitarnow,

haha yep.  good point.  you would have to be careful not to drop or bump it.

a good thing about the balsa violin would be that its not as expensive as some woods.

-g

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myguitarnow
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Ya, sorta like compared to wasting your money on good printing paper to make a paper airplane instead of just using cheep notebook paper.

gStretch if you have an idea of making a buck off of balsa wood violins, go for it! There is many people out there still buying "pet rocks". If you want to learn how to play the violin, stick around. But please don't promote balsa wood fiddles here. That's just my opinion ;-)

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Huey142
Melaka,Malaysia

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Wow. This is the first time I see it. I came across the word before but I've never seen it. Thanks for posting. :)

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SaraO
Michigan

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August 31, 2011 - 8:13 am
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Sounds pretty good...sort of airy.

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artroland
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September 6, 2011 - 3:34 pm
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Is the whole thing made of balsa wood, or is that just the outer shell?

One wonders if the damage would have been as severe had the chicken not been tied to the barrel.

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myguitarnow
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I played two balsa wood guitars. They were made with graphite as well as balsa. They sounded pretty bad to me. ZZ Top did a video shoot with them and Gibbons didn't like them either.

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gStretch

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September 6, 2011 - 11:56 pm
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artroland said:

Is the whole thing made of balsa wood, or is that just the outer shell?

i'm not sure. he may have just used balsa for the body and other harder woods for the rest. not sure though

-g

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DanielB
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I've seen mention of some interesting studies done on balsa wood as a material for such instruments.  I very much doubt it could sound the same.  But it seems it can at least sound nice. 

I would assume they make only the top of balsa, since the neck, sides and back would have to be some tougher wood or material, I think?  I've also seen mention of instruments made with pine or cedar.  

I don't see where it would be much of a cost saving move, since one can buy a beginner acoustic violin set off places like amazon for as little as about 40$. 

Kind of interesting as an instrument to read about, but I would tend to think that using a drastically different wood for the top like balsa would take quite a few years to figure out the acoustics and etc to bring out the tone and even to learn what it takes for a *good* piece of balsa.  After all, the trad/wooden/acoustic violin is the product of generations of development and fine tuning of designs. 

But if somebody likes the sound and the feel of the instrument and wants to go buy one, more power to them.

"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman

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