Books › An Encyclopedia of the Violin, 1925 › scan 125
Scan 125
An Encyclopedia of the Violin, 1925
20 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 99. See the scan on archive.org.
1graceful as those made in Mirecourt can be turned out. In this manufacturing town the workmen who make bridges do nothing else, hence they are able to turn out perfect specimens of the best workmanship.
3The bridge should be sufficiently solid to be able to resist the tension of the strings; at the same time it is preferable that the under portion, upon which the strings rest, be as narrow as possible, since this greatly augments the brilliance and the purity of tone of the instrument.
5The pegs once adjusted, the borer is used on each of them to pierce the little hole which is necessary to hold the end of the strings.
7The true bridge is then taken and prepared to receive the four strings which are to be mounted on the instrument, a dummy or guide, in the shape of an old bridge being used to prop up the strings while the real bridge is being fitted.
9Begin by fitting the feet of the bridge to the sound board, adjusting them absolutely to the arching of the belly in such wise that not the least space is left between the two parts, for the tone of the instrument grows hoarse and rough if the feet of the bridge are not perfectly adjusted along their whole length of the sound board.
11The lower part of the bridge should be rounded, in such a way that when the bow is used, the player does not touch several strings at once against his wish. At the same time it should not be too much rounded, since this would result in difficulties for the player, who would be obliged to make too many movements when bringing the bow from the E string to the fourth string. In short, it should be given approximately the same arching indicated for the finger board. Incidentally, the four small notches which serve to hold the strings in place on the bridge should be made as shallow as possible.
13Finally, the height of the bridge should be approximately such that the fourth string, the G string, will rise about 6 millimeters (1/4") above the finger board, the D string and A string somewhat less, and the E string about 5 millimeters (1/6"). The distance separating the G string from the E string should be about 37 millimeters (about 1 1/3").
15We have still to make a sound post and to fit it into the instrument.
17This part, a small one in itself, has a great deal of influence on the tone of the instrument. We will give all the details necessary for making it and for its subsequent adjustment.
19Take a piece of soft pine, well dried and without knots, and trim it square with the plane. Each face of this rod of wood is diminished until, when presented at the opening of the right-hand F-hole it can enter the same. Then the four corners of the square are cut away with the knife, and the rod is rounded in cylinder shape by the file. The height which the sound post should have is then tested, and it is cut down and smoothed with glass paper.
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