Violin making wasn’t my goal from the beginning. I’ve been a piano tuner for a long time, I have taught the piano, and I came up with an idea that the violin would be a choice for young children to start music with, from my memory that my daughters have played the violin, a musical instrument that can be carried anywhere with them. As they learn to play the violin, I thought the violin is simpler in some ways and has some benefits that the piano doesn’t have.
So when I saw the piano was complicated musical instruments especially for those under ten years old whose hands are not capable of individual separate work yet, violin would help them learn to play the music easier since with the violin the players handle mostly one single note and the ensemble performance may ease their anxiety.
So I asked my piano students to play the violin, establishing a small ensemble. But I didn’t want them to invest a lot for the instrument. Moreover, it is a kind of common sense that the violin is an expensive item to own, even children need to renew the violin as they grow. Then I collected small violins from the Internet. Many of them are good and some needed repair and set up.
That’s the point where I started to learn about the violin technically. As I dig more about it, my interest in violin building grew.
Meanwhile, my own violin selection was limited in the domestic manufacture, Suzuki. As a piano technician, I have experienced the Japanese pianos that were made in 1960s are incredible because of their materials, craftsmanship and the company management policy. I assumed Suzuki string instruments may have similar tendency. My guess was not completely wrong, but for Suzuki, the great era was around 1920s.
I collected more than 10 violins and repaired them. So this is it. Right now, I have three of them pretty much ready. I did bridge, pegs, tailpiece and chin rest replacement. I have not tried sound post do that will be the next task to work with. I also worked on the neck projection. I know there are a lot more to work on, but I need to know more about the violin and I guess that can be achieved through making violin.
It’s a long story. I will talk more about Japanese violins. Thanks for reading!!