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I bought a new violin (not fiddlerman) recently and when I took off the chinrest to put on another the finish came off with the cork on the top. Being new to violins I was pissed and contacted the maker who told me that is normal in a good violin. Is this true? I can't imagine having a nice expensive violin do this. Here is a pic
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Hello and welcome.
IMHO it looks like either the finish wasn't completely dry or the cork might had had a solvent on it (ie, the glue bleed through) I'm wondering who the manufacturer is.
With violins there is no fretting over the music.
Yes it does happen. The adhesive used to keep the cork together is the culprit. I switched to using leather. But what violin? and is the varnish gone? It looks as though that could be polished out, can't tell for sure though.
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It's a Kennedy Violins Anton Gerard. I believe the finish is actually pulled off rather than the cork veins stuck to it. I didn't expect this in a $1000 instrument.
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joejitsumd said
It's a Kennedy Violins Anton Gerard. I believe the finish is actually pulled off rather than the cork veins stuck to it. I didn't expect this in a $1000 instrument.
I have read at least one review of a Kennedy violin that had varnish come off when the chin rest was remove.
My guess is that Kennedy does not wait for the varnish to dry completely before they slap on the chin rest and fittings.
It is one of the reasons I passed over buying a Kennedy violin, even though they are based in my own state.
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I did not mean that part of the cork would be on the violin. I meant that the chemical adhesive was affecting the varnish, kind of like off-gassing.
Here's the bottom line: can you get past this? Sometimes a thing happens on violins and it just eats away at you until you make a change. Sometimes you can say to yourself, hey its no big deal. If your new chin rest covers this, then you won't see it everyday and it may not bug you too much. If though its going to eat at you, then take care of it now while you still have the ability. And then buy from Fiddlerman.
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MrYikes said
I did not mean that part of the cork would be on the violin. I meant that the chemical adhesive was affecting the varnish, kind of like off-gassing.
Here's the bottom line: can you get past this? Sometimes a thing happens on violins and it just eats away at you until you make a change. Sometimes you can say to yourself, hey its no big deal. If your new chin rest covers this, then you won't see it everyday and it may not bug you too much. If though its going to eat at you, then take care of it now while you still have the ability. And then buy from Fiddlerman.
I couldn't get over it. I have a fiddlerman master on the way. 
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I would love to say that everyone except for us sell instruments that are defective and messed up but the truth is that the varnish is not made to endure the long time pressure of cork being pressed on its surface. It's super normal.
Give me a call tomorrow at Fiddlershop and I'll give you some tips on how to better that. If you'll be placing a new chin-rest over that area, no one will see the damage.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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I found your post because I had the same exact problem. I was searching to see if this was normal when removing a chin rest. I saw your picture and though it looked just like mine, reading through your post I realized that you have the exact same violin as me. The Anton Gerard from Kennedy violins.
I had flaking on the finish as soon as I bought my violin and when I asked them about it they brushed me off and said it was "normal". Then yesterday I tried to swap out the chin rest with a hypoallergenic one because of a rash I had been getting. As soon as I removed the old one it looked like it was glued on or something and had ripped the finish off. It looked just like yours or maybe slightly worse.
I went to a different luthier at a different music store and they said for $1000 bucks they would take it back to Kennedy and see what they could do because it looked like they had put the chinrest on before the finish had dried.
When I went back in to Kennedy Violins they tried to play it off as normal and not a big deal. But for $1000 this does not feel acceptable even if it is still a "student" level violin. Eventually the agreed to take it and they are going to try and fix it. But I have been very disappointed with the quality of that violin and their customer service. Will never buy one from them again.
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It's actually quit normal. We sell instruments from so many makers and distributors that I can't keep count. Almost every one of them have this issue.
It's not only when a chin-rest was put on too early, it's also when the makers use a better varnish that is not as hard. Hard varnish dampens the sound of the instrument. Most spray varnishes dry quickly.
Even my brand new bench made Jan Larsson violin that cost me over $20,000 had that issue.
Usually your new chinrest will be mounted with at least part of it covering the messed up section from the previously mounted chinrest.
I'm not sure I understood your issue but it sounds as though you are saying that one maker would repair the area for $1000.
That is an incredible over kill to say the least.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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