Simply for Strings

This checklist tells you about our professional shop adjustment (or setup).  You shouldn’t ever consider buying an instrument that has not been expertly adjusted! You might be surprised to know that some companies just sell you the instruments the way they receive them from China, Europe, or wherever. The chances of these working properly are certainly not good. A poorly adjusted instrument is guaranteed to increase bad technique. Low price alone is not true value. We combine both low prices and better instruments that will not only last longer, but enhance your performance skills as well.

THE BRIDGE
Each bridge must be hand cut  with the correct curve and be fitted individually to each instrument. A carefully fitted bridge allows the strings to vibrate freely without touching the fingerboard, and maintains them at the proper height for easy playing.

THE NUT
The nut should have the correct height and spacing to insure that the strings do not touch the fingerboard so there is no “buzzing” sound when the instrument is being played.

THE FINGERBOARD
The fingerboard must be accurately trued and aligned, smooth and straight, with the proper curvature and correct length and thickness. Fine ebony, not stained or varnished, only lightly oiled. The strings must be checked for correct height starting at the nut and on to the bridge.

THE PEGS
Fine quality ebony pegs individually fitted for smooth easy turning and ideal holding tension. They must be correctly spaced both in relation to one another and not too close to the back of the peg box.

THE SOUNDPOST
Each soundpost is hand fitted to the instrument and properly placed to produce the maximum balance of tone quality and volume. Soundposts fitted abroad by the manufacturers are not usually carefully fitted and placed in proper relationship to the bridge. This is why we do this in our shop.

THE TAILPIECE
These must be sized in proportion to the size of the instrument as it is the link between the end button and bridge. Historically, the tailpiece has been made of the same material as the pegs and end button, which is usually ebony in the case of the student instrument. However, now fine tailpieces are made of new very strong, lighter materials with string adjusters built-in.

THE STRING ADJUSTERS
The new Wittner tailpieces have the string adjusters (tuners) built-in. If wood tailpieces are used, we install only the finest quality adjusters, attached firmly to eliminate any chance of buzzing.

THE CHINREST
A fine quality chinrest must be well-shaped for comfort and balance and attached to the instrument securely.

FINAL INSPECTION
All instruments undergo a final inspection by the staff at Simply for Strings. This assures that the instrument meets or exceeds all specifications.
Many clients say the primary reason for using our instruments is our “set-up” (adjustment). By doing all of the above by hand, one at a time, we can alter the specifications to your specific measurements if they differ from the norm. We will do it YOUR way!

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

-From the Effective Club
Click here to see the original article from The Washington Post.

We bid our sales staff member Shannon Luk a fond farewell last week as he took off on his European journey to Sweden (pictured) and also New York. Shannon will be away for 5 weeks and in his absence the delightful Jessie Roberts will be filling his place – make sure you say hi when she answers the phone.

Safe travels Shannon!

Hard work paid off recently when we managed a 24hr turn around on a bow rehair. The lovely Mrs. Spiller was so impressed she made a stop-off at Couture Cupcakes in Bardon and brought us these 3 scrumptous morcels to say thank you. Obviously we enjoyed every crumb!