A Custom Fiddle … Made Just for/by Jay
Traditional fiddles are made with maple back and sides with a spruce top. The most common number of strings would be four. Leave it to Jay to break all the norms with his first fiddle. Ever since he began playing the fiddle (mind you, that has just been a handful of months as of the writing of this post) he has been swept up in the dreams of building one. It is no surprise that he has knocked it outta the park with his first one. Now the only problem is which instrument to play? … his fiddle, his archtop, his uke?
Custom Fiddle #1 Features: Claro walnut back, sides and neck; Engelmann spruce top; five string design, ebony fretboard and fittings.
From Jay: “I personally don’t like the shrill sound of some fiddles so I wanted to build a fiddle that was warm, woody and a bit on the dark side with regard to sound. I picked Claro walnut for the back and sides because…well, I had a great, well-seasoned piece on hand and I felt that walnut would help me achieve that tone. I also loved the sound of the low C of a viola so a fifth string was a must. To accommodate the low frequency of that 5th string I slightly enlarged the standard violin body in both width and depth. While it is still smaller than a viola I am really pleased with how it supports that low C and still supports that 1st strings’ frequencies. The scale length is the same as a standard violin and I am thrilled with the outcome. It is a joy to play and hear.”
Audio Samples …
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