1900 Stainer Violin Repair No.1

The repair of this Stainer violin is to be as a sentimental object inherited from Fred H. Romine by his nephew Doug Romine. It's almost certainly made around 1900 to 1910 in Germany. It's also probably a copy. It has had some very rough handling and since Fred lived in Miami, the humid environment didn't help. There were several new cracks, several old repaired cracks, old neck resets, residual glue, and generally poor treatment overall. The neck and fingerboard were at a very low and inappropriate angle and after a few hours with the strings on, the neck detached itself saving me the trouble.

In great shape this violin is worth about $400, possibly more if it's in outstanding condition. But with so many cracks and scratches, I suggested to the client to "celebrate" the rough road the fiddle has traveled with his uncle and preserve the scratches bumps and bruises as a badge of honor.
As a genuine antique from Europe, it's certainly worth repairing it to make it playable and put it in good shape to use. But is probably not worth a full restoration which would probably require a new top plate. Hence the diamond shaped patches in cedar shown in the last photo.
The neck is on, the plate cracks are patched, soon to varnish...


Stainer label inside.

lots of residue from old repairs

Several severe cracks repaired. 

Cedar diamond patches "celebrate" the journey.