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Wednesday 3rd
Beth Hurley phoned me today - more problems with her Pedrazzini! The neck graft is coming apart now. She wants to borrow my violin again (…and was sounding rather pleased about it, I thought).
I think my 'Ole Bull' copy is ready to varnish now. Actually I have to resist the urge to keep tidying it up - Toby keeps telling me that if it looks finished then you’ve gone too far. Boris came in to see it and I made the mistake of asking him if he had any particular preferences with the varnish. He went into a long dissertation - he’s not actually all that keen on the colour of the 'Ole Bull'. Prefers something a bit more like the 'Kreisler', but not quite that dark. Perhaps something more towards the 'Vieuxtemps' but not as red as the 'Lord Wilton'. Also he doesn’t want the surface to be too flat, but it should be shiny... but not too shiny, and also definitely not corrugated. Oh well... I did ask!
Friday 19th
The last coat of varnish is dry and I’m quite happy with the colour... hopefully Boris will learn to like it. Now I have to start trying to do some antiquing. I thought I might come in this Sunday to make a start - it’s my first attempt and I certainly don’t want Toby looking over my shoulder.
Grahame J__ from the orchestra brought in his Bergonzi today in a great flap... he was almost in tears. One of the percussionists dropped her mobile phone onto his violin and put a small mark on the front (I could barely see it!). Toby managed to calm him down and assured him that he should be able to fix it up.
Monday 22nd
I spent most of yesterday working on my varnish, trying to carefully wear it away in various places. Decided to use a cautious approach and was mainly rubbing it with tripoli and oil. I thought I was really starting to make some headway, but when I showed it to Toby this morning he said: “When are you going to start the antiquing?”
I asked him how I should go about it and he advised me to get stuck into it with the sort of things that would normally damage instruments - bows, fingernails, buttons, etc. I asked him if that included mobile phones, but he thought they might not be considered entirely authentic. Decided I would stay back tomorrow night and really make more of an effort. Luckily my latest Milroy’s order arrived today (a 10-year-old Bladnoch) so I have something to raise my spirits (literally!).
Tuesday 23rd
What a terrible evening!! After Toby left I had a few whiskys (well, quite a few actually) and set to work on my violin. I was happily banging and scratching away on the varnish, and was almost enjoying myself (mind you, it wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun if it had been a Stradivari model). At one stage I was sliding it across the bench trying to simulate the wear patterns that would have been added by two violinists in a Cremonese taverna sitting on opposite sides of a rough wooden table and taking it in turns to play.
Unfortunately I got a bit carried away and the violin shot out of my hands, off the table and across the floor. It hit a music stand that fell over and brought down a tool rack and some piles of scrap wood. Everything ended up on top of the violin... it was completely buried! I dragged it out, threw it on the table and went home. What an absurd occupation this is!
Wednesday 24th
Late in today. Last night when I got home I had to have a few more whiskys to console myself and I ended up sleeping in this morning. When I arrived I found Toby examining my violin. Before I could explain, he said: “This is fantastic!!... much more realistic wear patterns. Well done! You’re really starting to get the idea.”
Later Grahame J__ came in to collect his Bergonzi and praised Toby on the great job he had done… the dent from the mobile phone had completely disappeared. While he was here he had a look at my Guarneri copy and was very impressed by the varnish - he thought it looked wonderful.