rants, raves, & randoms

My new viola da gamba showed up on Friday afternoon.  As you may be aware, I’ve been waiting for this thing for about eight months.  The luthier originally told me it’d probably be done around November (of 2009), then December/January, then March, then April, then May, then June.  About four weeks ago he told me it would for sure be here in time for a gig I had on the 19th…it wasn’t.

The worst part of the whole situation was just that I sold me old instrument in an effort to get the funds together to pay for this one.  I sold it at a time that I thought would be appropriate, and that I wouldn’t be sans viol for too terribly long; I was terribly wrong.  I’ve been without an instrument (or was until Friday) for six months.

All of that is behind me now, though, as I have a brand new, shiny instrument in my house.  Technically it is here on a trial; if I am not happy with the instrument, I can send it back, and be cleared of the financial obligation(s).

Friday was pretty busy, and I had to play that house concert.  Here is a picture of me getting ready for that.

Cute kids.

Anyway, I’ve been a little short on time recently, so I’ve only been able to play for a few hours since I got the instrument.  I still haven’t totally decided if I am keeping it or not.  I was always planning on it, but I am trying to be as objective as possible.  It’s a lot of money, and this is likely the last shot I’ll get at buying a “professional-quality” instrument, so I want to make sure everything is right.  I am pretty happy with how it sounds, very happy in fact.  I haven’t had a chance to play with an ensemble yet (that’ll come tomorrow), but it sounds gorgeous all by itself here in my living room.  There are a few cosmetic issues that I am a little worried about, and they are the thing(s) that are keeping me up in the air for the moment.  Basically, the varnish seems sub par.  There are several places where it is quite thin, so that I can see the un-colored wood beneath it, and it feels a little rough overall.  Technically the sound is what should be my biggest concern, and I am pretty happy with that, but, the varnish can be a pretty important part of the equation for the future of the instrument’s health.  I am going to write the luthier and see what he has to say about the varnish.

Alright, alright, so here is a picture.  I’ll try to get some more detailed ones soon.