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(8 votes) 
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Such an awesome project 
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World's Okayest Fiddler
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FINAL UPDATE:
All back together, added the NS Strings and finished the nut/grooves. At first I simply put in a groove with my diamond tapered round file... every string buzzed! OMG... heart stopper right there... added a little taper to the entrance and exit and NO BUZZ... what a relief.
The strings are stretching right now, loosing about a 1/2 note in 3-4 minutes of playing it but the initial sounds are awesome. I'll try to learn how to play it all over again and post a video pretty soon so you can hear it as requested by many of you.
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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NEXT...
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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I made an ebony fretted fingerboard for my DIY blond violin while the 5 string project had drying time going on.
Here's some shots of the fretboard construction.
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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@cdennyb
wow..now two custom violins that are special and one of a kind. YOU rock!
Those are beauties....so very very beautiful.
You also provided such a documentary of the work you did. You really really broke some ground with this one!
Cheers.
Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato
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As a completion bonus on this project, here's a little short audio clip and a slide show to finish off the thread.
Hope you enjoy my version of House of the Rising Sun
played on the fretted fingerboard of my 5 string violin. 
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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The video has a nice overview of the process, and great sound from the fretted violin!
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Been following the whole project with interest - I would call that an unqualified success ! Well done !
And fine work on House there, sounding good !
I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh - 
Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)
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Congratulations Denny ... very meticulous work.
I am building a floor and wall to enclose and 8x10 workshop space
( https://www.facebook.com/group.....058471529/ )
for year round mando building but once done ... I will fret the 14" viola (ex CVA 500) that sits unused here at home. This is the one whose back center seam opened up and I later repaired and recoloured honey oak. I have the narrow mandolin fret wire and white pearloid dots that should look sharp on the ebony. What do you think; dismount the ebony fb and then slot , fret, level, polish and remount?
Again great work
Octave Ray
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I'd have to say absolutely unmount it so you can get everything just right and not chance any kind of damage inadvertently to the instrument while in the process.
I suggest going to the added effort of finding the "Brad Point" drill bits if you don't all ready use them. They leave a clean sharp edge for the dots...and trying to inlay a 1.5mm dia dot isn't for the meek of heart! LoL
I also found that you want to sand the ebony in the lengthwise direction all you're going to before slotting and then drilling for the dots in the board.
If you lacquer the board AFTER the frets are in, you can take a very very sharp single bevel knife and cut aroudn the fret at the wood level to release the clear coat and it will peel right off clean. You can then take some blue painters tape and mask off the fret on each side and then use one of the 1000 grit 'erasers' to final polish the fret.
These are just a few of the things I learned while working with these interesting parts and pieces.
I hope you do a photo thread like this on your project. I look forward to seeing it!
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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Thank you Aly and Bill for the kind comments. I know there's always a lot of people that just play, never adjust or do any maintenance to an instrument and these kind of threads help them to "see what's going on" with the process of getting to the point you can play it.
The construction process is a slow thing, often waiting for the glue to dry, the clear coatings to dry, waiting for parts to show up, etc.
This particular DIY fretted fingerboard took be the better part of 3 weeks to achieve, but the reality is that the actual time spent "working" on it was less than (3) 10 hr days.
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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Fantastic work and exciting project. Love the logo, is it finalized?
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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I've been quietly lurking on this thread for a while - great job Denny!
Really nice work, Dennis.
I guess it would be like playing a mandolin using a bow.
Ken.
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Fiddlestix said
Really nice work, Dennis.I guess it would be like playing a mandolin using a bow.
Ken.
Sorry Ken, no it wouldn't be. Single string notes or an occasional double stop played singularly instead of a single/double string picked on the same stroke of the same note.
The tuning might be the same but that's about the only place the similarity is and that's where it stops in my opinion. Can't do violin vibrato on a mandolin...and yes I can do vibrato on this violin.
Yes Pierre, the first 5 string fretted fingerboard is finalized and done, officially. Thanks for the kind comment.
Thank you Mr. Jim... glad you enjoyed the thread.
I'll be playing it on the next Fiddlefest event on Streetjelly. I'll do a few close ups of it with camera so people can see the work and of course play a few of my tunes with it like before.
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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Very cool
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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The DIY Blond acoustic is now done as well. Doesn't sound as "cool" as my electric but it's final.
I did use it for the FM string evaluation...so that's why it has different strings on it in these pics.
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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Very cool instrument, logo, and frets. Look forward to seeing it in action some day.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Probably the upcoming Fiddlefest event on Streetjelly... 5 string for sure, might not have time to squeeze more than a single tune in on the blond violin though. I'll try, especially if you show up.
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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OK, fiddlerfriends... here's the next wild fretted fingerboard project. You're gonna LOVE this one!
While playing my fretted 5 string I find myself squinting to see the dots although they are of a contrasting color, the maple (lighter wood) has black MOP dots and the ebony (darker wood) has the white MOP dots, but honestly, the black dots on my 5 string seem to just disappear when looked at on an angle like when you're playing...so...
I've embarked on an innovative solution, LED lighted fiber optic strands just 1/2mm ( that's only .020") in dia and positioned where the dots are to be. This would obviously only be for an electric violin as I can't imagine a solution to package all the fibers AND the light source in the neck...just not enough room to hide all the goodies. Well, the fiber optic strand is all but invisible when looked at on an angle and pretty much straight on as well... but power up[ the light source and it jumps alive with beautiful white light (or whatever color I choose to place in there!)
Here's a few pictures to let you all have a sneak-peek at what's coming. I have 2 EV's like my 5 string coming and when they arrive, one will get this f'board and the other will be a standby for another project I'm thinking on... no details yet... LoL
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
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