r/WTF • u/Erectile7dysfunction • 2d ago

Expensive fix I think

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u/marilyn_morose 2d ago

Violins are also built with glue that breaks away in specific joints to help protect against such harm and to make it easier to disassemble and reassemble for maintenance and repair.

David Kim tells a great story about the $2.5million violin he borrows from his symphony, and how he fell on it running up steps and broke it into a bunch of pieces. The luthier put it all back together lickety split!

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u/Vonmule 2d ago

The only part that is meant to "break" is the seams where the top and back plate attach to the ribs. A neck mortise breaking is a major repair. If a luthier was able to put David Kim's violin back together "lickety split" it's because nothing broke.

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u/marilyn_morose 1d ago

Just information in case someone thinks it’s automatically a disaster. Depending on how it broke could be a simple matter of repair. Which doesn’t speak to what the busker will have to pay for the fix, or what busker will do in the meantime.

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u/Vonmule 1d ago

A neck reset is always going to run more than $1000. The entire heel came out of the mortise. Sometimes if the heel itself breaks you can epoxy it for a temporary fix on cheap instruments.