Buffalo Gals help

[Joey B]

Howdy folks. I am hoping someone can help me with this. I am working on Buffalo Gals and noticed my G and A notes when played on the D string sound kinda hollow. In this video I play the song first with G and A on the D string, then I play A on the A string the second time through. At then end, I play just the notes I am referring to so you can listen to exactly what I am talking about.

[jasonkleinberg]

I hear a little buzzing sound when you play A1 and D0. How much did you pay for the fiddle?

[Joey B]

I paid $450 for it. I did not notice the buzzing until now. I took the stickers off to see if that was it, but I still hear it since you pointed it out. 🙂 The action on it is really low. Perhaps I should cut a new nut or get a new bridge and fit it? OR, I could trade it in. The guy I bought it from has hundreds of violins. The first one I bought from him was really old and sounded amazing, but it had a crack in the scroll at the peg box. So I traded it for this one. I played several others, even some that cost $1000, but could not tell the difference, but I was only a week into learning and only knew a few notes. I could probably tell a difference now, but I do not know enough to know if his $1000 violins are really worth $1000. This one is beautifully flamed maple on the sides and back. He told me it is a factory one that someone had customized a bunch because it is noticeably louder than the other violins.
However, I still think the sound I am getting from third and fourth fingers on the G and D strings is something I am doing wrong. Unless that is just how cheaper violins sound. I have three now (I got a little carried away) and they all do that. However, the others are less expensive than this one. One is a Mathias Thoma MT100 I got from Goodwill for $150. I sanded a new bridge for it to match the one on this violin so that the angles would be the same for bowing both violins. I keep the MT100 upstairs so I can practice in between meetings at work. What do you think? Should I trade in for a better one, or fix this one? I know I am hooked on the fiddle. I just don’t know what to look for in a better one.

[Joey B]

I figured out the problem. Someone told me you have to use more pressure/weight on the bow for the thicker strings. The thicker the string, the more weight to put onto it. Putting more pressure on G and D fixed the issue.

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