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When I sent my violin to Fiddlershop for maintenance, one of the things I was concerned about was varnish wear on the common “Hand patch” area (Fiddlershop indicated I did not need touch up there).
The common area for a hand patch is on the left upper bout of the violin, resulting from the left hand touching from shifting, and also from holding the violin (i.e., holding it while not playing). I catch myself holding my violin there a lot—trying to break the habit.
The luthier in this video talks specifically (around 4:02) about how people fold their fingers over the top (like in the screenshot of video below)—I actually hold mine where my 2nd & 3rd fingers sit on the rib – pic below. Anyway, the luthier explains it, what not to do, and how he deals with it:
Characterize people by their actions and you will never be fooled by their words.
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@SharonC -
GREAT video!
Never knew it could get that bad!
Nice to know a type of 'French Polish' finishing is used - had wondered about that for older wood violins. This article says most violins made after the 1930's were spray varnished, instead:
The Technique of Shellac French Polish on Musical Instruments
🤔... would've thought light sanding & some solvent could remove enough oil from the wood to make regluing with animal hide glue possible - maybe not without revarnishing the whole instrument.
Is it possible to apply a more durable polish over the finish - something that wouldn't effect tone?
Geez, I have my hands all over my instruments, and then one of cats walks by & shakes his head... guess what that sends flying thru the air. 😞 I'm pretty sure I've got sprayed on polyurethane finish (thank goodness) - hand polishing CF Composite would be a waste of time.
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My violin's hand patch is pretty badly worn on the top, caused by me.
I read only recently that you should never hold a violin except by the neck or the chin and shoulder rest(?). Thanks for the useful video (haven't watched it yet, but I'm familiar with Olaf).
Here's what mine looks like - pretty bad.
Andrew
Verified human - the ignominy!
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@Gordon Shumway Oh, oh--hope that doesn't cause you any problems.
I know I'm having a hard time breaking the habit I've got in how I hold mine--bad habit too many years in the making.
I'm glad to have found Olaf's many videos. I've watched a few now, and all are very interesting. I like his "day(s) in the life" type videos - where he just shows the instrument issues as they come to him.
Characterize people by their actions and you will never be fooled by their words.
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