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Does anybody have any experience in playing in extremely warm environments? Looking at the weather forecasts for our upcoming events, it's going to be REALLY hot! As in, 100+ degree days!
I'm wondering about the effects it may have on my violin, rosin, strings and so forth! And let's not forget all the sweat that will be pouring off of me! LOL (I'll definitely need those violin air scents after this summer!) Thankfully, at these events, I'll be able to sit more. One of the guys in our unit made a chair with a high back on it to help alleviate some of the pain I get in warm/humid weather! ......it's just that I won't be able to escape the heat! 
Any advice would be much appreciated!
~EJ
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” ~Benjamin Franklin
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just dont leave your violin in the closed up car in the hot sun! lol
might come back to a multi piece project with limp strings.
"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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Yep. I live on the ocean in Florida and whether you are talking about your surf board, skim board, skate board, or wooden instrument you should NEVER leave it in your vehicle. Your vehicle will act as an oven and anything inside will be de-laminated and essentially just warp and pull apart.
As for playing in the sun you will be fine. You just don't want it in anything that can cause the humidity to rise and then cook it. Hopefully you'll have the endurance!
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Yeah, definitely not keeping it in the car! LOL At our last event, it reached 92 degrees and I didn't even want to leave it in my case for any period of time.
I used a handkerchief placed on my chin rest to help with sweat last time, but I'm still worried about my finish. Not to mention my dag-nabbed D string kept slipping out of tune when it got hot! ......stupid, cheap strings!!! LOL
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” ~Benjamin Franklin
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I know I'm new to the violin and everything, but I just upgraded from a crappy Chinese violin to a halfway decent Romanian violin with precision pegs. I have to say that they are the best thing ever. The strings cannot slip out of tune. They truly are the best upgrade to the violin EVER!
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Hman said
I know I'm new to the violin and everything, but I just upgraded from a crappy Chinese violin to a halfway decent Romanian violin with precision pegs. I have to say that they are the best thing ever. The strings cannot slip out of tune. They truly are the best upgrade to the violin EVER!
What constitutes a "precision peg?"
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On a more serious note, try not to have your instrument in the direct sun any longer than necessary. I think FM had some varnish issues years ago with his getting little tiny crazing or hairline cracks in the varnish...just from direct sun exposure. He had to have the finish worked on as well to correct the issue. Never took it out in direct much after that as I recall.
Crazy stuff those ultraviolt rays...
"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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HeadCheese said
Hman said
I know I'm new to the violin and everything, but I just upgraded from a crappy Chinese violin to a halfway decent Romanian violin with precision pegs. I have to say that they are the best thing ever. The strings cannot slip out of tune. They truly are the best upgrade to the violin EVER!What constitutes a "precision peg?"
I thought of all people... you would know that. LOL
Those precision pegs are little tiny gear reduction assemblies that fit basically into the same hole the original pegs came out of. FM did a review or someone did awhile back on here complete with a video and all. I think FM has a set on fiddlershop.com with the same video of installation. He sells them as well.
"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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HeadCheese said
What constitutes a "precision peg?"
Someone can correct me if I'm wrong or don't describe them very well, but they are basically just threaded pegs. Just like a screw is threaded. So you can adjust them very minutely and the pegs will not slip. I only have a fine tuner for the E string and I really don't even need it.
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Hman said
HeadCheese said
What constitutes a "precision peg?"Someone can correct me if I'm wrong or don't describe them very well, but they are basically just threaded pegs. Just like a screw is threaded. So you can adjust them very minutely and the pegs will not slip. I only have a fine tuner for the E string and I really don't even need it.
you described it fine. I already posted a link to the shop site here that has a video of them and how they are installed. Read my post just above yours.
"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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Yea we posted at the same time...or close to it. I was playin' poker so I wrote the reply and it sat there for five minutes 'til I actually hit submit. 
I get easily distracted lol. That reminds me, I feel like I should be practicing something but can't quite put my finger on it...
Honorary advisor
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Oh, shut up about yer darned "hot" weather! It (almost) never gets over 60* F here and (almost) always rains all Summer...
What I wouldn't give to trade "problems" 
Mary in Springfield, Oregon http://www.thefiddleandbanjopr.....dpress.com
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CatMcCall said
Oh, shut up about yer darned "hot" weather! It (almost) never gets over 60* F here and (almost) always rains all Summer...
MARY!!!!!! 
Oh believe, I would absolutely love to switch with ya!! 50-60 degree's is camping weather......even with the rain! 
Usually when it gets that hot around here, we have all kinds of pollution warnings to stay inside. Thank you NW IN and Chicago!! 
The funny thing is, I love the heat! ......just not when I'm wearing wool and worried about my fiddle ruining! 
cdennyb said
On a more serious note, try not to have your instrument in the direct sun any longer than necessary. I think FM had some varnish issues years ago with his getting little tiny crazing or hairline cracks in the varnish...just from direct sun exposure. He had to have the finish worked on as well to correct the issue. Never took it out in direct much after that as I recall.Crazy stuff those ultraviolt rays...
Oh wow, I didn't even think about direct sunlight!! I'll be sure to play in the shade as much as possible.....when possible! I wonder if there is something out there, like a sunblock for you violin....
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” ~Benjamin Franklin
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Where I live it can get in the high 40's centigrade, don't know that in crazy american temperature readings.
When I play, in my room with has no insulation and massive windows to focus the sun and burn me, the rosin can get sticky and I have a light coloured one.
From what I hear the darker it is the stickier it is and the hotter the weather the more sticky it gets. I also find that the strings will change from the hot of the day and the cool of the night.
One day it got to 52C and I put my violin in front of the fan and prayed that it wouldn't burst into fire.
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OMG, where do you live? 40c = 104 Fahrenheit and 52 Celsius = 125,6 Fahrenheit
No possibility for air conditioning? Maybe your best solution would be a Carbon Fiber violin.
You officially have my sympathy.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
Regular advisor
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I have the same problem with the heat. The guys I play with love playing outside and it's been 95+ all week. I actually have a turd violin that I am going to get better strings on it so I can use it iin the extreme heat. I personally love the heat and wouldn't trade it for anything but I am worried about my violin. I can deal with the sweat a lot easier than cold fingers.
Pro advisor
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high 80's, 65% humidity. Come on in boys, the waters fine!
"Please play some wrong notes, so that we know that you are human" - said to Jascha Heifetz.
This is one thing I like about solid body elesctric violins. I am not concerned about bringing it out into the heat. I just use a battery powered amp.
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Good point. Can't do much damage on a solid body.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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I live in Victoria in Australia. Granted we don't get too many days near 50, and we do have air conditioning. But it appears that me playing violin and other people doesn't mix. So in the heat I sit.
Humidity usually isn't a problem because it is usually one step off a drought if it isn't one.
The one thing I do worry about in the heat with my electric violin is that the various parts are of different materials and as such might expand and contract at different temperatures. Is that likely to alter something permanently?
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