Books › A treatise on the structure and preservation of the violin and all other bow-instruments; together with an account of the most celebrated makers, and of the genuine characteristics of their instruments;, 1860 › scan 54
Scan 54
A treatise on the structure and preservation of the violin and all other bow-instruments; together with an account of the most celebrated makers, and of the genuine characteristics of their instruments;, 1860
10 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 32. See the scan on archive.org.
1instrument, but for promoting the vibration. It is much to be wished that some intelligent mathematician would closely investigate the origin and propagation of this vibration, which, to the best of my knowledge, has not yet been fully explained.*
3It is of the utmost importance that the bass-bar be not too long; for, otherwise, it checks the vibration, and renders the tone of the G-string remarkably weak, as compared with the rest, all of which are deteriorated, though not in so great a degree. But the chief defect occasioned by too long a bass-bar, is the want of resonance in the tone.
5On many instruments, the F and F sharp on the D-string are quite dull and throbbing (pochend). This arises from the cheeks being worked out, according to a false theory, to half the thickness of the breast; which is also frequently done after the whole has been finished. If the instrument be a valuable one, the best way to correct this fault would be to veneer it carefully with old wood of the proper kind; but, in the case of a violin of less worth, a new belly would be the surest remedy.
7If the wood has been scraped out of the breast, it is discovered by the defective vibration of the A-string, on which the C and C sharp have the same dull tone as before observed of the F and F sharp on the D-string. This, also, can only be rectified by restoring the due thickness of the wood.
9* Some extremely interesting experiments on the violin have been made by Felix Savart. See L'Institut, 1ère Section for 1840, pp. 55, 69, 91, 122; or a German translation, Über den Bau der Geige, Leipzig, 1844: also No. III of the Appendix.—Tr.
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