{"id":70,"date":"2025-06-28T18:55:36","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T18:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/?p=70"},"modified":"2025-06-28T18:55:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T18:55:36","slug":"my-20000-flexible-ruler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/2025\/06\/28\/my-20000-flexible-ruler\/","title":{"rendered":"My $20,000 Flexible Ruler"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The journey of a flexible ruler from Mittenwald, Germany to North Adams, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_0519-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-68\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_0519-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_0519-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_0519-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_0519-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_0519.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">You\u2019ve come a LONG way, baby!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">How much does a flexible ruler go for these days?&nbsp; $10-30 depending on the retailer.&nbsp; Mine cost $20,000.&nbsp; Free for me, really, and the story of why is priceless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">Last year was my first year to attend violin repair class in Massachusetts.&nbsp; The instructor is a legend in the exclusive world of violin restoration.&nbsp; He brought a small supply of flexible rulers made by a shop in his hometown of Mittenwald, Germany, for students in the class who might need one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"673\" src=\"https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_0521-1-1024x673.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-69\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_0521-1-1024x673.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_0521-1-300x197.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_0521-1-768x504.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/img_0521-1.jpg 1384w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Mittenwald, the ruler capital of the world!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">In my usual introverted fashion, I waited too long to speak out about needing one, so I missed out on the honor of having a finely crafted Mittenwald flexible ruler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">A year goes by.&nbsp; I return for summer classes and am greeted with a gift from my thoughtful, trusting teacher.&nbsp; While visiting Germany for business and family, my instructor returned to the shop that makes the flexible rulers only to find they\u2019d closed the business.&nbsp; Through his network of contacts, he tracked down the owner to inquire about the rulers.&nbsp; He had two left.&nbsp; My teacher bought both and presented me with one when I returned for class this year.  So how much did this ruler cost, one might ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>$20,000!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">My mentor loves humor, so he justifies the amount by adding up the cost of travel for he and his beloved wife.&nbsp; Airfare, hotels, cars, meals, incidentals all add up to the most expensive flexible ruler on the planet. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">A gift from a teacher who went out of his way for a student who is desperately trying to enter the profession.&nbsp; I hope I earn it and will treasure it forever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The journey of a flexible ruler from Mittenwald, Germany to North Adams, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[27,26,33,6,34,25,24],"class_list":["post-70","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tools-of-the-trade","tag-bass","tag-cello","tag-music-repair","tag-orchestra","tag-tools","tag-viola","tag-violin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72,"href":"https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70\/revisions\/72"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiddlecare.com\/from-the-field\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}