Double Bass Is this carved or laminated?

[nathanmcnathan]

Hi everybody. I've found someone in my city selling a violin, and I just wanted to see if it was fully carved, so I'll post some pictures of it. Although it's not a bass, I know the luthiers and players here will still be very knowledgeable on the topic. I have some picture of it from the sides, so any opinions are welcome. As far as I know, the strings and bridge are missing, so the soundpost is likely going to be missing too. I'm thinking of using this as a luthier project before working on my bass.
Thanks!

 

[Jake deVilliers]

Nice one Ken, and accurate too!

Nathan, its easiest to see the short grain of the top and back by looking at the end of the fiddle. If its good wood you'll see the top grain all standing up like llllllllllllllll

 

[Mark_T]

Look at the worn corners. Does anybody else see a hint of a ply? Maybe I'm imagining things.

 

[Elisa]

To my knowledge, there's no such thing as a ply violin. Heaven forbid - it would be totally muffled, NO ring to it. Yuck. Heavy, too.

 

[Elisa]

PS - I'm a violinist learning bass. Got a great ply bass from Ideal Music in NYC!

 

[Mark_T]

To my knowledge, there's no such thing as a ply violin. Heaven forbid - it would be totally muffled, NO ring to it. Yuck. Heavy, too.

Of course there are plywood violins: I played in a high school orchestra full of them, years back. Ken's right about this one, though.

 

[Mark_T]

Of course there are plywood violins: I played in a high school orchestra full of them, years back. Ken's right about this one, though.

Oh, perhaps there's a difference between ply and laminate that I'm confusing. I always assumed they were synonymous.

 

[nathanmcnathan]

Is it worth buying? The owner said they'd take $50 for it, as they have 0 experience with violins, and knows nothing about them. I just want it as a project.
So, any opinions?
Thanks!

 

[nathanmcnathan]

Partially carved and partially bent..!

What do you mean when you say partially bent?

 

[nathanmcnathan]

OK, thanks!

 

[Caoimhín]

What happened to Ken's posts??

It's hard to learn when the answers have been deleted

 

[Dan Fera]

Hey, I'm new here, so first I should say, "Hi, y'all."

I'm entering a bit late on this but I thought I'd say that the violin is without a doubt a solid wood fiddle, not ply (or laminate). Been fixing them for thirty years now so it's pretty easy to tell, even in a photo.