I just got off the phone with the luthier who’s been working on my new violin, and it’s just about ready.  As I expected, I was unable to retrieve it before our big Christmas trip, so I’ve been without it for longer than I would otherwise have been.

I don’t know much about exactly what needed to be done to the instrument, but when I dropped it off and as we chatted about the necessary repairs I do remember him telling me it needed a new bridge.  I had expected as much after my own evaluation of the piece – the A string looked to be slicing into the old bridge more than it should have been.  Further, my novice fingers noticed that the strings did not sit as far above the fingerboard as they do on my rental.  At any rate, I left his shop with the idea that bridges changed in design between now and the time mine was last replaced – if and when that ever actually happened.  They have started making them taller.

After I inquired about the status of the repairs with his wife, who answered the phone, she passed me off to her husband, who said, “We’re cutting the bridge right now.”  I was charmed and had no idea that his shop built bridges in-house.  I love the idea of custom wood on my instrument; I am surer than ever that I have found the right man to care for it.  My teacher did not steer me wrong.

So a trip to the burbs is on tap for tomorrow, and I’m on pins and needles.  I can’t wait to bring my violin home.

Thanks for reading.

Ryan