David Hilowitz Music | I Built a Violin (in my Airbnb) @DavidHilowitzMusic | Uploaded September 2019 | Updated October 2024, 7 hours ago.
For the next few months, I'll be living in London. The thing about taking long trips is that at some point you start to miss your physical instruments. In particular, I found myself missing the violin I had to leave back in Philadelphia. The solution? My solution was to build a new violin right here in my Airbnb!

PROJECT NOTES

Here are the things that went well:

- I made a playable violin
- It turns out ukulele machine heads really well with violin strings
- It turns out that a violin neck doesn't need to be rounded in order to be playable
- I'm very happy with all of the hardware I ordered, including the cheap bow which was much better than expected

Here are the things that I would do differently:

- The wood I choose is too thick (6mm). Also: even though it's hardwood, I don't know exactly what wood it is. If I had it to do over, I would make sure to get thin pieces of spruce.
- I designed the neck to be exactly parallel with the body of the instrument. I didn't expect how much the tension of the strings would change the position of the neck. I ended up making the bridge much lower than I otherwise would have to compensate
- The hole I drilled for the endpin / button at the bottom was too big and I ended up having to glue

Here's a list of all of the parts I ordered:

- Violin Fingerboard (£6.41): amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07C13KZ7S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
- Andoer® 4/4 Violin Accessory Kit (£8.50): amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00W50O1QM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
- Adagio Pro - Violin Strings (£6.99): amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01LZINXN8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
- Hidersine Teller Violin Bridge (£5.68): amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005JE1PCE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
- BQLZR Machine Head Tuners For Ukulele (£5.17): amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00EQ23XMK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

- Rosin (£2.75): amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00B7J6DLI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
- Theodore 4/4 Standard Violin Bow (£9.95): amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B072XWXY2Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Find my FILM & INSTRUMENTAL music here: davidhilowitz.bandcamp.com
Find my ROCK MUSIC here: manwomanchild.bandcamp.com