What do you do with a Tonareli Violin Case?

One of our customers brought her pink Tonareli violin case in today and we were very impressed with how she customized it!

The case now matches her "Pirate" violin, shown below...

Clocks and Squirrels!

Squirrels
This week has been quite exciting here at the shop! A while ago a gentleman brought in a cello he had handcrafted for his daughter with a koala bear carved on the scroll. Today he stopped in again, but to purchase a violin case for a violin he had just completed for another daughter.

Upon the unveiling of his new creation, we were all very impressed to see an adorable squirrel and his big tail carved onto the scroll! He had also done some impressive and unique purfle on the back including the letter "A" for the first letter in his daughters name. It is always nice to see modern creations, especially with such the fun carvings!

Aside from this violin and the previously mentioned cello, he has also made two violas and a violin; all of which have uniquely carved scrolls. I think it's safe to say the squirrel violin made everyone's day a little brighter.

Clocks
Earlier this week, the clock on our main floor broke down. We decided it wasn't much fun to look up expecting the time, and seeing something way off. This called for a little bit of creativity. Cassy wasted no time on this one! The following day I came in to grab something from the shop and Cassy had all of the makings of a clock on my desk. A little bit of deliberating about how our new clock should look, and I was out the door! After creating a clock out of an old broken violin, a local calligrapher, Penni Burkum, made the finishing touches with traditional pen and ink. We hung it up the following day and sure enough, not only does it look great, it's keeping time! Everyone here at A. Cavallo Violins, LLC has never been happier to be on schedule!

~Gabriel

Weird String Instruments: That Crazy Bettie Paige Double Bass ;)

I always love it when we have non-classical musicians stopping by our shop. The other day, we had a a double bassist that dropped off his instrument for a new bridge. He was in a rock-a-billy band with a very interesting bass. He painted the bass in a mixture of black, green, with a gold finger board white tape decal.
At first I thought the strings were made of plastic. I had crazy thoughts of skipping jump rope in the basement with them but a closer look revealed these were Kevlar strings. Wow!

The bass player told us that he was having problems with his bridge standing up straight. One day, the bridge snapped. In his attempt to mend the situation, he nailed the pieces back together and held the pins in place with electrical tape. Alas, he told us, it just didn't sound the same:)

And here's the kicker...The back features a "pin-up" of a model resembling Bettie Page. Oh yea, you rebel double bassists! After we finished the repair job, he did mention about possible getting a new head stock with a skull from King Double Basses.

Weird Instruments: Made Here in Nebraska

Another weird instrument from the collection held at Hastings College of Nebraska.

Front and back views offer a trapezoidal take on the string instrument, that believe it or not, had some ingenuity and real thought into its construction.

An interesting take on the scroll box, as it was completely carved out!



The scroll's head played off of it's body's geometric shape with a cubic head and a gemstone atop.



Inside the instrument, the maker's claim of origin: right here in Omaha, Nebraska.



Would love to find if any one knows of a Con Nelson.

Weird Instruments: Viol da Gamba

[it's a monster]

No, it's not a sitar, it's a viol! The first I've ever seen. A couple weeks back, we had a customer from Hastings College bring all kinds of interesting instruments for us to look at. Many of them needed some major repair and restoration work done on the instrument. I've taken some quick photos to document the 'before' shots.

A set of strings running through the bridge and under the fingerboard.

A carved scroll and so many pegs made it look like a millipede from afar.

Ornate artistry on the back of the violin.

Alex thinks that this this viol was likely made in the early 20th century (~1920's) in Germany.

[The "Viol" family]

Upon closer review of the instrument, Alex decided that it was better for this project to be handled by another close dealer-restoration friend of his, Jerry Pasewicz.

In case you're wondering what a viol is, a quick run down on this weird instrument's history.

A viol is a bowed string instrument that was developed in the 15th century and played throughout the Renaissance and Baroque eras. The instrument has the characteristics of a violin and a cello but comes from a Spanish family of bowed but guitar-like instruments called the vihuela. The Moorish rebab also had its early influence developing the "a gamba" playing position or holding it upright in the players lap or between their legs.

As usual, I perused some more to find that there is quite a cult following for these chamber music instruments.
Head on over to the Viola da Gamba Society of America (VdGSA)
and you'll find a more comprehensive and interactive source of information. There are sound clips, short videos, schedule of events, and even a publication. Some one in the Iowa State Music Department also has collection of links related to all things viol.

PVC Electric Pipe Cello

I've decided to start up another category for future blog entries. It will be simply be titled "weird instruments". Any string instruments that defy the classical patterns and construction will be included. Take for example this entry title "PVC Pipe Cello". A while back, there was YouTube video challenge asking users to create a unique home made instrument and post videos of their creation online. I was hesitant at first to give the challenge some coverage on the blog since this is supposed to be documenting our daily life in the shop, but I thought it couldn't hurt to shed light on some amateur makers.

The maker of this electric cello spent under $100 and about 40 hours to make this instrument for a class project. Materials: PVC pipes, tuning knobs from a guitar, a bike pedal, and used cello strings. With no musical background at all, demonstrates how to play: bow across the strings in an upright position, pluck the upright like a guitar, or you can wrap the instrument around one arm and play it like a violin. Well, he's managed a traditional "upright" cello into a waist wrapping instrument.