condition points to note

Bass Bar area repairs

The bass bar is a strip of wood on the underside of the top of an instrument towards the bass sound hole. The modern bar is slightly longer and narrower than that fitted to instruments in the Baroque and early classical periods.

Often bass bars are fitted that are not strong enough or suitable for the instrument or the bar can cause further damage in the event of an accident to the front of an instrument.

Any discolouration or dark lines on or near the bass bridge foot ought to be queried with a seller

Cracks and repairs in the bridge feet area of an instrument top

Instrument tops are made of spruce or pine which are softer materials than the maple that the rest of the main body is made of. Cracks along the grain under or near the treble bridge foot are common on instruments of some age. When repaired, layers of wood from the opposite, internal, face of the plate is removed and new wood is 'layered' in to bind the seams of the crack. The resulting 'patch' can be an oval shape approximately the width and height of a small egg. In more extensive cases they can extend to the inner limits of the soundholes in a 'bell' shape and in yet more severe cases the entire inner face can be reworked to support multiple cracks over the whole surface of an instrument top or back.

Any discolouration or dark lines on or near the treble bridge foot ought to be queried with a seller. The presence and nature of any internal patches in the bridge feet area should be acknowledged or queried in the same way.

Centre join unevenness

Note that if an instrument has a two-piece back then the centre join is not construed as a crack but if the join is uneven or perceptibly open then it should be queried with a seller

Neck Block / Heel Repair

Due to the huge pulling weight of the strings some older instruments develop cracks in the neck block area of the upper back. Most instruments from circa 1860 or before have had their 'heels' replaced when the neck was replaced.

Repairs can have been done by insertion of matching material or by internal stud work.

The area below the heel and within the main area of the back that is within the inlaid border (purfling) is important to violin buyers and any visible or perceptible defect that has affected the surface or appearance of the wood in this area should be noted on catalogue form or queried with the seller

Soundpost crack

This is a critical defect that a buyer has to know about prior to viewing the instrument.

Soundpost cracks if repaired can be very well concealed and there is usually a form of internal patching which can affect the sound.

Some marks in the wood are sap marks and do not affect the surface of the wood of the instrument and are not damage as such but if it is not clear if any mark is a crack or a natural wood mark it should be treated as a defect until clarification can obtained.

Any visible or perceptible defect that has affected the surface of the wood of the appearance of the wood in this area ought to be queried with a seller