Hi there,

My name is Sone.  Good to meet all of you.. 

I am married to the love of my life, and am the proud father of a wonderful little guy.  I am a family and young person counselor by trade (mental and emotional health), and enjoy developing and enriching relationships. 

I started playing violin at the age of three via the Suzuki method until the age of five. At that point I stopped, my parents report I was allergic to the rosin.  Bummer.  However I picked up a Mendini outfit in January and have been playing that up until this last week.  

A few months back I noticed a beautifully scratched and tarnished violin on display at my in-laws.  I took it to "Cassandra's Strings" of the Chicagoland area and she confirmed family reports that it is indeed from at least the 1860's, likely earlier. It's an excellent Jacob Stainer copy, modeled after a 1668 instrument. Named "Sophia," She supposedly was played in the WWI trenches fighting the Prussians before accompanying my wife's great-great-great grandfather to Canada, before settling here in the Chicago area.

Four inch long top piece crack, split ended and water damaged ribbing, end button busting up, dislodged sound post and miss matched pegs with a damaged peg box kept me from playing her.  The luthier was happy to bring her back to playing condition.  

Going back and forth from the Mendini to Sophia is going to be rough.  She's so easy to play, with such a rich dark tone. This antique instrument was hung on the wall on a metal plate hanger (!) at the in laws, and it took a bit of convincing to get it fixed, and even more convincing to play it.  They want her back for display soon...  Hopefully Sophia will visit often.

I'm so glad to have found this place.  Wow, what an amazing resource.  I've been watching these forums for a while, and decided to join the community.  Thank you to Fiddlerman for creating a wonderful resource, and for enriching my violin playing experience!