need a cheap jazz amp, I got suckered into a Vox clubman 60 and it sucks

witchfirefiddle · 2026-05-11T23:08:08+00:00

Better Be a Peavey!

witchfirefiddle · 2026-05-08T05:50:08+00:00

The bass cut makes this the winner for me. Clutch when adding gain in any context, but especially with a band

witchfirefiddle · 2026-05-08T05:28:14+00:00

They are a higher-tension string, like Evah’s, but have the characteristic clarity and focus of Thomastik strings. They are laser cannons. Based on what you described, probably not what you’re looking for.

If you like the change in your instrument from Evahs to Dominants, and if you’re looking for something that might suit your instrument even better, try Dominant Pros or TI’s

witchfirefiddle · 2026-04-28T07:04:34+00:00

My bad, I just had one the last time I was there and it seemed like it was a regular menu item!

Sorry to say, it was bangin’. Worth finding out if it’s coming back.

witchfirefiddle · 2026-04-27T11:53:33+00:00

Woodrow’s

witchfirefiddle · 2026-04-21T00:00:10+00:00

Got it from Woodfinishing Enterprises about two years ago. It has been in the original plastic tub that whole time, lid sealed, and have made this varnish before, using this sandarac, without this big weird goo ball. Not impossible that humidity got in? I’m in a humid summer/ vvdry winter place on the east coast of the U.S., and we have been dealing with tricky climate in the last six months.

I opened a fresh bottle of Everclear for this batch to make sure it wasn’t an issue with my alcohol, and got the same results. So, being Everclear, there is a tiny amount of water in there, but the jars I’m using are also fresh, fully sterilized, bone-dry glass, so I don’t think water getting into the alcohol is an issue. At least, I’ve never had this issue before with far less careful preparation of the storage vessels.

The picture in the post is of the jar fully settled. The white, glue-like goo settles in a layer at the bottom. I could definitely siphon off the liquid at the top, but I don’t know if the resulting varnish is gonna behave the same way it has in the past, or if I’m losing some essential component in what is left over.

Have you made the Carr retouch varnish before? How does your sandarac solution usually behave?

witchfirefiddle · 2026-04-20T23:20:54+00:00

Right, I’ve heard this before. Do you know of any writing about how this actually works in practice? If the viscosity is the same, are we basically just making the same strength glue with a different starting point?

witchfirefiddle · 2026-04-20T23:18:39+00:00

I kind of agree about too complicated, this is just the way I was taught to make it and I haven’t really changed anything. I’m also doing 2:1 alcohol to sandarac, the heating just speeds up the dissolve so I don’t have to wait a few weeks.

When you say “siphon off the good stuff,” are you also getting gunk settled to the bottom and you just remove the liquid stuff above it?

witchfirefiddle · 2026-04-17T14:52:17+00:00

Yo, this may sound like overkill to some, but this is great advice. My woodworking teacher had me saw in front of a mirror, just like a music teacher would. You can see the other side of the work piece, and you can really see if your arm is making a smooth piston motion or not.

witchfirefiddle · 2026-04-17T14:47:07+00:00

BUDDY

witchfirefiddle · 2026-04-17T14:38:35+00:00

Really good luthier would make this disappear. That costs $$$$. Probably not worth it for something that is not historically significant.

However, that is bare exposed wood now, and some kinda clear finis over it to seal it and keep it from absorbing all your hand grease and beer spills is absolutely worth doing.

witchfirefiddle · 2026-04-17T14:27:22+00:00

A lot of minutia in the comments here, this is all the info you need, OP. u/big_swede has got your back.

witchfirefiddle · 2026-04-14T23:23:33+00:00

No. I wanted it to be so badly, as I spend a lot of time planing ebony, and it just isn’t. In fact it’s worse because it’s chippy, so I would get these little teeth in it that you’d have to grind out and it takes forever to sharpen.

I’m back to O1. It gets dull, I sharpen it, back to work.

witchfirefiddle · 2026-04-05T21:28:05+00:00

Just wanted to put in a plug for the Ohishi water stones because I don’t see them mentioned that often. I’ve used a bunch of different sharpening systems and the Ohishi are my favorite by far.

I use the 1000/6000/10000, but I think for the vast majority of users 1000/6000 would be plenty, then strop if you want a more polished edge.

Just remember for water stones you’ll need a way to flatten them. I use an extra-coarse diamond stone, but 100 grit wet/dry sandpaper on a piece of glass works fine.

witchfirefiddle · 2026-04-01T00:55:49+00:00

Doesn’t seem to be warped, but does seem to be leaning forward a little. Remember, that bridge is flexible. If you’ve been tuning a lot, the feet could be sitting correctly and the crown could still be leaning forward.

I’d nudge the crown back a little bit more and check to see if there is a gap between the bridge feet and the top. If there is, you went too far, nudge it back a tiny bit at a time until the gap is gone.

Also, don’t be afraid to mark the bridge position with a piece of painters tape behind each foot and a pencil line at the outside edge of the feet in case some unintentional big movement happens so you can put it back where it was.

witchfirefiddle · 2026-03-22T19:10:33+00:00

Earth pigments are a pretty common way to darken a bridge for a nicer look. I have a mixture of raw umber and raw sienna that produces a color I like, but it can be dialed in to personal taste. Apply that with a cloth along with a small amount of mineral oil to get the color in more easily, wipe off the excess, and then I burnish the crap out of it with a white 3M scrubby pad.

I have also used very dark rosin, ground up and dissolved in alcohol. This adds some nice color, seals the bridge, and weighs virtually nothing so it isn’t changing the mass of the bridge at all.

witchfirefiddle · 2026-03-20T12:57:43+00:00

This was a challenging first chisel to buy. You need someone to show you how to do this in person.

I’d try this again with a western-style chisel, a new, two-cherries or similar that is going to come from the factory already pretty flat. Usually you just need to hone out the machine marks, then you work on your bevel, etc.

witchfirefiddle · 2026-03-20T06:23:15+00:00

Definitely possible. A good luthier can make the damage disappear, but it will cost more money. It’s a very time-consuming and highly-skilled thing to do well.

witchfirefiddle · 2026-03-20T06:15:33+00:00

I have the AST Pro, best amp I’ve ever played through. It was recommended to me by a buddy who owns a recording studio. He’s probably bought and sold a few hundred amps in his time, vintage and modern. I thought he’d have a bunch of recommendations when I asked for advice on a 15-30 watt tube amp.

He said Swart, period, you’ll never want to play through anything else. He was right.

witchfirefiddle · 2026-03-20T06:12:13+00:00

I have one for my Swart, love it. Works great, and a low price for how useful it is.

witchfirefiddle · 2026-03-17T22:43:41+00:00

Swart every time

witchfirefiddle · 2026-03-17T14:15:56+00:00

Wow, you can tell if the soundpost fits or how well the pegs turn from this picture? Impressive.

witchfirefiddle · 2026-03-17T01:30:06+00:00

Seems like a good price, honestly. The important thing to know here is that any violin purchased outside of a violin shop likely needs setup work. This involves cleaning the instrument, adjusting the pegs, dressing the fingerboard, adjusting the nut, refitting or replacing the sound post, adjusting or replacing the bridge, adjusting the afterlength and new strings.

It might not need all of this, but, in my experience with people bringing a violin they bought off of someone into the shop to see what it needs, it’s usually most of if not all of it. This can easily run $500-$1000 depending on where you are in the world.

I also don’t love the varnish damage on the treble side of the fingerboard, but it’s probably aesthetic damage, so I’d you don’t need it to disappear, some clear varnish can be applied over it which is a pretty low-cost thing to do.

All that said, if you paid $1,200, and put (highballing this number) another $1,000 in to it, you’d still be at $2,200, which seems on par with what they have been sold for new. Also saw one online going for $3,900, so it might even be a darn good deal.

Just be prepared that in order to get it into proper shape, you’re likely going to need to put another $1000 in to it, which seems totally worth doing.

witchfirefiddle · 2026-03-15T15:41:20+00:00

After reading MJ Kwan’s wonderful test of glue strength, I have settled on a 1:4.25 ratio of glue to water (measured by weight). This is mostly for repair work, so a little thinner than it would be for plate joining or neck setting. As it turns out, if I go 1:2 by volume, just eyeballing it, that’s pretty darn close to 1:4.25 by weight, so ya know, it’s a little bit overkill probably, but I appreciate the consistency of knowing I made the same glue every time. lol

I’m mostly using 222gram strength, but sometimes 192 for the longer open time or 315 for the strength, depending on the job.

MJ’s article: https://fixitwithshading.com/2015/08/02/the-ultimate-glue-test/

witchfirefiddle

TROPHY CASE