Books › British Violin Makers: A Biographical Dictionary of British Makers of Stringed Instruments and Bows and a Critical Description of Their Work, 1920 › scan 88
Scan 88
British Violin Makers: A Biographical Dictionary of British Makers of Stringed Instruments and Bows and a Critical Description of Their Work, 1920
14 lines. Read by computer on 29 August 2026. Printed page 70. See the scan on archive.org.
1I do not think there would be half the number of violin makers to-day but for this mystery of the Italian tone. It is the magnetic pole of the fiddle world, which makes the gauges and callipers of a thousand craftsmen to point all in the same direction. I may express my meaning in the homely language of Bolingbroke, who said that "plain truth will influence half a score men at most in a nation, or an age, while mystery will lead millions of men by the nose."
3I may in concluding these few and scattered remarks on the Italian tone point out briefly what theory and practice have taught me to regard as important factors in the construction of a good fiddle. They are:—
5(1) The quality of the wood.
6(2) The outline and model.
7(3) The graduation of the thicknesses.
8(4) Good varnish.
9(5) Accurate workmanship.
11I think the curves of the plates, especially of the back, have an important bearing on both the quantity and the quality of the tone, and I think also great care should be exercised to make the plates fit true on the ribs, to ensure their perfect freedom from torsional strain when glued on. It is needless to add that I consider it very desirable that the instrument should be finished in as artistic a manner as possible.
13Stringent attention to all these points may or may not result in the production of an instrument which has the Italian tone. May or may not:
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