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I had a previous thread about chinrest issues, my first thread since joining this wonderful group. I went to the violin shop that I bought my violin from this afternoon. I brought all of my purchased chin and shoulder rests. I explained my issues to them.

The assistant pulled out a FOM MACH shoulder rest. He attached it to my violin. It rested on my upper chest just where all the other rests (Everest, Wolfe Forte Secondo, can’t remember the other brands, there were many) were lacking support. So comfortable.

The luthier then came out and helped with a chinrest. I showed him all of my chinrests. I explained that when I had purchased the violin, I had noticed thaf I always seemed to gravitate to resting my chin/jaw in the center, not side (I had purchased an inexpensive violin first to see if I wanted to buy a better quality one). Their violins come with a side mount, but not guarneri (sp). The luthier came out with a selection of chinrests and I selected a center mount that felt comfortable at the time.

Since I have been taking lessons and have become more comfortable with my violin, I have gravitated to the side. I did have some side mounts, but the edge was too sharp and dug into my jaw too much. 

I explained all of this today so he knew where I was coming from. I held the violin with the shoulder rest I just tried (FOM MACH) with my chinrest I already had attached. I explained what I liked and didn’t like. He selected a side mount from the selection he had. BINGO

It was so comfortable. The violin felt so stable. I could let go and there it stayed with no stress on my jaw. I asked Evie, the violinist in the store that assisted when I purchased my lovely violin if it was angled correctly and my posture looked right. I had no clue, except that I felt so relaxed!

Evie said that it looked perfect. Then she came over and looked closely and said it was perfect and asked how it felt. She knew by my smile! LOL

I ended out with a Vermeer Chinrest sidemount with a section that actually went over the tailpiece (the luthier hollowed it out just a tad to give it more space). I also purchased a FOM MACH shoulder rest. For me, the combination is perfect for now.

It is funny because the FOM MACH is the shape I thought I needed. I needed that curve that comes down to my upper chest.

I played my beautiful violin when I got home from our 1 1/2 hour trip to the violin shop. I can bow the E string so much easier now. I had so many issues with that string. My bowing is straighter and I can feel it and see that it is. Wow! I played for over an hour after I got home and had no tenseness or strain! WOW! My new strings sounded great. My bowing arm was not feeling like it was fighting with my left arm. Nice that they stopped fighting with each other! I was about to put them in “time out”. Amazing. It was so much fun playing with my violin and not struggling with it.

I hope this works for a long time. Wait until my lesson this coming Tuesday. I had two weeks off due to Christmas and New Years.