You need to Straighten your Cello Bridge!

[@stellajacobson231]

That bridge looked like it would give up on life any minute xD looked so good w a new one!

[@thebowinarrow8398]

Oof that bridge, I’m glad I don’t need to worry about breaking my piano

[@hongluzhang7771]

liszt: I shall introduce myself

[@thebowinarrow8398]

@@hongluzhang7771 😂

[@suzz1776]

lol.

[@thebowinarrow8398]

@NotADuck the humid and hot sunshine state, or just florida

[@sexymanicou3403]

Would it not make more sense and be more logical for the cello to be tuned in perfect 5th left to right.

[@sarahtrieu2017]

omg im so glad olaf has a channel. i miss seeing him on twoset, it’s been too longgg

[@WeilunP]

I don't know why I just noticed it in this video but your blue spectacle frame matches perfectly with the color of your eyes!! Love it!

[@taytoast]

I remember my 1st year playing, I noticed my bridge was leaning and I decided to try to fix it myself after seeing my teacher do it on someone else's lol, that was a bad idea... it snapped in half when I moved it, I freaked out and put glue on it to fix it... Oh boy 😂

[@AskOlaftheViolinmaker]

Haha... yes... I have seen that being done...

[@gieripaucar9454]

Just what I need!!! I would like to give you my cello so you could fix my cello bridge, but I am extremely far from where you are jaja =( greetings from Perú!!!

[@checkersintherain]

That's what the bridge on my CSO looks like except mine is both twisted and bent. I decided to just buy a new cello since a new bridge and strings would cost more than the cello is worth.

[@shipsahoy1793]

That’s too funny😉 Good luck with the new one. New instruments always generate some excitement.👨🏻

[@zenhypnotic]

Olaf, a story of woe and questions for you. After many years of pondering, I purchased a “cheap” cello from the lovely China having been reassured that mostly these were now passable instruments. Sadly it turned out to be almost unplayable, I’m only a beginner with cello, but played viola as a child, although I’m relearning everything now. It arrived with an uncut bridge, horrible strings which broke within weeks and a lacklustre bow which wasn’t up to much. I spent money to improve things, found new strings (what a price they are), a new carbon fibre bow, a new bridge, pegs were loose so i also got some peg paste. I carved the bridge myself following a brilliant online instruction publication. (At this point and in lock down I wasn’t able to try and find a Violin maker). Each thing i did made a slight improvement. But sadly the instrument was poorly constructed and used a lot of ply wood so it still sounds awe full. Even the finger board is stained wood not ebony as it claimed... I then went on to buy another having done much more research and physically held and played a number of instruments, I settled on the Hidersine Vivente finetune, which came bridge down, but having been set up in the store by their craftspeople correctly for me. I left factory strings on, the supplied bow sold separately for £150 seemed good enough quality for me. Just running scales on this instrument produces lovely tones and pleasant noises, the occasional squeak as I’m still not always finding just one string at a time, but the improvement was night an day even to my ear. My question is coming. Now that I have found a lovely cello, with a professionally set up post, bridge etc and a comfy bow, I think the factory strings could possibly be changed. But what a price they are!! On the first cello, I put a set of strings on which were on the cheaper side, certainly far superior to the supplied ones. These were in the £50-60 bracket., but came with many 5 star reviews which seemed legitimate. Should I save up the money and buy a set of strings stretching into the £200 to 300 range while i am a total novice, or should I find a happy medium with the up to £100 bracket? The professionals where I purchased my cello said the factory strings would be just fine, and when i broke them or played the brightness out of them then look at upping the quality. But I want my cello to compliment my efforts with the nicest noise it can make now,... I fully appreciate that the terrible cat murdering noises it comes out with now and then are my fault not its’ !! So what would you recommend? A total beginner playing mostly just scales and very simple tunes at present....would better strings make the kind of difference their price suggests? Sorry it’s been a long read... I hope to hear from you, you’re channel is wonderful and has been a HUGE resource to me recently. Many thanIs John.

[@TopGunMan]

A cello, violin, etc is not complicated. It's a set of strings being dragged and released by a bow, and the strings vibrate a wooden cavity. As long as that happens, you're good. Most bad sounds are being out of tune, or the bow not catching the strings due to innadequate friction due to material failure or inadequate rosin.

[@rebirth5195]

My parents constantly set my violin case upsidedown and I keep telling them this is what will happen cuz it happened to a friend once

[@shipsahoy1793]

It’s absolutely horrifying when you become smarter than your parents😉

[@rebirth5195]

@@shipsahoy1793 well I’m the only one in my entire family that plays an instrument so

[@danielphendarko2651]

@@rebirth5195 my mother and brother did that to me many times

[@kevinv.m.94]

I have a friend who plays violin. It's bridge is badly bent almost like that one. Since we don"t have money to buy a new bridge, I boiled the bent bridge and it reset to original shape. But I still recommended to here to have a new bridge since it will might bend again even it is placed straight. After several weeks, it really bent a bit again in the same direction. It's really better to have a bew bridge once it is bent, even though it can be reset by boiling (or steaming).

[@sexymanicou3403]

Would it not make more sense and be more logical for the cello to be tuned in perfect 5th left to right for down bows (left to right) to be more natural) ?_?

[@Musicat806]

The best is to microwave it in 10-15 second bursts, it will straighten itself - then clamp it to a flat bench surface and leave it to cool down overnight before putting it back on the cello. This doesn't introduce more water than is needed to the bridge, just warms the existing particles between the grains to create a small amount of steam which is all that's needed. I do this with student instruments all the time and it yields good results (parents of students also don't have the money to go get a new bridge cut every time it bends over!).

[@SRoyce87]

Great content Olaf

[@shauryadiwanshukla]

He is such a sweet guy❤️. Love from India!☺️

[@deonlee7353]

How do you keep it straight while tuning though since the bridge starts to bend towards the direction of the tension

[@catherinewhite2943]

I saw one last summer on a violin, bent even worse than this one. It was indeed terrifying, and I advised the owner to get it fixed right away. Hope he did!

[@danielphendarko2651]

I think I'm gonna have nightmares because of that cello bridge

[@bencze465]

Wish Olaf lived nearby.

[@inactivefatimahgianna245]

The one thing I don’t miss about being a cellist. Also that’s one reason I hope to play the harp. No bridge.

[@PinkAndTheKeytarCat]

You do have bridge pins, though. Swapping one bridge for 47?

[@Henrik.Yngvesson]

What if the feet aren't in full contact? Doesn't that cause it to bend if they stand on one side? I use a thin paper to see if it slips under any side of the feet and then I adjust until it doesn't. I scraped the feet on a cheaper cello as they didn't have very good contact from factory/store, just like you scrape machine surfaces on lathes and mills which I'm more familiar with I did like Edgar showed in a video with lipstick on the cello and then pushed the bridge onto it. Scraping of the high spots and kept doing it until I had almost full contact. Went from like 20% to 90% surface contact and I think the sound improved as well.

[@MatthewWaltonWalton]

The thumbnail was horrifying enough. I'm a bass viol player, but our bridges are similarly in need of keeping straight and similarly big. If I ever saw my viol (or violin) looking like that... oh my.

[@avielp]

At 01:05 how do you tell the exact height the bridge should be? You were using just your eyes and the marked the bridge at a certain point

[@AskOlaftheViolinmaker]

@@avielp I hold a ruler against the end of the fingerboard and check where the correct height is on the bridge. Then I mark that spot on the bridge and check back a second time with the ruler to make sure I got it right. Then I mark in the curvature with a template

[@geraldgalas4450]

Your videos are very interesting, enjoyable, and informative. Since I am not a string instrument player, my order of content priority may be different from those of a string instrument musician, but great in any order chosen.

[@themsjiao]

Thanks for sharing, very helpful video. I have a cello hasn’t played for 30 years, i recently fixed it from a local luthier, new bridge and new sound post and new sets of cheap string. I found the C and G string are very mental sound and no sound for some lower positions. I really doubt this caused by the strings. As I can see the sound post very attached each side, bridge looks ok. Should I change a new set of strings, do you recommend? Thanks!

[@DityaSangGita]

Oh, my. I remember changing several bridges in my early years playing the cello, most of which is because being bent. But never in that period of time had I had a bridge bent so dramatically like this one 😹

[@Vokabre]

Arched bridge society

[@willemkossen]

oh, you could auction that curved bridge off, someone must be willing to have a quirky thing like that, and it helps your business as well. just a thought :)

[@willemkossen]

does it actually sound differently? i wish you did a comparison before and after...

[@Deluge4000]

How do you stop the sound post from falling in when you take the strings off?

[@icravecheddar7401]

Go see a violin luthier that can help with putting back the sound post, if you don't know/have a luthier in your area, well...who knows?

[@charlesteixeira7451]

It won’t, the post is wedged in between the top and bottom plate. The only way they fall is from trauma to the instrument, or if the bridge snapped and the percussion / vibrations were strong enough to dislodge the post.. otherwise they are set in place through pressure on top and bottom plate.

[@Deluge4000]

​@@charlesteixeira7451 cheers mate, I've replaced several sets of strings, shaped bridges and even set two sound posts since making that comment.

[@FrankMeijering]

Can I do this while the strings are on full tension? Or should I tune them down a bit?

[@AskOlaftheViolinmaker]

Usually it works with full tension... sometimes the strings stick to the groves and you might have to put pencil graphite in the groves... If it doesn't move, you might have to see your violinmaker

[@sexymanicou3403]

@@AskOlaftheViolinmaker I am thinking it might be better for me to acquire a tradition cello and play it on the right side (i.e. scroll on the right shoulder, right hand on the fingerboard and left hand with the bow) and try to make due. Perché, I lack figures in my left hand, and had thought it best to peruse such so have a traditional 5-fingered-hand available to the finger board. Have you ever heard mention of any one trying something similar?

[@ralphhennen5769]

Once the bridge is free why can’t one moisten the concave side of the bridge for the period of time it takes to swell the wood and bend the bridge back straight?

[@alliekate325]

Wow, that cello bridge was very bent! I am suprised a piece of wood that thick could bend so easily. 😬

[@thecatofnineswords]

It's amazing what pressure and time will do.

[@ronc5825]

Sorry, extremely naive question, but what can concretely happen with an unstraightened bridge? Because I guess if you don't notice it, it means that you can still sound well on your instrument right? The consequences were not very clear for a plebeian (in this otherwise very good video!) :)

[@AskOlaftheViolinmaker]

Firstly you get a lot less sound from your instrument and secondly the bridge can snap and damage the top of the instrument. If it is slightly bent, a violinmaker can straighten it with steam, but there is a point of no return.

[@ronc5825]

@@AskOlaftheViolinmaker thanks a lot for the answer! I am not a string instrument player myself hence my noob question =)

[@oliverjocher2999]

Hey Olaf, I found you can put the bridge on a hot plate and it straightens right out.

[@deadmanswife3625]

Nice Oliver

[@tomcaron9113]

Bend like Beckham!

[@WhiteDragon689]

To me the Cello bridges reminds me of Sumo wrestlers stands... LOL

[@davidsawyer988]

😮😮😮😮

[@alext8828]

Why are these bridges so critically shaped?

[@WCGwkf]

If everyone maintained their bridge you wouldn't make any money making new ones lol

[@DoubleMusician]

Olaf, do you know the name (or the country) of the master of this violin? The back of the violin has carved letters "R" and "E" (is this an abbreviation of "Roman Empire"?). Photos: www.reddit.com/r/lingling40hrs/comments/mairc0/help_me/

[@DoubleMusician]

Maybe you've met similar violins before?.. Thank you in advance. :)

[@annie2225]

I broke my bridge from constant tuning

[@James-en1ob]

I'm I second?

[@sting1111]

Just lazy negligence

[@shipsahoy1793]

How ignorant are people?! RotFLmAo🤣

[@BadButNotSad]

A faulty instrument, obviously. Nothing needs to be done in the universe, everything is conserved.