Designs of violin bridges – Part I
riccardo964 There’s the classic bridge design (in blank state), that they say it was conceived by Stradivari, that follows the following pattern: Despiau is a very good brand worldly recognised for…
October 2023
Violin mystique: 12 steps from idea to monetisation
One cannot just say “hey, this is a piece of wood, now pay £15,500”. You must come up with a sensible narrative, an intricate mystique surrounding those ‘pieces of wood’,…
Pinpointing peg locations in the violin
Where to drill (bore?) the holes for the pegs in the violin? That’s frankly a very good question, and in this post, I’ll address it. I have used Davide Sora’s…
Tool making: creating a neck template
I caught the bug of creating templates (perhaps what others describe as “fiddle disease”? I cannot speculate about that), well, at least these past weeks. Looking at the remarkable video…
On fake (and truthful) violin labels
“Imitation is a kind of artless flattery.” Charles Caleb Colton (on Lacon: or Many Things in a Few Words) However, this next quote best represent its actual meaning: “Imitation is…
Kickstarting your violin making journey (on a budget)
I’m an engineer. I see myself as a toolmaker and the musicians are my customers… They use my tools. Robert Moog There’s some equipment you’ll have to put your hands…
Measuring and marking thicknesses
When inspecting the thicknesses of my plates, over the years I’ve encounter a lot of tool nomenclature to measure or mark large plates, for instance: Aamof (as the kids say),…
Tool making: creating a fingerboard template
The fingerboard (or das Griffbrett oder Ebenholzgriffbrett in German, ie, the fingerboard or the ebony fingerboard in English). The dimensions for a 4/4 violin, usually, are as follows: For the…
On varnishing violins – Part I
“I need hardly say that curious connoisseurs and anxious luthiers have devoted much time and thought to the fascinating but elusive problem of varnish making.” “British Violin Makers” (1920), by…
Kochanski "del Gesù", 1741
“Arguments rumble on as to whether Guarneri was insane, incompetent or a genius beyond our ken, but there is no denying that this violin is a wonderful artefact, thrilling to…