Authentic late 18th Century to Mid-19th Century Fiddle Setup

Please visit the Don Rickert Musician Shop.

Note: Listed price is for the initial deposit, which includes includes gut strings by one of several Master String Makers specializing in gut strings AND special offers on Master Bows . We will contact you about additional required work for the conversion, which is generally in the $200 - $300 range.

Our Experience with Gut-Strung Fiddles

We have many years of experience in the use of old-style pure gut strings on fiddles. Dr. Don Rickert, who used to play fiddle in many Civil War re-enactments in Maryland and Virginia, played on a pure gut-strung fiddle (with a silver-wound g) with an overall 19th Century setup for many years.

A Few Words about Instrument Condition

As with all fiddle retro-setups by Don Rickert Lutherie, the late 18th Century to mid-19th Century Fiddle Setup starts with a structurally sound high-quality fiddle either provided by you or a new instrument purchased from us (see article, Instrument Quality and Condition for Historic Fiddle Setup by Don Rickert Lutherie)

About Late 18th Century to Mid-19th Century Fiddle Setup

The originals that we replicate were the first “Modern” violins. Many of them, if not most, were conversions from Baroque violins. Conversion from a Baroque to Modern violin involved replacing the Baroque neck with a longer “angled-back” neck, the bridge, bass bar and tail piece. There was no firm notion of a difference between a violin and a fiddle. In other words, a violin setup would not have differed from a fiddle setup.

Stringing

Although the most common stringing was pure gut for all 4 strings, the metal-wound gut g-string was introduced around 1790 and became increasingly popular in the 1800s.

Good Historical Record of their Setup and How They Were Played

Fiddles from this period are depicted in a number of paintings by the 19th Century American artist (and renowned fiddler), William Sidney Mount. Of interest to Scottish fiddling enthusiasts, this is the type of fiddle that Neil Gow would have used, at least later in this career. He probably learned to play on a Baroque violin. Paintings of a mature Neil Gow (late 1700s) clearly show him playing a Modern violin with either a “Transitional Bow” or a Tourte Bow.

Also, President Thomas Jefferson undoubtedly played on a similarly setup violin in his later years and definitely used a modern bow, as he was given a Tourte bow by Francois Tourte himself (Jefferson was pretty good at getting gifts rather than having to pay for his toys). Jefferson was also an avid player of the pochette (pocket fiddle) for which he had a special leather saddle bag made.

You may choose to have the period setup on a fine new instrument purchased from us...

OR you may wish to use a vintage fiddle for the conversion

What A Late 18th Century to Mid-19th Century Fiddle Setup Includes:

• Peg hole reaming and new perfectly matching pegs drilled for gut string
  • On our new instruments with a perfect peg fit, only enlargement of the string holes in the pegs is necessary
• New bridge for gut strings
  • For instruments that have been strung with metal strings, the bridge is almost always cut too low for gut strings (or even synthetic strings) and must be replaced.
• Removal of the chin rest
• Replacement of the tail piece if necessary
  • Often, the existing tail piece can be kept.
• Replacement of the existing nylon or metal tail gut with genuine gut
  • Optional…only done if absolute authenticity is necessary. Modern nylon and stainless steel tail guts are far superior to real gut, as they do not stretch and allow adjustments…adjustability is VERY important to the setup of a gut-strung violin or fiddle.
• Removal of the fine-tuners
  • Fine tuners cannot be used with old-style pure gut strings.
• Experimentation with various gauges of strings for the best sound on your instrument
  • It is assumed that, for ALL of our retro-setups, that the player will be using the following tunings: 

Standard: e” a’ d’ g
A Cross-tuning: e” a’ e’ a
G-D Cross-tuning: d’ g’ d’ g
D tuning e” a’ d’ a

Being able to accommodate all of these common tunings used in 18th and 19th Century fiddling without a lot of string breakage calls for e” and a’ strings of a medium-heavy gauge (for tuning lower) and light-medium gauged  d’ and g strings for tuning higher in the A Cross-tuning.

• Installation and break-in of the chosen string set
  • We use only the finest period gut strings by gut strings by one of several Master String Makers specializing in gut strings. The gut strings we use are known for their excellent craftsmanship, intonation, resistance to breakage (this has to do with the string polishing process) and stability…in other words, they stay in tune very well for gut strings.
   
  
  
  Gut strings will NEVER stay in tune as well as modern metal strings; however the strings we use will amaze you with their stability. A really well-made gut string actually stays in tune pretty well after a break-in period.
• Necessary Sound post adjustments
  • If your sound post needs replacing, a new sound post costs about $75.
• Adjustment of the tail gut to achieve optimal tone and volume from your instrument
  • Adjusting the distance between the tailpiece and bridge is a painstaking process and necessary to achieve optimal sonority from the instrument. To achieve optimal resonance, the distance between where the strings are tied onto the tail piece should be 1/6 of the playing length (for starters). Fine tuning of the tailpiece position (by lengthening or shortening the tail gut) is accomplished by iterative testing until plucking the a’ string between the tailpiece and the bridge is precisely 3 octaves higher than plucking the open e” string. This is why we prefer the use of a modern nylon or stainless steel tail gut, which allow for easier adjustment and re-adjustment once the strings and tail gut are fully broken-in (i.e. stretched as far as they are going to stretch).
  • Yes, this takes time to get right…it is part of what you are paying for when you come to Don Rickert Lutherie for an historic fiddle setup.

The Bow

Except for a Modern Setup, in which case we strongly recommend a high-performance carbon fiber bow, a high-quality period-appropriate wooden bow is the way to go.