Some instruments are created to look like an old master. This dark concoction of brownish gloop is smeared onto an otherwise fine instrument.
The masters, whose varnish is so revered in this day and age, did not start life in the colour that we know it today, but had vibrant orange and yellow tones. I have spent many years looking ino the varnishes of the old masters, and creating my own versions that have similar tones. These instruments will age in much the same way as the older instruments we know now.
Varnish is not only protection and colouring of the instrument, but it also changes the sound of the instrument..
