How to Care for a Fiddle

The fiddle is a classic instrument of American folk music and very popular in "old-time" music circles. A fiddler is often a leader within a musical group. The way the instrument is built leads to some common situations involving maintenance needs. Be sure to practice good fiddle maintenance to get the most out of your instrument.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Keep humidity levels up. That's right, string instruments like fiddles need humidity to keep them flexible. In low humidity, the wood parts shrink, having bad effects on many parts of the instrument. You can measure humidity with a hygrometer and make sure your fiddle is in the right environment.
2. Find your hard case. This is really rule #1 for fiddles. You should NOT leave your fiddle lying around or carry it to gatherings without a case. The instrument is fragile and needs the protection of its case. Get a good case and keep the fiddle and bow INSIDE it.
3. Loosen the bow when storing. While you are putting the fiddle away, be sure to unwind the screw on the end of your bow, relaxing tension on the hair. Otherwise, the prolonged tension can have a negative effect on the bow.
4. Use fine tuners when possible. The continual adjustment of the fiddle's top pegs can cause excessive wear: that's what the metal "fine tuners" on the low end of the strings are for. These delicate metal prongs move in tiny increments, allowing you greater control over the tone.
5. Do maintenance when necessary. Experts call for periodic re-stringing of the instrument, as well as re-hairing of the bow. Also, you'll want to do bridge adjustments if you feel the sound is off. But be careful: the bridge is also very delicate. Fixing a bridge is a matter of balancing the string tension to make sure the bridge doesn't snap: if you don't feel up to it, take the fiddle into a shop to get it re-set.