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Mar 23, 2008 6:31 pm US/Central
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Finding Minnesota: Fit As A Fiddle
(WCCO)
Whether in the hands of a country fiddler or a concert violinist, the instrument they play is pretty much the same. For many of the nation's top musicians, there's only one man they trust for violin work.
In a second story shop, perched atop a corner pharmacy in St. Paul, the faint sounds of a fiddle rise above the roar of traffic.
When Ken Amundson isn't practicing fiddle, he's repairing them. It's a skill he picked up from his father, who spent his lifetime as a
luthier.
"Every time you make a part it's different," said Amundson. "Wood is an adventure -- never boring, never boring."
Years of experience are etched on his face, and his skilled hands show with each scrape of the wood. Amundson has worked on instruments for some of the most well known violinists and fiddlers, from Dan Tyminski to Allison Krauss.
"Ricky Skaggs, Dutton Family from Branson," listed Amundson. "Kenny Chesney's fiddler Nick Hoffman."
Aside from repairing the stringed instruments, he has also built a few violins over the years. From a piece of wood Amundson forms a neck, and then goes from there. Amundson also does free appraisals of violins.
Still, his real pride and vocational love can be found in taking a badly damaged violin and nursing it back to life.
Amundson showed us a violin that had been crushed by a pickup truck. Piece by piece, Amundson brought it from disaster and into the hands of a musician once again.
"You can get it too thin," he explained. "It will sound hollow like an echo chamber."
He said people need to appreciate the value of what they're playing or passing down.
Fortunately, the instruments he builds or repairs won't hang in the showroom until the sound is sweet and mellow -- a promise to customers from rank amateur to stars at the Grand Ole Opry.
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