What was that Sound?!
It's not an every-time experience, but it's definitely not an uncommon experience for one of our luthiers to find a foreign object inside the body of an instrument. For example, we have found: bottle caps (pictured above), bendy-straws, a wedding invitation, socks, lip gloss, bridges, pencils, secret notes to future players (we love these!), and lots of rosin dust and broken cello Dampits.
The item we find inside instruments that surprises our newer restorers most is a little more organic.
If you look at the violin pictured here, inside the F-Hole you might
notice something that slightly resembles a tiny ear of corn.
Thankfully it's not corn in there, but many players might
prefer corn to this alternative.
Any guesses as to what IS in there?
Pictured in the F-Hole above is, what is often called, a "rattler". A "rattler" is the rattle end of the tail of a rattlesnake.
Yes. You read that right.
Pictured in the violin above is the rattle from the tail of the venomous reptile known as a rattlesnake.