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Recently, all the cork that was between the base of my violin's chin rest and the instrument's body has been rubbed off and, as a result, the chin rest is "flowing around" the lower left part of the instrument's body. The time I realized this was during a live concert when I needed to adjust my shoulder rest and, suddenly, the chin rest moved from its position. At that time, I placed it back and tightened it a little bit using the two ledgers it has - my chin rest is exactly like this one; only black-coloured, if that matters.

So, now, I will need to replace it - I don't think that this is a reason to change my whole chin rest. As for that I have some questions:

  • Can I do this using some other material, for instance very soft cardboard - I cannot translate it nicely in english - or something else or will it affect my instruments sound colour, quality, etc?
  • Is it difficult to replace it, or it is just as simple as it seems; untighten the ledgers, insert carefully the cork and then tighten them again?
  • What can I do for maintenance of that part of my instrument?
Dom
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Vassilis Markos
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1 Answers1

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Pre-cut 'violin chin rest cork' is offered from several suppliers. Yes, you just loosen, insert new cork, tighten. Glue is optional. Or you can buy sheet cork from a craft store and cut it yourself. I bought a small sheet in a rather thicker gauge some 45 years ago. It has provided a lifetime's (so far) supply of replacement corks for water keys and rotary valve buffers on my trombones.

Laurence
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  • Hmm, that was very useful piece of information. I've heard from a friend of mine who's working as a carpenter and has some knowledge on musical instruments that glue should be in general avoided in wooden parts of instruments since it may reduce the quality of the sound they produce. Is it true in general? – Vassilis Markos Feb 08 '18 at 17:58
  • Well, you can't build a violin without glue! But this glue would be holding the cork to the chin-rest, not to the violin. – Laurence Feb 08 '18 at 18:24
  • Oh, I see, you mean using glue so as to have the cork held on the chin-rest! Well, thank you very much for all the useful information! :) – Vassilis Markos Feb 08 '18 at 18:30
  • I think a chin-rest is normally provided with cork attached? – Laurence Feb 08 '18 at 18:38
  • In the most models that's true, but some do not have cork attached. However, mine is the one that was attached to the violin when I bought it, so I have never been bothered until now with this problem. – Vassilis Markos Feb 08 '18 at 19:30
  • The only thing I would add is to be careful tightening the chin rest: first, it's easy to scratch the violin if you stick the wire that tightens the screw too far into the holes, and second, while the chin rest should be tight, it's possible to damage the instrument if you tighten it too much. It should be just tight enough so that you can't pull it off. – Scott Wallace Feb 08 '18 at 20:45
  • Regarding glue affecting the sound: it is the case with pretty much any material, that is to say added mass to a violin can affect the sound, but the outer rim of the violin has enough tension that adding such a small mass to it should not significantly alter the sound of the instrument. It is in no way the same as gluing a piece of wood on the top or to the bridge. – sleblanc Feb 08 '18 at 22:35
  • If we're clamping a chin rest to the violin, with a sheet of cork between them, the additional damping effect of a blob of glue hardly seems significant! – Laurence Feb 08 '18 at 22:50