1887 American “Folk” 4/4 Oddball Violin

Overview: A local customer brought this in to sell and I bought it immediately in its very-dilapidated state because it's just so dang cool. It had been in her family's house for who-knows-how long. The back of the instrument has an inscription but it's very hard to read. The easy part is "April 2nd, 1887" and there appears to be a name at the top (Paul ----) and a place or name (Clough) scrawled below it. After that, everything we know about this homebrew, hand-carved, completely bizarre piece of Americana fiddle-work is lost.

Manny spent a lot of time and effort putting it back together into a playable state and the payoff on it is that it sounds excellent and has fast, easy handling. I was completely surprised with how good the tone is -- clear and warm and sweet but crisp, too.

The build style is very folksy and features a steeply-arched and heavily-carved top and back. The top itself is a block of pine and the back and sides are flatsawn maple. The neck has some figure in its maple and the fingerboard appears to be ebony but has some interesting figure-like stuff going on in parts of the grain. I love everything about it!

Repairs included: Manny did a lot to it -- a bunch of seam repairs, lining repairs on the inside, back reglue, purfling repair on the back, neck angle adjustment, a fingerboard plane, new bridge fitting, various cosmetic work (filling a small hole in the pegbox floor, etc.), cleaning, peg-fitting, setup work, and whatnot. It's playing spot-on and ready to go!

• Weight: 1 lb 3 oz
• Scale length: 12 5/8"
• Nut width: 7/8"
• Neck shape: slim soft V
• Neck depth near nut: 43/64"
• Neck depth before heel: 53/64"
• Body length: 13 7/8"
• Body width: 7 5/8"
• Body depth: 1 1/2"
• Top wood: solid flatsawn pine
• Back & sides wood: solid flatsawn maple
• Bridge: maple
• Fingerboard: ebony
• Neck wood: maple
• String height: between classical and fiddle
• Strings: synthetic core
• Action height: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble at octave

Condition notes: The pegs and tailpiece are likely replacements, and older. The bridge and chinrest and fine tuners are new. There's general wear and tear throughout the instrument but, let's be honest -- it looks great and the hand-rubbed, semigloss finish has a nice glow to it.

It comes with: It did not come with a case but I will include something with it for shipping.

Consignment tag: JW