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Pirate Luthier update A friendly freegler who had already donated a violin previously, came back with one she rescued from a skip, which is now violin number 37 on my logs. It had a crack in the belly so I had to open it up. The inside was very dirty so I had to clean it out quite thoroughly with a wet rag. This revealed a very beautiful flaming, showing up more nicely on the inside than on the outside: It also gave a better view of the label which is one of those referring back to a Stradivarius model of which the violin was meant to be a copy. This one is strange though as it reads 1758. Antonio Stradivari died in 1737. Looking even closer, just below the label I think I can read "Aug. 1899" written in pencil. It's not obvious in the photo, but turning the open violin to find the best angle for the light on the writing, I am quite confident that I can read that. Which also makes sense for a slightly dubious Strad copy. I've now closed it again but haven't finished the setup yet, so I will update this entry once I know what it sounds like. * * * NB I've now moved the list of instruments that pass through my pirate luthier workshop to a permanent page which I will update whenever necessary, independent of the blog entries.

Pirate Luthier update A special delivery brought five instruments into the pirate luthier workshop at once, namely violins 35 and 36 and cellos 4-6. These instruments had been donated to a local youth orchestra but needed a bit of care to be made playable. I took on the cellos first, as there was a more immediate demand for those, so this post is only about the cellos. Cello number 6) is a full-size cello made in Western Germany in the 1950s or 60s I would guess (see the label below). It had a bit of wood missing on the treble side of the shoulder, which I filled in. Not that I care about cosmetic repairs, but there was the risk of a player's sleeve getting caught in the sharp edge and ripping off more of the wood, so it was just an operation to make it smooth. I also made a foot for it out of a cava cork (forgot to take a photo, but see cello 3). Otherwise it was fine, I happily played it for a week and got on well with it, so all good. The labels reveal that it was "Made in Western Germany" after Stradivarius 1713. Imported by Leslie Sheppard in the 1950s. It has now returned to the good people looking after that youth orchestra. Cello 5) is a 3/4 cello that was brandnew and in my opinion has never been playable, because the pegs didn't fit quite into the pegholes all the way, so they didn't have enough wood surface to grip on. Which explains why at least one was absolutely unusable. In the end I widened the holes for 3 of the pegs to make sure they are functional. Similar story with the endpin hole - that was too narrow and left the endpin plug sticking out by half a centimeter. More of an aesthetic problem, but I adjusted that as well. And lowered the bridge by half a centimeter. My overall impression was that the company that sold this instrument just plugged together the parts as they came in from different factories, without ever checking if the combination resulted in a playable instrument. That one is now also back with the owners. Cello 4) is a half-size one which has a few bits of wood missing which I may or may not fill in and which more importantly has lost all the metal parts of its endpin, leaving only the wooden plug. So it does hold the strings alright but you would have to support it with your legs if you wanted to play it. That can be done but it's not everybody's idea of fun. Endpins come in various sizes that aren't necessarily standardised, and vendors online don't necessarily reveal the crucial measure I need to know, namely the maximal diameter of the wooden conical bit, so I am still looking for the right one to fit this instrument at a price that doesn't exceed the value of the cello itself. endpin plug of half-sized cello 4) in comparison to the complete endpin of 3/4 cello 2), which has in fact a bigger plug than eg full-size cello 3). It's all very confusing. NB I've now moved the list of instruments that pass through my pirate luthier workshop to a permanent page which I will update whenever necessary, independent of the blog entries.

Pirate Luthier update Over the xmas period, I learned how to open up violins, glue cracks, and close them again. I practiced that on the not very special violin number 13 before addressing the quite lovely Guarneri copy number 30, the one which won the prize for the most beautiful case. After the operation it looks like this (still with the historic strings and tailpiece, which I'll upgrade before returning it to its owners): In addition to the two cracks I repaired now, I discovered another two that had been repaired previously: Note the label which says it is a copy of a Guarnerius from 1725 (as opposed to my favourite violin from my collection which is a Guarnerius from 1731). I really like the look of the inside of these instruments (see also the cello I opened up), with all the rough bits contrasting the smooth outside. Here's the inside again with my patches added: ... and the detached and repaired top from the outside: ... and the whole thing after closing up again: After this glut of photos I'm sure you'll be glad to see the back of it: It does have a beautiful back, doesn't it. Number 13 (of which I used a photo in my year review) is also closed again, but it has some damage on the fingerboard which I'll have to sand down before I set it up, so I'll report on that next month. I've now moved the list of instruments that pass through my pirate luthier workshop to a permanent page which I will update whenever necessary, independent of the blog entries.

Pirate Luthier update This month I rescued an old cello, gave away a violin (number 23), and received one to repair and return, which is number 30 on my books. I also sorted out a lovely old violin that just needed a new string and tuning up, so it only spent 15 minutes on the premises and didn't get inventorised. And I took charge of an Appalachian dulcimer which will need new strings, and about which I'll make a post once I've got a better idea about how to play it. Violin number 30 came with a stunningly beautiful wooden case, so it's time for another reveal: It has a massive crack in the front requiring an intervention I will need to practice on a less beautiful violin first (number 13) and possibly also on the 3/4 cello. So it may still take a few months to build up the courage and energy for that, and I'll probably make another post about this one when it's happening. **List of violins** in the pirate luthier series: violin 1) is the one my late aunt had since the 1930s, which got me started. After restoring it in November 2022, I played it almost every day for 14 months, until number 5) showed up. violin 2) is a Stentor student 1 (a very widely used brand of cheap fiddles available everywhere and still being produced). I bought it very cheap on gumtree, mainly because I needed a case for number 1). It has a fault that is probably not worth repairing, see the blog entry on number 3) below. After stripping it of some accessories and spares, I am now inclined to keep it in a semi-functional state to try out experimental repairs, i.e. use it as a wooden guinea pig of sorts. violin 3) came from a folkie friend who moved away. I put the soundpost back in its place and it has now found a new home. violin 4) is a modern Chinese one which I bought from one musical friend and sold to another, no work needed. violin 5) (donated by a friendly freegler) was my second favourite and the one I played in folk sessions for roughly a year until number 22) showed up. violin 6) is the half-sized Lark which was one of the six violins I gave away on freegle in June 2024. violin 7) is a skylark from 1991 which I bought on gumtree for £ 10 and fitted with a new bridge. Good enough for folk I would say. It was one of the six violins I gave away on freegle in June 2024. violin 8) is the "ladies violin", a 7/8 skylark. It was one of the six violins I gave away on freegle in June 2024. violin 9) is the one which needed a new bridge and a tailgut and turned out to sound quite lovely on the E string. It was one of the six violins I gave away on freegle in June 2024. violin 10) is the 3/4 sized one with a broken neck and traces of multiple repair attempts, which I've now repaired. I kept it for a couple of months to check the neck stays in place, then gave it away to a good cause in June 2025. violin 11) is the 3/4 sold by JP Guivier & Co Ltd. in the 1950s but may actually be older than that. It was one of the six violins I gave away on freegle in June 2024. violin 12) is a full-size Lark which a freegle user kindly donated and delivered after seeing my offer. It was one of the six violins I gave away on freegle in June 2024. violin 13) is still broken violin 14) is a half-size Lark which I gave away to a good cause in June 2025. violin 15) is a 3/4 size Stentor student 2, which I gave away to a local school in October 2024 violin 16) is the Sebastian Klotz branded one, sadly not made by the Mittenwald luthier, but by Yamaha Malaysia, who appear to have trademarked his name. violin 17) is the supersized violin with a very strong sound. violin 18) is the slightly drunken but nice sounding violin from Poland, which I restored and returned to its family. violin 19) is a Stentor student 1 violin which only needed a little TLC, and within less than a week I had it brushed up and ready to move to our local school. The most intriguing problem it had was that somebody had put in the bridge the wrong way round, with the lower slope under the G string. violin 20) is a Stentor student 1 violin I bought via GumTree. It sounds really nice for what it is, thanks in part to a good set-up with Dominant strings. I have labelled this one as an official Cowley Orchestra instrument. violin 21) is a nameless student violin I bought via facebook, not quite sure what to think of it. The fingerboard is horizontal, which is all wrong and may mean there is not enough pressure on the bridge to produce a good sound. violin 22) is the 19th century Guarneri copy, still my favourite, although I'll have to fix that crack at some point. Because of the crack I play it only at home and take number 24 to sessions. violin 23) is a nameless student violin I bought from a charity shop. It looks unused but had no strings, so I set it up with a set of spare strings that came with another violin. It turned out to be no trouble at all and sounds ok for an instrument that looks really cheap (with the purfling painted on). It now lives with a young cellist in my neighbourhood who is keen to learn the violin as a second instrument. violin 24) is the densely cratered one I found lying on a chair at Oxfam, and which I currently play at sessions. violin 25) is the fleamarket find from Neuss violin 26) is the lady in red, which has now rejoined its family. violin 27) is the Czechoslovakian student model violin 28) is the black one I found three minutes before number 29), so they're basically twins. violin 29) is the odd-size one with the lovely rosewood tailpiece violin 30) is the one with the lovely case shown above **Balance 27.10.2025** : Of the 30 violins listed above, 8 received via freegle, 3 from friends and family, 16 bought (gumtree, facebook, charity shops, flea markets, cost ranging £ 10 to £45), 2 taken in for repair only and returned to their families, one taken in for repair but not done yet. Of the 27 acquired, 8 given away via freegle, 2 given to a local school, 1 given away via a neighbourhood mailing list, 2 sold to musical friends, 1 moved to Germany for holiday practice, 11 currently in house and ready to play, 2 in house and still broken. **List of other instruments** in the pirate luthier series: an old Irish banjo guitar 1) is the 100 year-old one from Valencia which I set up with frets and strings and handed back to its owner. guitar 2) is one I spotted in a charity shop "sold as seen" for a very affordable price with nothing more than a broken string, and I bought and repaired it because I knew the owner of the next one needed one while their guitar was out of service. guitar 3) had a broken neck which I glued back on with hide glue at the same time when I repaired violin 10). It has now returned to its family. the zither I found at the flea market in Dusseldorf. and finally a shout-out to our family-built hammered dulcimer, which dates from 2016, long before I got any ideas about violins.

Pirate Luthier update Two years ago, when I was looking for a cello as Heinrich the family cello was about to move out to rejoin the young cellist, I looked at an old German cello which wasn't playable because the bridge was dangerously warped and the glue was coming unstuck in a couple of places. I didn't buy it then as I needed a reliably playable instrument. Now as I heard from somebody else looking for a cello to play, I checked up on that old cello and it was still in the same state. After two years of fiddling with lots of fiddles, I now felt ready to fix something bigger and took it on. It doesn't have a case yet, so I lent it one of my old sweaters for protection against knocks: Which also has the advantage I can do a dramatic reveal - it is actually a very beautiful old cello, reportedly dating from the 19th century and possibly from Mittenwald: It also has a very beautiful backside: It has a fake Stradivarius label much like eg my aunt's violin, which is more of a Markneukirchen kind of instrument, and a serial number stamped into the inside of the pegbox, which I'm not sure about - maybe just inventorised by a trader? I happened to have an bridge sitting around (decommissioned by a professional cellist but perfectly good for me) and some strings from the same source. So set it up with these recycled materials keeping two of its original Larsen strings, but the lower two strings were corroded and not usable). So the setup now looks like this: I glued the bits that needed to be glued and cut a cava cork to shield the spike (like I did for the double bass a few years ago), visible in the first photo above. I also got Heinrich's old cloth bag down from the attic for when it needs a dust cover, although I am quite happy with the sweater solution at the moment. The cello is now perfectly playable and beginning to sound quite nice. I'm still playing it in with Suzuki pieces and such like, but am hoping to take it to orchestra and other musical adventures from next week. In other pirate luthier news, violin number 30 has arrived on the premises with the most beautiful wooden case ever. I'll report on that separately later in the month, with an updated list.

Pirate Luthier update My Freegle call looking for fiddle cases hasn't produced any actual cases, but it helped me rehome two fiddles (in their rickety old cases) and brought in a new one, number 27. This one was made in the 1960s in Cremona, but sadly not in the town in Italy but in the eponymous factory in Luby, Czechoslovakia (now in the Czech Republic). The town formerly known as Schönbach had been a centre of violin making since the 17th century, and it is not all that far away from the Musikwinkel around Markneukirchen, Germany. The instrument has a beautiful Dresden bridge, and generally looks ok and in good condition, but the purfling (the line around the edges) is painted on, which is a very clear cost-cutting exercise (it should be a hand-crafted inlay, which serves to stop cracks progressing inwards). I kept the historic G-string (gut) as well as the E string and added cheap strings in the middle. It does sound a bit cheap now, but plays ok. The bow needs rehairing and the case isn't up to 21st century requirements, but otherwise this one is ok. Not one I would want to keep though. List of violins in the pirate luthier series: violin 1) is the one my late aunt had since the 1930s, which got me started. After restoring it in November 2022, I played it almost every day for 14 months, until number 5) showed up. violin 2) is a Stentor student 1 (a very widely used brand of cheap fiddles available everywhere and still being produced). I bought it very cheap on gumtree, mainly because I needed a case for number 1). It has a fault that is probably not worth repairing, see the blog entry on number 3) below. After stripping it of some accessories and spares, I am now inclined to keep it in a semi-functional state to try out experimental repairs, i.e. use it as a wooden guinea pig of sorts. violin 3) came from a folkie friend who moved away. I put the soundpost back in its place and it has now found a new home. violin 4) is a modern Chinese one which I bought from one musical friend and sold to another, no work needed. violin 5) (donated by a friendly freegler) was my second favourite and the one I played in folk sessions for roughly a year until number 22) showed up. violin 6) is the half-sized Lark which was one of the six violins I gave away on freegle in June 2024. violin 7) is a skylark from 1991 which I bought on gumtree for £ 10 and fitted with a new bridge. Good enough for folk I would say. It was one of the six violins I gave away on freegle in June 2024. violin 8) is the "ladies violin", a 7/8 skylark. It was one of the six violins I gave away on freegle in June 2024. violin 9) is the one which needed a new bridge and a tailgut and turned out to sound quite lovely on the E string. It was one of the six violins I gave away on freegle in June 2024. violin 10) is the 3/4 sized one with a broken neck and traces of multiple repair attempts, which I've now repaired. I kept it for a couple of months to check the neck stays in place, then gave it away to a good cause in June 2025. violin 11) is the 3/4 sold by JP Guivier & Co Ltd. in the 1950s but may actually be older than that. It was one of the six violins I gave away on freegle in June 2024. violin 12) is a full-size Lark which a freegle user kindly donated and delivered after seeing my offer. It was one of the six violins I gave away on freegle in June 2024. violin 13) is still broken violin 14) is a half-size Lark which I gave away to a good cause in June 2025. violin 15) is a 3/4 size Stentor student 2, which I gave away to a local school in October 2024 violin 16) is the Sebastian Klotz branded one, sadly not made by the Mittenwald luthier, but by Yamaha Malaysia, who appear to have trademarked his name. violin 17) is the supersized violin with a very strong sound. violin 18) is the slightly drunken but nice sounding violin from Poland, which I restored and returned to its family. violin 19) is a Stentor student 1 violin which only needed a little TLC, and within less than a week I had it brushed up and ready to move to our local school. The most intriguing problem it had was that somebody had put in the bridge the wrong way round, with the lower slope under the G string. violin 20) is a Stentor student 1 violin I bought via GumTree. It sounds really nice for what it is, thanks in part to a good set-up with Dominant strings. My current plan is to make this one an official Cowley Orchestra instrument. violin 21) is a nameless student violin I bought via facebook, not quite sure what to think of it. The fingerboard is horizontal, which is all wrong and may mean there is not enough pressure on the bridge to produce a good sound. violin 22) is the 19th century Guarneri copy, still my favourite (although I'll have to fix that crack at some point). violin 23) is a nameless student violin I bought from a charity shop. It looks unused but had no strings, so I set it up with a set of spare strings that came with another violin. It turned out to be no trouble at all and sounds ok for an instrument that looks really cheap (with the purfling painted on). violin 24) is the densely cratered one I found lying on a chair at Oxfam, and which I currently play at sessions. violin 25) is the fleamarket find from Neuss violin 26) is the lady in red, which has now rejoined its family. violin 27) is the Czechoslovakian student model described above **Balance 31.7.2025** : Of the 27 violins listed above, 8 received via freegle, 3 from friends and family, 14 bought (gumtree, facebook, charity shops, flea markets, cost ranging £ 10 to £45), 2 taken in for repair only and returned to their families. Of the 25 acquired, 8 given away via freegle, 2 given to a local school, 2 sold to musical friends, 1 moved to Germany for holiday practice, 10 currently in house and ready to play, 2 in house and still broken. List of other instruments in the pirate luthier series: an old Irish banjo guitar 1) is the 100 year-old one from Valencia which I set up with frets and strings and handed back to its owner. guitar 2) is one I spotted in a charity shop "sold as seen" for a very affordable price with nothing more than a broken string, and I bought and repaired it because I knew the owner of the next one needed one while their guitar was out of service. guitar 3) had a broken neck which I glued back on with hide glue at the same time when I repaired violin 10). It's holding so far. the zither I found at the flea market in Dusseldorf. and finally a shout-out to our family-built hammered dulcimer, which dates from 2016, long before I got any ideas about violins.