Condition Report Terminology
The following is a guide to terms used in Tarisio’s condition reports. Tarisio’s condition reports are not intended to be thorough and detailed condition surveys and do not necessarily address all of the potential issues referenced below; Tarisio makes no representation or warranty regarding these reports.
Instruments
Acoustic Patch: A veneer of wood, usually maple, inset or superficially applied to the inside back of the instrument. This term is used when no crack or damage is evident.
Bass-bar Crack: A crack under the bass foot of the bridge.
Belly Patch: An interior patch to the center bouts of the top or back as specified.
Button Graft: New wood grafted to the back and shaped to form a replacement button.
Check: A partial separation of wood fibers generally occurring across the rings of annual growth and usually as a result of uneven drying.
Cheek Graft: Replacement of the exterior of the peg box walls with new wood.
Craquelure: Texture to the surface of the varnish.
Crown: A crescent shaped repair to the top of the button, typically made from ebony.
Edge Crack: Small cracks at the perimeter of the top or back of an instrument.
Edge Doubling (half-edged): New wood of similar structure and grain to the original is laminated under the original edge of the top or back.
Filler: Wood or synthetic putty used to fill repaired or damaged areas.
Graft: A repair consisting of inset new wood that is visible from the exterior.
Grain Reversal: The apparent reversal of light and dark grain lines due to varnish absorption by the wood or as a result of being pressed excessively against a cast to correct arching deformation.
Linen: Natural fibre fabric used to reinforce crack repairs internally.
Patch: Unless specified as a through-patch, this is strictly an interior repair to replace cracked or weakened areas with inset pieces of structurally sound wood.
Peg Bushing: Peg holes are filled with new wood and then reamed to fit new pegs reinforcing peg cracks or filling excessively large holes.
Pitting to the Varnish: Overheating of the instrument causes bubbling in the varnish, which results in pits forming as the fragile bubbles break and fall away.
Ribs Raised: New wood added to the edge of the ribs to add height to the sides of the instrument.
Scroll Graft (or Volute graft): Where the original scroll is grafted onto a new replacement pegbox. Note: the term Grafted Head indicates that only the neck has been replaced but the pegbox is original to the volute.
Soundpost Crack: A crack that extends under the treble foot of the bridge on the top or in the soundpost area of the back.
Spalting: Wood coloration caused by fungi during tree growth.
Stud or Cleat: A small usually square piece of wood overlaid on a repaired crack to reinforce it from the inside.
Through-patch: A patch which is let in so as to be visible from the outside of the instrument. Care is taken to match the original structure and grain of the wood being replaced.
Wood Defect (or Wood Flaw): Original erratic grain patterns, abscesses, knots, or other irregularities.
Worm Damage: Visible as holes or curved lines, caused by worms and sometimes causing structural damage.
Bows
Butt Graft: Graft where the end of the stick meets the button.
Cheval: Replacement of the upper section of the frog above the eye.
Facets Replaced: Grafts to the handle intended to restore worn facets.
Grafted Under the Lapping: A graft underneath the lapping (or winding) to replace the handle.
Handle Bushed: The screw hole is filled with pernambuco or similar and then re-drilled.
Lift: A partial separation of wood fibers which occurs where the grain of the wood runs non-parallel to the stick.
Pin Crack: A crack behind the head which forms where a pin is located usually as a result of corrosion.
Spline: A thin piece of wood, fiber, or ivory used as reinforcement when repairing a broken head.
Wind shake (or jerse): A wood-flaw caused during tree growth, visible as a dark line in the wood.