You are not logged in.
My daughter just bought a violin/fiddle from the local music store and while I was looking at it I noticed there was no finish on the back of the neck. Not being a fiddler(although goodwife says I fiddle around) I was just curious,is this normal or did the shop take advantage of my daughters lack of knowledge and sell her a piece of junk. Also if anyone can direct me/her to some links with lessons as there are no violin instructors around here that I'm aware of,that would be great. The local music shop is of no help here offering only beginner guitar lessons and not much else. I appreciate any input from anyone with any experience at all.
Offline
Hi... I was just looking thru at posts that have not had a response... I can't help out much, other than to suggest googling for the info... hopefully my response tho will bump this up so someone with some answers for you can help out! 
Offline
I just ran a search and they claim it is normal not to finish the neck.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index … 352AAclTyx
Offline
Hey bswyers ,
Sorry , I did'nt see this post earlier ...
In my experience the necks are finished ( that is sealed ) , but not stained ... I suppose this is due to the fact that that little neck is exposed to a lot of handling and the color would just wear off anyway ... My older fiddles don't have any finish at all left on the necks ...
As far as learning material , there is a lot available on the web , but I would recommend getting her a good self teaching book that comes with a CD ...
What ever you do , make sure she has a tuner , pitch pipe , or other means of tuning the thing ... Standard tuning is G D A E , from the heavy to the light strings respectively ... If I remember correctly , it will be tuned around middle C if you have a piano or keyboard in the house ... G will be just to the low side of C and the rest just to the high side ... Any good beginner book will have the basic dos and don'ts ... I could go on forever about a lot of basics that I had to learn the hard way , but a good book will get her started ...
Jerry
Offline
My fiddle is fairly old, and "well loved" by its former owners... there is no finish to speak of on the neck, except for the skin oils it has soaked up over the years. Quite smooth, and feels good to the touch.
Finding the pitches with my left hand came quickly, but I never mastered the art of the bow (and have since moved on to other instruments!). I have a feeling that is the downfall of many potential fiddlers... having an experienced teacher would be helpful when it comes to handling the bow.
Offline
Hey all, thanks for the input and info. I'm glad that not finishing the neck is a standard thing and not just shoddy workmanship. We're going to try some finger position markers for the neck and try to find some online video instruction for her. Hopefully she'll stick with this (unlike the piano and acoustic and bass guitars) if not then maybe I'll give it a try. (I always enjoyed Charlie Daniels) . I'll try to keep an update of her progress here. Again thanks for your input
Offline
