Restoring a 19th Century Klingenthal Violin

Saxony/Bohemia/Klingenthal of east-central Europe was one of the world’s most prolific violin production regions for hundreds of years leading up to the late 19th century. While the family name of Hopf is undoubtedly the most recognizable, other names such as Dörffel, Glass and Meisel also rose to prominence. America became a significant market for their instruments, but the civil war seemed to spark the beginning of the downfall of the industry. Follow this link for a fascinating history:

https://www.corilon.com/us/library/towns-and-regions/klingenthal-the-origin-of-violin-making#Klingenthal:%20The%20Origin%20of%20Violin%20Making%20in%20The%20Saxonian%20Vogtland%20Region

I recently acquired an interesting example of a ‘Klingenthal’ violin, in all likelihood from a workshop in the mid to late 1800’s. While not a very well-made instrument by any means, it sports a lion’s head in place of a scroll. How could I NOT attempt to breathe life back into this old ‘beauty’?????

I have to give a shout out to David Melashenko and his family for preserving this old beast. Its history is now lost to time, but it is fun to imagine the times and the hands in which it has been held.

Qualifier: I’m sure professional luthiers will find my work cringeworthy. An Iris Carr or Randy Hoshaw I am not. I am, and likely always will be, simply a violin enthusiast.

One of the characteristics helping to establish date and place of the instrument is the ‘through-block’. In a modern violin, the front block is a separate piece. I was told that these old through-blocks are quite strong if they are original. I decided not to disturb it.

The violin was in pieces, and required quite a lot of rebuilding. While the back plate was a single piece, and reasonably well graduated, the top (or belly) plate was in very poor shape and an incredibly thick piece of lumber. Some of the thicknesses pushed 7 to 8 mm where they should have been 3 to 4. It also had a poorly carved, integral bass bar. My initial intent was to try to restore the instrument to its original playing condition, but I wrestled with two things; Firstly, this project would take many hours to complete. Secondly, if I didn’t ‘modernize’ it as much as possible, it would in all likelihood become nothing more than a conversation piece – we call it a wall hanger. So, I dug in…

The belly plate had many old repairs and cleats, and lots of new cracks. The first step was to piece it back together, and then plane off the old bass bar. That done, the task of re-graduating began. This was perhaps one of the most tedious (and frustrating) jobs. It seemed that no sooner did I fix one crack and begin planing, another crack would appear and I would have to stop and fix that one. Eventually, the job was complete to the best of my ability and I installed a new bass bar. You will see lots of cleats. It’s actually interesting that no soundpost patch was required, though it wouldn’t have been a problem on the belly, as so much material was removed anyway.

There were many small pieces missing from the belly plate, so I did my best to replace them.

The tuning peg holes had to be bushed and reamed. New pegs installed:

The original neck angle was extremely low, quite likely fashionable at the time the violin was manufactured. In combination with exaggerated belly arching, there was really no choice but to change the angle. As previously mentioned, I had made the decision not to tamper with the front block. Instead, I decided to use a shim under the fingerboard – not the ideal, and also a first for me.

The final result: I find that one of the most difficult parts of the process to get right is matching colours. This is where the professionals with many years of experience really shine. I could possibly have hid my lack of skill by doing a French polish, but in the end felt that would take away some of the charm of an old violin like this. So, here she is… warts and all!!!!

Whenever I open a violin up to do major tuning or repairs, I’m like a kid at Christmas as I wait to see what it sounds like. This time, however, I’ve restrained myself and in this video, you’ll share with me the first time I put a bow to strings. I’m sure this fiddle hasn’t made music in many decades. I’m just going to do some random licks and see what happens…

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All in all, it’s an okay fiddle. As I mentioned in the video, the high end is a bit thin, but I may be able to do something with that by soundpost adjustment, or even string selection. Another one for my collection. Thanks for looking at my project!