Violin repair school this June was incredible. A thorough review of basic set-up skills such as fitting new pegs, fingerboards, top nuts, soundposts, and bridges. Set against the beautiful backdrop of the Berkshires, I made excellent progress, and life was beautiful.
The second topic we tackled was neck grafts. Never done that before, but it’ll be great. I have experience in repair and lutherie, so I’m ready to go to the next level. Holy goodness, how wrong I was.
Neck grafting is the art of creating a new neck for the instrument. About as glamorous as a new roof or fixing a leaky basement. It’s not going to make your instrument look any different or increase its value, but will improve its functionality and is necessary in the case of breakage, warping, and general damage.
The new neck is carefully measured down to the hundredths of millimeters and must be seamlessly integrated to the existing scroll and body. This requires precise skills with planes, saws, knives, chisels, gouges, and scrapers. While many aspects of the job follow standard measurements, some aspects require a trained eye and the tool skills to execute each step of this task.
I have always admired master luthiers for their abilities and dedication to the craft and have been a bit envious of those who chose this path earlier than me. The level of skill and patience this kind of work demands is something that truly takes decades, if not a lifetime. I once thought I could achieve this level but have been humbled into realizing no matter how much I work, I cannot cheat time.
I think it’s always good for the teacher to become the student every now and again. It’s beneficial to receive a reminder of what it’s like to not understand the content and be hesitant to ask questions while looking around the room, wondering if anyone else is as confused as I am.
Do I understand what neck grafts are and how to do them? Roughly. Can I execute one after a full week of training? Absolutely not. I have traded difficulty with soundposts for neck grafts. A new winner. Through my optimist’s lens, I will view this as progress.
