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 60
Scan 60
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 38. See the scan on archive.org.
1The sound-post must not be too long, otherwise it will raise up the belly; nor must it be so short as to fall down when the bridge is taken off. The ends of the sound-post should fit against the back and belly with the greatest exactness; for on this the excellence of the tone considerably depends. I have myself remedied many glaring defects of an instrument by means of a correct sound-post. In good instruments, the proper place for the sound-post is half an inch behind the right foot of the bridge; but, in faulty ones, it may be placed rather nearer, in order to give greater fulness, and to improve the tone.*
3The holes for the pegs should not be made too conical. The pegs themselves, the best of which are made of box-wood or ebony, must be fitted to the holes with a file. When they have worn smooth and will not hold, they should by no means be rubbed with rosin, chalk being much better for tightening them.†
5* For some important remarks on the bridge and sound-post, see Spohr's Violin School, Part I, Sec. II.
7Hollow glass sound-posts have been tried, and the results announced by M. Petizeau to the Academy of Sciences in Paris, within the last two years. "By this device," it is said, "very ordinary violins may acquire properties of sound only to be met with in instruments of the first order." In the Leipzig Allgem. Mus. Zeitung for 1811, p. 75, a German instrument-maker and musician, John Anthony Hänsel, declares that numerous experiments and close comparisons have convinced him that "a broad, thin and splinter-like sound-post is far preferable to the ordinary round form," although extremely difficult to set up, and requiring the greatest accuracy to ensure success.—Tr.
9† Several mechanical pegs have been invented for the purpose of more perfectly resisting the tension of the strings, but they have not met with much favor from violinists; perhaps on account of their expense (or, in some cases, their complexity), as a new set of wooden pegs can be soon fitted, when really necessary, at a very trifling cost.
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