Arsebollocks!
Picked my fiddle up for a play this morning, and it is borked. For those who don't know fiddles, the strings attach to a 'flooating' piece of wood called the 'tailpiece', which is secured to the fiddle by way of a loop of 'catgut' (tail gut) round a dowel (end pin) pushed into the instrument's base.
The tail gut has snapped, so I will need to find someone who can fettle it--it's not a huge job. The violin is one I have had since new, at the age of 11, and so is coming up to its half century. Not too shabby in the way of longevity, then.
That's an easy repair. Your LMS will have the bits (or complete tailpieces in stock if you decide to buy a replacement). May as well re-string while you're at it.
I was taking part in a carol concert a few years ago and my violin got knocked from my hand while I was holding a door open for someone. Cue detached fingerboard
. Luckily the I was able to borrow in instrument from the conductor but it felt completely wrong
. It's been fine since it was repaired, thankfully.