outstanding work. You are part craftsman, conservator, restorer, woodworker, engineer, painter, and above all an artist. Amazing work - I wish i'd learned something like this as a kid.

Every time I see a video of you in your beautiful workshop, I fully expect to see Pinocchio sitting on the bench in the back.

All that brings memories back! I notice, that you shape the sides of your bridges just the way your father did. I visited Helge in the late 70's in Bremen and later on, during my Australian years, with my A.E.Smith viola in Brisbane.

37:32 Seriously? It takes me all afternoon to set a soundpost. 😂😂

I'm learning so much about the luthier's work of art on this channel, I've always admired this profession and now I'm really considering to actually learn it

This is so interesting, I'd love to see the reactions of the owners after fixing the instruments

I hope you have a beautiful day/night. I love the calmness of your videos, as well as learning about the violin, it’s positive for my mental health. You remind me to practice self care, thank you much Olaf. Best wishes. 🥰☕️🎻🌈

Nice work. First time seeing your channel. The algorithm likes you this week.

Olaf, You love and care about what you do. Thanks for including us along ❤️

It is good that there are people who know what to do when they see a violin like that

Story telling time !! 🙂 Good Morning Olaf from Connecticut, USA

I didn’t realize the flames going upwards was unusual. That’s cool. My violin has the flames going upwards. Love your videos. I’ve wanted to be a luthier for a long time. Maybe one day.

I'd love to sit in your shop all day and watch you repair the violins, it's just so mesmerizing to watch, and really intriguing and fascinating to learn about. Thank you for sharing! God bless, ~ Ana

(It's a gorgeous violin, particularly that back) Olaf, I've gone, in the last few months, and watched all of your videos. I don't recall seeing one were you talk about construction specifics. You touch a lot on it when you've done specific repairs and restorations. While I admit it might not be the sexiest video topics I would definitely be one to enjoy that discussion. I've been thinking about it more and more as I've paid closer attention to vintage options for myself. I had always been under the impression that a quality back of one-piece construction is generally higher end when compared to like quality two-piece. I've learn this to not a great single indicator of quality, but your thoughts would be appreciated. Cheers!

Olaf, I was astounded that the glue continued to hold the little corner piece while you shaved it and shaped it. Would have thought it would have broken off and flown across the room, never to be found again, which would have been my result. Good show!

I love your respect for the ancient craftsmen, even if their work wasn't perfect. Great. 😊

Love watching you work. Violins are a beautiful combination craftsmanship and artistry. Thanks for sharing.

It looked like the violin went thru WW1 and WW2 before you started work on it. Now the violin looks like it was made yesterday😎😎😎

Hello from Canada. Discovered you through the two set boys.

Your artistry heartens us all. Cheers!

WOW, gorgeous violin... amazing work. These videos are a delight. Thank you!

How about an episode about neck blocks that aren't quite square? I got some new strings for my new used $1800 cello and took it to the local private luthier, not the one associated with the store I bought if from. He brought the cello to me with strings and endpiece taken off and had me look down the fingerboard at different angles, and yes, I was veering off to the left by a about 13 mm at the bottom. He said it was worth repairing, so he's refitting the neck, which means taking the whole top of the instrument off.

I can definitely heard the quality in the tone when you played it. Full and very expressive on the G string. Beautiful instrument and thanks for sharing it with us!

This is a really beautiful instrument. It speaks trough the screen.

Very beautiful fiddle, A colleague of mine owns a violin and a viola both AE Smith and they’re wonderful instruments!

I always enjoy watching a master at his craft! You obviously found your calling and your passion for what you do is reflected in the outstanding work you do! The artistry, precision, and attention to detail in addition to your respect for its historical significance is exemplary! My profession is in Maxillofacial and Dental Technology and I am also a fiddle player so I can tell you from one artisan to another that I can certainly appreciate what you do on so many levels! Thank You for sharing this with the world! Liked and Subscribed!

Very nice as usual. 😊 Matching & grafting on points is so satisfying when it blends in so well. I first discovered the difference in tonal quality with bridge fitting after I replaced a viola bridge that I had first fitted (early days) on a 15 1/2" viola we had & it was cut down from a 48mm bridge (yeah, I know, too large) & used a 46mm bridge I had cut for another (16") viola where the strings were a little low, but it all fitted nicely on the smaller viola & the sound made all the difference. The first was always harsh & the better sized & fitted bridge had a nice response in the low end, so I quickly learnt what made a difference in sound with fitting & of course, the fit & placement of the sound post with it. I also learnt bows can also make a big difference too with strength, balance & the amount of hair in the bow. One of A E Smith's trained luthiers put me straight there (lesser known, maybe because he travelled the country towns in his caravan to take care of those locations).

I love these videos! I used to work in an antique restoration shop many many years ago, and I can almost smell the smells in his shop. Wonderful!!

@Adrian_AdamViolonDiGerma-tm3nq

6 ай бұрын

Its an oldstyle classical workshop, i always love it

Aloha my friend , from hilo hawaii,,,,, you do great work and enjoy your Video's ,,,,,,, i have worked a few Ukulele's "not" Koa wood instrument's,, as i spent time in Oregon , i came across other woods n taught a few classes to build your OWN Ukulele using OREGON WOOD , , i came across Mytlewood , Yew , Curly Maple. , Port Orford Cedat , Black Walnut , but did make my way back to Hilo , Hawaii,,,,, , Mahalo Oral,,,, i keep seeing a Violin , made of Koa Bottom ,,Koa Sides , and Spruce Top,, Koa Neck, and Head,, hm,, Sounds like a fantasy?,,, lol, yourFriend in Hawaii

@nickiemcnichols5397

6 ай бұрын

Any progress on the koa/spruce ukulele?

Sir, you do incredible work. I love seeing the fine details and care you put into restoring the instruments (and this one is gorgeous, such a lovely golden hue to the wood). The care, craftsmanship and diligence you put into your work deserves a huge round of applause. I commend your care, your talent and devotion to helping restore beautiful instruments back to their full grandeur!

Great videos and your work of art, thank you for sharing.

I love watching your restoration videos, your passion comes through strongly and makes for always entertaining and interesting content. I wish I wasn't so far away in Canada!

I really enjoyed watching this Olaf, thank you for making these videos. It has always amazed me how luthiers install sound posts. I once bought the tool but was an exponent of "all the gear, no idea."

@nickiemcnichols5397

6 ай бұрын

😂

I think it is a good thing that the fingerboard came off for you so you could make it to be securely glued back on now. Otherwise it may have found a later opportunity to fall off, far away from your shop! I must say that watching you work is very much like listening to a master soloist perform a magnificent piece with complete and utter mastery. Your work is its own form of art I think, and it is truly beautiful. QUESTION: Why do you trim the kidneys of the bridge? I get why you carve the feet to match the curvature of the top plate, but why trim the bits of the kidneys? What does that do?

That lovely instrument has a glorious sound!

I ❤ a two piece back.

Loved the video series. I wish I lived in Australia so I could have you tune up my 1839 German violin. Maybe someday….

Great series! I really enjoy a restoration. I use Brobst Violins in Virginia USA. They are very competent also.

What a unique violin, really nice work on restoration, Olaf 👍

The surest way to make the nut stay in place is to glue it to the upper end of the fingerboard in addition to the upper surface of the neck. Likewise, in the previous part you were great because you didn't just squeeze the neck heel vertically against the button, but also towards the bottom block. Well done - Maestro!

Absolutely mesmerizing, I became totally absorbed in the process. Thank you for sharing this video.

watching your videos from Longueuil (Qc, Canada), so much interesting, thank you

Exceptional!

Glitter! Wow. Biodegradable glitter now exists and it's a really good option to convert to.

Awesome work sir!

Absolutely love seeing the restoration videos! Keep them coming. You do amazing work!!!

Beautiful work. Thank you for bringing us along and explaining thing so well as you go. I'm sure the owner will be quite happy to have their instrument back in such wonderful condition.

Thank you for this 2 part series, I really enjoyed it! Watching you carve bridges is fascinating, you make it look easy.

Absolutely enjoying watching your masterful works of art here Olaf! Learning so much! By profession I am a Maxillofacial / Dental Technician (Make artificial eyes, noses, teeth, etc.) and I can appreciate what you do on so many levels! I too love what I do and keep procrastinating retirement! LOL

effing excellent....thank you

Truly impressed by your mastery of restoring the instrument. It looks and sounds beautiful. You are an artist at your craft.

Thank you for both videos very educational and entertaining at the same time.

Bravo 👏

Very nice thanks for posting.

You are an amazing luthier

I like all the close-ups! Can see what you are doing really clearly! I hope all luthiers can be as professional and responsible as you Olaf. My previous violin has two dents (?) for the A string so it gets out of tune really easily, yet the shop that sold it to me insists that there is nothing wrong with it...

@Zractor

Жыл бұрын

Two dents? In the fingerboard or the bridge? If they're in the bridge a luthier should be able to cut a new one for you. In my area a high-quality bridge cut to fit the instrument is around $100 USD). If they're in the knut (top of the ebony on the fingerboard) they should be able to fill and cut a new slot for you if necessary. It's not a demanding repair so I can't imagine it would cost you more than $50-100 USD. Though I don't know how either of these would cause tuning issues unless the string is slipping between the two slots.

you made that violin look so good omg 😭💙💙💙 so beautiful

thanks you. i love this canal

Very impressive bit of work, looks great and has plenty of sound😊👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

Congratulations on the wonderful videos and outstanding workmanship.

Posibly have an ae instrument, 1928 in awe of your work on a german insrument, the core quality so centered a different bow makes such a difference, being heavier with your thickened bridge

@josephtramacchi6834

Жыл бұрын

Only evidence is is a monogram with with signature matching date on violin Beatuful

"It is important to make it approximately the same.... " :)

pretty instrument

I love watching you work. Thanks so much for all of your videos. I must say, though, I much prefer watching your videos without the background music. Its kind of annoying. I'd much rather listen to you talk and hear the sound of your tools.

When you say the sound post is in the wrong place are you listening or the violin to “ring” when you play it?

@mrneil2

Жыл бұрын

Same question

Yeah, I always love being educated...lol I suck up every tidbit of information. I'm curious about hearing it in action, about a poorly placed sound post to a well placed one. If that is at all possible to hear via a KZread video. I do have good quality studio monitors connected to my PC. So at this end , no problem. I don't know about the rest of the way, though. Also wondering about the bridge with aging. Does the wood deteriorate in any way? If it's made from well seasoned wood, I'd expect it to not change by any shrinking or any warping. But then again, there's the environment...picking up humidity or loosing too much. Also the twisting from the strings, if overlooked by the player. And yes, I remember from another video, that some luthiers have their own bag of tricks when it comes to bridges. Thanks

I know you’ve talked about sound post placement before but I’d like to ask when you declared that the post was in the wrong place what exactly were you hearing? I don’t think the difference comes across in the KZread audio.

Me at 38:15 being an expert at the art of violin making having 38:15 minutes of observational knowledge “Looks like he forgot to fit the fourth string, a rookie mistake.”

*- I wish I could hear the difference after moving the sound post that you can hear, Olaf.*

I just realized that im not the only one who have a violin with lower F - hole placement. The antique violin is similar to my violin too hahaha

I've got a question, have you ever just ruined, completely ruined a violin?

@zainab58

Жыл бұрын

A similar thought crosses my mind every time I see Olaf bringing a coffee mug within 1m of a violin. 😮

@michaelfrank2266

Жыл бұрын

@@zainab58 Coffee? What of a cut and bleeding everywhere? If I tried to do what he does the instrument would look like it came from a crime scene.😂

Hi Olaf, thanks for another interesting video. Have australian luthiers experimented with indigenous species of timber in making violins and have they found any timber which rivals the traditional european species ?

@nancymilawski1048

Жыл бұрын

I was wondering the same thing. 😃😃

The post set up is so critical to know how to do it. I have one question. Could you make a video, where you show all the problem a beginner might face when want to put the post back inside? Here is why. One might have post drop out, and have to chase it inside the violin to get it, and then again and again, its hard position to hold it there firmly. That might take hours for a beginner to do it, and as a loss of concentration and attentiveness after all the trouble and the nerves, we might not do it right as we could. So, like, the tools you use to hold it, like shown here, and exact place you suggest putting it in, like, im sure millimeters mater here. These details shown and explained would help us when we want to perform these actions. Thank you a lot, im a novice here, so, maybe you already explained it somewhere else in the video. Im a total beginner luthier, and I love it how you give us the tutorials. You're an excellent teacher.

I have a stradivarius copy.I think have nice sound is very hard used and the case is disintegrated 😅

is that corner required structurally for some reason? What's the difference between having a broken corner and antiquing? I know when they "relic" a guitar to make it look like it's been played heavily for 50 years, there can actually be chips of wood missing from the headstock. Obviously if it's needed structurally you have to do it, so the entire top needs to be fixed for cracks if there are any but does the corner actually need to be repaired?

❤️ 🎉

Who is the young man behind you?

@battistazani8202

Жыл бұрын

I was wandering too

Hi Olaf. I've see a number of your videos over the last 19 months or so and I really enjoy them. Fantastic. :-) One question that I always ask myself and only now have decided to write...when you put on new varnish and polish it later you don't wear gloves or any skin protection. Doesn't t that varnish get into you skin and, just maybe, cause a skin reaction (or something worse) over time? I suspect it would for me!

I dont have a 100k violin, but the old one of my grandpa Probably 70 years old Could i get a number of what i does it cost to just make it playable again? Or at least look over it? I dont know if somebody would have to open it, to see, if its holding and such I dont know if i can put the pressure of new strings on that.... I have a cheaper one for playing... So if its just a memory and deco piece, that would be better, than destroying it 😅

Why do so many expensive violins have two pieced backs? Why wouldn't they just use a one piece? Would you buy an expensive two piece back violin, why?

Olaf - eliminating the mystique/hype factor of old instruments, with sound and playability as the sole criteria, do you think any experienced, expert violin maker can build an instrument that's as good as those of the old masters of Cremona? Was there really any "Magic Juju" that Stradivari could bring to bear on the materials that you couldn't replicate?

@AskOlaftheViolinmaker

Жыл бұрын

Absolutely! There have been multiple double blind tests done and a random number generator would have more success at picking the Strad! Usually people pick the modern instrument as being the best sounding... I do have to say that I'm sure the people choosing to pit modern instruments against old Cremonese ones choose a very good sounding modern instrument. Chad Hoopes bought a modern instrument and really prefers it to the Strad he was using before. His modern instrument is way more responsive 🙂

@muzician338

Жыл бұрын

@@AskOlaftheViolinmaker Thanks!

Man I just want to go to FB market buy me a fiddle and take that thing apart!

I would be curious to see what the difference in sound/playability is if you corrected the flaws you listed!

dremel would help in the fine work

Can you review the fiddlerman artist violin? It seems like a great violin for the price. Thanks a lot.

Would you mind putting the brand and magnification of the magnifiers you are using? I'd love to get some for the clock repair work I do. Yours seems to have a great working distance compared to what is usually offered for clock and watch repair work.

Olaf, I have a nice tuner app on my iPad. I use it to tune my Hermet Schartel violin from Romania. I feel I have all four strings tuned quite well, but my four pegs aren’t in the exact position that Kevin Lee Luthier (who I’ve seen several of his violin videos on KZread) suggest to his viewers. What do you think?

Would you ever colour the bridge with UV or a stain, to make it look as old as the instrument?

I've heard you say more than once that the sound post is in the wrong place. What about the sound lets you know that it's not in place?

Is the background music we hear actually in your background, or is it added to the video in post?

I’m curious I’m just noticing it , why does the bottom plate have way less grain (bigger grain ) than the top plate ? Or does the top plate have to vibrate way more that its made from a softer springier wood ?🤷🏼‍♂️ I’m not a violinist or something just think it’s interesting

😎🎻

I'm really confused by the mores of violin repair. I've seen improvements done on inferior instruments and clear varnish applied when it is obvious that the original varnish was a darker I understand it's a complicated history where buyers want an historic instrument, but in the end what makes the sound that is worth the price? Who currently is invested in improving the sound of the classical style of violin?

Hi Olaf, when you measure for the string height, what exact measurements are you making? I see you sight along the fingerboard while holding your ruler, but I have no idea what you are looking for. Thanks.

question Olaf, sometimes i see polish brands like Niko, this doesn't give that warm glow as your polish does, but how do i know which polish is safe for the violin, since you don't always know if the varnish on the violin is oil or spirit varnish

What liquid are you putting on the fingerboard at minute 22:51 ? And what is your polishing compound (ingredients) that you use at minute 26:55 ?

After a long wait, violin wasn't played enough. What vibration length do you use to position the bridge?

What was used in place of sandpaper a couple of centuries ago?

@AskOlaftheViolinmaker

Жыл бұрын

A scraper and a type of abrasive reed.

Gosh!!! Why SO much black varnish under the finergboard? Ochre mixed with naphthol originally? Glad there's not too much of it.... I'm guessing it's under the fingerboard too.

@nickiemcnichols5397

6 ай бұрын

He said that the ebony fingerboard had rested on the much lighter spruce surface for quite a while. I think the ebony color bled into the spruce.

More close up shots