Yamaha Violin/Viola owner manual Taking Care of Your Instrument, Safety Tips

Taking Care of Your Instrument

Please follow the guidelines set out below to prolong the lifetime of your violin or viola.

•Be careful when transporting the instrument. Make sure the instrument is handled with care and is not subjected to any rough treatment, like bumping against other objects or drop- ping the instrument.

•Exposing the instrument and/or bow to certain environments, particularly sudden changes of temperature, may cause severe damage. Please take the necessary precautions to pro- tect your instrument against the following:

•Direct sunlight.

•Excessively high or low temperatures.

•Excessively high or low humidity.

•Excessive dust or strong vibration.

•Avoid leaving the instrument in a car for any extended period of time. Extreme tempera- tures, such as during the summer and winter months, can be harmful to both the instrument and bow.

•Make sure you regularly clean your instru- ment with a soft, dry cloth. Never use ben- zene, alcohol, or thinner. Never use aerosol cans, or any other sprays, within the vicinity of the instrument. These will damage the lac- quer and general condition of the instrument.

•Prior to shipping the instrument has been ad- justed and is ready for use. However, should you feel that additional adjustments are need- ed please contact your local Yamaha dealer, as some alterations require specialist skills.

•Ensure that you loosen the bow hair before you put it away in your case after playing.

•Plated parts such as the adjusters, metal brackets on the neck support, etc., may tarnish over time due to the makeup of the metal plat- ing. This, however, will have no influence on the performance of these parts. When tarnish first appears, cleaning carried out in normal maintenance and care may be enough to re- move the tarnish. (If the tarnish progresses normal cleaning may not be sufficient.)

•As the instrument and many of its parts are made of natural wood, there may be some cases, where objects that come in contact with the wood (hands, parts of the body, cleaning cloth, etc.) may become discolored. Color on body parts is not harmful to your health but you should wash and remove it with water. We can not be held responsible for discolor- ation of clothing, etc., or the discoloration of the wood.

This Yamaha violin is finished with a high-quality oil varnish that is well suited for the instrument’s acoustic characteris- tics. As the oil finish is soft, high tempera- tures and high humidity can soften the finish further sometimes causing the cloth inside of the case to stick to the violin (it will not harm the violin’s performance or durability). Please avoid storing the vio- lin in places susceptible to high tempera- tures and/or high humidity. Also, to keep the instrument clean, use a soft cloth to remove smudges and dirt after use.

Safety Tips

Please consider the following points of safety.

•To prevent contact, always maintain suf- ficient distance between yourself and other people/objects when playing the instrument. The shape of the bow is capable of causing harm if care is not taken at all times.

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•If possible, hold your bow still when not in use. Do not swing, throw or engage in any other movements that could potentially cause damage to other people/objects, or to the bow itself.

•Take care not to pinch your hands or fin- gers when closing the case.