October 20, 20196 yr Author 37 minutes ago, Kevin Beitz said: I used hellman's varnish... Can't say if that's good or bad for a violin... That's very bad for a violin!
October 20, 20196 yr 3 minutes ago, John Morris said: That's very bad for a violin! Only if it's to be played.
October 20, 20196 yr 29 minutes ago, John Morris said: That's very bad for a violin! So what is good ?
October 20, 20196 yr 33 minutes ago, Kevin Beitz said: So what is good ? A spirit varnish is recommended. It's essentially a lacquer.
October 20, 20196 yr Author If your not careful, you can destroy the tonal quality of a violin, it takes decades of wood seasoning for a quality tone to materialize. Even the spirit varnish is not recommended for all finishes. Older violins had only a very light coat of shellac as varnishes were not discovered yet. So if we come into an older violin that has beautiful tone, incredible tone, and with our best intentions we set out to refinish it, we strip off the hundred year old shellac, and coat it with a varnish, the tonal quality is destroyed by muffling the wood with the varnish. I am not completely informed on the subject though only by reading. Refinishing and restoring these instruments is truly an art. Kevin, I wasn't laughing at you, but with you.
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