an inch shorter than the
front and narrower too." "Never mind that," is the answer, "the style
is the same, the purfling, the work and the varnish are the same, it
was all together at one time and looked well enough, and it will have
to go together again and possibly look much better, and you will have
to do it under my instruction, as you proceed, it will repay for all
the trouble and time spent upon it by its appearance and tone. The man
who sold it to me said that its former owner told him he had a good
try at getting it together and failed. This is the direction in which
they have both made their mistake, they treated the unmechanical old
Italian work as they would a modern copy of a Cremonese maker, and which
had been built upon a machine cut block that served for ever so many
warehouse fiddles; these old Italians had to use the hand bow saw, which
was not adapted, unless great care was taken, for getting very true
upright sides, hence the upper and lower tables are as often as not
differing in size, sometimes the upper is largest, at others the lower.
Occasionally the length may be the same with the width differing. Now
you had better set to work and wash all that muck from the pieces, be
careful not to separate any parts that may be fairly well fixed. I want
you to do this cleaning in my manner, not that which you were accustomed
to before coming here. I know the too frequently pursued method of
putting the whole collection of parts in a tub of water and there
letting them float about until the glue has dissolved and left the wood,
but the following is preferable. Firstly, get some hot water sufficient
for your requirements as you proceed, renewing it occasionally. Your
piece of sponge you always have ready, and your cotton cloth as usual.
I have cut down a hog hair brush of half-an-inch in width, you can use
other sizes according to convenience. Being cut abruptly across, they
can be used as small scrubbing brushes after dipping in the hot water.
The advantage is that of your being enabled to leave untouched or even
dry, certain parts which you are not desirous of interfering with. The
occasional sopping up with the sponge and cloth will show the progress
that is made. The dark, dirty glue of the modern fiddle tinker will
gradually wash off, leaving frequently the ancient, light coloured
stuff in quite a fresh state and sharply defined, further, it will
sometimes give you a hint as to the exact position which the