@Fiddlerman
Thanks for the help.
So I can rule out the string change for the cause of slippage. I only started playing in October and the problem didn't show until February. Coincidentally, I changed the strings at the same time because the A and D sounded dead and I had them on about 5 months. I'm probably experiencing the normal seasonal changes in the humidity and it's effects on the fiddle. We have four seasons in Nevada - pleasant, cold, hot and hellish. October is pleasant, February is cold. We are now moving into hot. By July we'll be in hellish. so I guess I'll just learn how the fiddle reacts to each.

The change in tune while playing is not what you demo'ed in a video about steel strings pulling up in pitch. I experienced that with the viola my hubby got me for Christmas, changed to the pro-arte and it doesn't do that any more. The strings on my violin actually go flat in pitch. I notice it because my fingers are "chasing" the right sound and as a beginner that doesn't help develop a feel for where the notes are supposed to be. Sometimes it's a slight amount, other times its nearly a half to full flat from the open string note. Since they always go down, it may be the slipping. As to the "smoothness" of the pegs turning, it depends. Sometimes they are smooth and if the humidity is too high they seem to stick and click when turning. It's like goldilocks - too humid can't turn pegs or they click, too dry and they don't hold. I need to find and maintain the "just right". The pegs are the original pegs from the violin and it is 100 plus years old.

My luthier is very good so I don't think the sound post is the issue as the "over-loudness". My fiddle is not who I thought it was though. Originally, I was told the fiddle was made by my husband's great grandfather. It had been in disrepair in his shop and we assumed it was because he didn't have time to fix it. Well the fiddle is actually a Francois Guillmont violin. I did some history and family research. We think this fiddle and the jig came from the Guillmont factory that was destroyed in WWI. Guillmont's from what I read are notoriously loud and powerful. As a beginner, I don't really like to broadcast every screech and off key note at 120 decibels. Other than a mute, I was experimenting with other strings to see if I could bring down the power until I can play a bit better.

I'll also have to update the history on my family fiddle - it got more interesting with the new discovery.

Thanks for the detailed help. I'm glad to be back.

@Uzi
https://fiddlerman.com/forum/i.....las-vegas/

Links to the beginning of my fiddle story. My husband's great grandfather was a fiddler maker. Uncle Don has one of his fiddles and I thought I had another one. About a month after I got the fiddle repaired, I looked inside the f-hole for his label. I was shocked to find it was not Ezra Tungate but a Francois Guillmont made in Aix-la-Chapelle. I contacted Uncle Don for pictures of his fiddle because I couldn't find any records of an Ezra Tungate violin maker. He corrected me, the name was Elza not Ezra. I did a search and found a woman in Canada that had one of his violins.
https://suzukiassociation.org/.....uss/21859/
I started digging into genealogy and found some interesting information on Elza and how he probably acquired the fiddle and possibly the jig.

The Francois Guillmont violin shop made violins between 1900 and 1920. So that rules out Elza’s father or grandfather working/studying there. But Elza served in WWI and his unit served in the Lorraine region. The Francois Guillmont violin label lists Aix-la-Chapelle as the city of origin. Aix-la-Chapelle is in the Lorraine region and the German name for this town is Aachen. The unit Elza served with in WWI was in the Lorraine province from 1918 until 1930 as part of the occupying ally forces. When Elza signed up for the draft in 1917, his occupation was listed as a farm laborer. Although he may have tinkered with making violins, my new theory is that he may have brought home the Guillmont and possibly the jig as a war souvenir and that started his journey.

The Guillmont factory was damaged in both WWI and WWII and ceased to exist after the Second World War when it was completely destroyed. So it is possible this was plucked from the wreckage of the violin shop during the war or occupation period.

So my violin was in his shop in a state of disrepair at the time of his death. My guess is it was his template so there was no need to have it in working order. I'm surprised it survived. It has been in a non-climate controlled work shed in Baker, CA, closets, attics and even the uninsulated crawl space above my mother-in-laws garage in Las Vegas. I'm amazed the dang thing survived let alone sounds as good as it does. It only had a small crack on the front and some glue that let go on the top about a one inch section near the lower portion of the c-bout by the G string. The sound post didn't fall even without strings, it did get reset to the correct position though.

Amazing!!!!!