Site Menu
Vieregge Family Violin
Vieregge Family Violin
Click picture for more detail
Click picture for more detail
My wife's Grandfather had told me stories about his Grandfather, who was very musical and also played violin. He recalled fond memories of listening to his Grandfather play, and had wondered if the old violin was able to be fixed up. After some time searching, he was able to find the instrument packed away, and brought it to me for a look. The intrument was in rough shape, missing many parts including the fingerboard, and was very dirty. The varnish was also in rough shape as the instrument had been stored in its original turn of the century case, and the bow and other pieces were left loose inside and collide with the violin.
The aforementioned aside, I was surprised to find that there was not any significant damage to the body structure of the instrument, aside from a few open seams and a small wing crack. I agreed to work on the violin, and the expectation was that it would be cleaned up, made to "look like a violin" by fitting the missing parts, and made suitable for display.
I decided early on, however, that it would not be much more work to truly make the instrument playable again. Furthermore, I felt confident I could match the old varnish and really make something complete and usable. No one else in the family (besides myself) knows how to play violin, but I thought it might be special to restore the old violin's voice once again, and allow Grandpa to hear the instrument for the first time in decades. The instrument took a few months of off and on work to restore, and my wife and I presented it to Grandpa for Christmas that year, complete with a playing demonstration.
The gallery below follows some of the major restoration points on the violin, which included a new fingerboard and nut, new pegs, tailpiece, and chinrest, new bridge and soundpost, new strings, extensive cleaning and varnish work, a custom label inside the violin documenting the family history around it, and a custom engraved plate on the chinrest (made up for me by one of my good friends and his wife) with great-great-Grandfather's years on it.
My wife's Grandfather had told me stories about his Grandfather, who was very musical and also played violin. He recalled fond memories of listening to his Grandfather play, and had wondered if the old violin was able to be fixed up. After some time searching, he was able to find the instrument packed away, and brought it to me for a look. The intrument was in rough shape, missing many parts including the fingerboard, and was very dirty. The varnish was also in rough shape as the instrument had been stored in its original turn of the century case, and the bow and other pieces were left loose inside and collide with the violin.
The aforementioned aside, I was surprised to find that there was not any significant damage to the body structure of the instrument, aside from a few open seams and a small wing crack. I agreed to work on the violin, and the expectation was that it would be cleaned up, made to "look like a violin" by fitting the missing parts, and made suitable for display.
I decided early on, however, that it would not be much more work to truly make the instrument playable again. Furthermore, I felt confident I could match the old varnish and really make something complete and usable. No one else in the family (besides myself) knows how to play violin, but I thought it might be special to restore the old violin's voice once again, and allow Grandpa to hear the instrument for the first time in decades. The instrument took a few months of off and on work to restore, and my wife and I presented it to Grandpa for Christmas that year, complete with a playing demonstration.
The gallery below follows some of the major restoration points on the violin, which included a new fingerboard and nut, new pegs, tailpiece, and chinrest, new bridge and soundpost, new strings, extensive cleaning and varnish work, a custom label inside the violin documenting the family history around it, and a custom engraved plate on the chinrest (made up for me by one of my good friends and his wife) with great-great-Grandfather's years on it.