60 Minutes Tonight Tape it.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

They will be showing how they make the Stadiverus (sp) Violin and what tress they use, etc.

[whitepine2]

 I watched and never herd of any tress that they used. Is that goat talk?    I know type error I do it all the time.

[Peter Drouin]

I watched and never herd of any tress that they used. Is that goat talk?

:D :D :D :D :D :D

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

I watched and never herd of any tress that they used. Is that goat talk?    I know type error I do it all the time.

I was going by the preview they gave.  :D

[Glenn1]

sounded like red spruce and maple :

[WmFritz]

I watched it, but couldn't hear it.

My bride was not interested in it and was in the mood for conversation. I thought I heard maple and spruce. It was hard to hear through all the head nodding though.  ;D

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

I watched it, but couldn't hear it.

My bride was not interested in it and was in the mood for conversation. I thought I heard maple and spruce. It was hard to hear through all the head nodding though.  ;D

Get ya pair of Sony Wireless Headphones. Plug the box into your TV and you can listen to TV through the Headphones and ya don't have to listen to the folks in the nickel seats. This is what I do.  ;D

[chain]

Guess we missed it but, we watched 'Cow town' on Larry's Diner, does that little lady's fiddle count?

That band is one of the most interesting and pleasing in the variety of tunes they play...from blue-grass to oldies, and beyond. Tremendously talented threesome.

[scleigh]

I watched as well, but I'm so slow, it took an hour and a half to watch 60 minutes.
How about the guy asking 45 million $ for that violin? 

[clww]

I watched and never herd of any tress that they used. Is that goat talk?    I know type error I do it all the time.

I was going by the preview they gave.  :D

You believe what CBS reports? :D

[dgdrls]

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22094279

Some spruce, maple and willow

DGDrls

[WmFritz]

Get ya pair of Sony Wireless Headphones. Plug the box into your TV and you can listen to TV through the Headphones and ya don't have to listen to the folks in the nickel seats. This is what I do.  ;D

Oh no... that won't fly in my house, Poston. When momma gets chatty, she expects me to tune in to her!  (at least with one ear)  :D

[scgargoyle]

I got deeply involved in tonewoods at one time when I was working with a couple jazz guitar builders. There was all sorts of discussion about those vintage instruments- type of wood, how it was harvested, conditions, such as whether the logs were floated in in salt water- it goes on and on. To prove a point, one of the foremost jazz guitar builders in the world built one out of #2 white pine from a big box store, and by all accounts, it sounded just as good as the ones built out of rare, pricey high-count tonewoods. It turns out that the skill of the luthier is also a factor....

[Ron Wenrich]

Didn't see the show, but I remember a the local news did one on a local violin repairer and builder.  He had pieces of maple and they actually rang when he struck them.  Has to do with ring spacing, I believe.

But, you would also have to wonder about the grain differential in the curly woods.  A lot of instruments use them because they look cool.  I don't think it does a whole lot for the sound.  But, I'm not a luthier.

The one thing about the Strad is they think a lot has to do with the finish. 

[Jeff]

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

This just amazes me. The old, old, old Violins still HAVE to be played to keep the sounds and soul alive.
Very interesting!

Thanks for posting the vids Jeff. 

[WmFritz]

Cool... now if I can borrow Poston's head phone's I can listen to it instead of watching it again.  _earmuff

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Cool... now if I can borrow Poston's head phone's I can listen to it instead of watching it again.  listening to my wife. _earmuff

:D :D :D

[WmFritz]

Cool... now if I can borrow Poston's head phone's I can listen to it instead of watching it again.  listening to my wife. _earmuff

:D :D :D

You nailed it  ;D ;D ;D

[maple man]

I am a profesional violin maker who dreams of being Paul Bunyan and takes care of 50 acres of improving woods.
I just watched the 60 minutes video via the link on the forum and was pleased  to find that there was far less BS than usual with this kind of report.
FYI the woods used for violins are maple for the back, sides and neck. European  acer pseudoplatinus or acer platinoides or american acer rubrum and saccarinum being the most common. The tops or bellys are almost always some kind of spruce. Picea abies and picea englemanni are good amd I'm sure several others of both American and foreign varieties. Willow and poplars are also used for the lower pitched instruments and have a "dark" mellow sound and hard birches and beech can be used for particular effects.
The skill of the violin maker has MUCH more to do with the sound than the type or quality of the wood but the cutting of the wood is extremely important as is the stress free air drying. Of course we do try to get the nicest wood we can but a good maker with so so wood will still make a far better instrument than a novice with the best wood in the world.
Prices for top qualiuty well cut tone wood are $50/BF or more and if anyone wants to talk to me about how to do it I'd be happy to steer you in the right direction but there is a great deal to learn and since the stuff gets cut into 16 inch long blanks it 's either salable tone wood or the most expensive fire wood you ever saw
Thanks to who ever put up the link to the video it was pretty well done and I got to see several faces of people I have corresponded with for years but never met.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Thanks Maple Man and Welcome to the FF. Good info there Buddy, I enjoyed reading your reply.

Where do you live?

If you have any of your work to show...put up some pics in the Woodworking Section.
You sound like an interesting guy! 

[maple man]

Thanks Maple Man and Welcome to the FF. Good info there Buddy, I enjoyed reading your reply.

Where do you live?

If you have any of your work to show...put up some pics in the Woodworking Section.
You sound like an interesting guy! 

Hi all
I am in Maine. My shop is in Bangor woodlot is in Dixmont. Being basically stuck in the 18th century I'm afraid i don't know how to post pictures but you can see some of my work on my website at slobodkinviolins,com

[Piston]

This just amazes me. The old, old, old Violins still HAVE to be played to keep the sounds and soul alive.
Very interesting!

Thanks for posting the vids Jeff. 

It's amazing the sound that can come out of something like an old OLD violin.  It's also amazing how much care they need to stay in excellent condition for so many years.  My grandfather has numerous old violins, and took care of them every day, and played them every day.  There were probably only a handful of times in his life that he didn't get to play his violin, and he hated those days. 

One of his violins are on display in Maine, at the Stanley Steamer Museam (seems like a strange place to have a violin display  ;D) and I need to get up there to take a look at it.  The family is now going through the unfortunate task of selling them, no one really wants to, but if you don't take care of them every day they go down hill. 

The last time I heard my grandfather play, was at my wedding in 2007.  Aside  from that, you never heard him. He was a "closet" violinist and ONLY enjoyed playing for himself, not other people. 

I bet he's playing the violin from up in the heavens as I'm typing this, making up for those handful of days he missed!

[GDinMaine]

I stumbled across this old thread and thought I would attach a link to a story. Here is Maple Man (Nate) making fine instruments in his shop in quiet, little Bangor, Maine.


http://bangordailynews.com/slideshow/bangor-violin-maker-creates-unique-new-instruments-using-very-old-techniques/

[Sixacresand]

I saw a program about that brand fiddle several years ago, how maker would pick the trees to saw.  I remember also a "investigative" TV show where the Feds shut down a guitar manufacturer for using exotic wood from equator.

[Kbeitz]

This posting caught my attention. I restore violins.



 

[petefrom bearswamp]

Holy cow Kbeitz, is there anything you don't (or can't)  do?
Nice pic of the violins

[Magicman]

Thanks GDinMaine.  That was a wonderful documentary on maple man's craftsmanship.  I know nothing about violins but I would love to visit his shop. 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Didn't see the show but forget the head phones. Just give your wife a pair of cheap foam ear plugs and tell her to use them. While you're at it tell her it is just as easy for her to put the toilet ring down as for you to do so and let us know how that works out. :D :D :D

[Czech_Made]

There is a long violin building tradition in my country.   Trees with good sound are selected by professionals - dont ask me how they know what tree to mark - and harvested in small quantities for violin and other instrument production.

4 generations here:

http://spidlen.com/cz-en/historie.php?l=en