Books › Catalogue of old master violins; added to which is a short historical sketch of the various violin schools, and a list of the principal makers, including an article upon violin construction and repairing, also a list of choice music for the violin, 1900 › scan 19
Scan 19
Catalogue of old master violins; added to which is a short historical sketch of the various violin schools, and a list of the principal makers, including an article upon violin construction and repairing, also a list of choice music for the violin, 1900
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 15. See the scan on archive.org.
1but as it cannot be found with the grain running at equal distances, it is usually found best to have the finer grain in the middle, and let the larger run toward the sides. As to the proper thickness much depends on the quality of the wood and the form; flat built violins are thicker in wood than high built ones.
3Those violins which are of the same thickness all over are either scraped out, which is very often the case, or badly made. The back is made of hard wood, stronger, and nearly corresponds with the belly in form. The belly is the vibrating part, and the back must resist the pressure and great vibration, and throw the tone out, as it were, through the sound holes. The difference of vibrations of back and belly ought to be like C to D.
5The blocks, linings, etc., in the violin, and the weight and position of neck and head, have a good deal to do with the sound. Savard and others have proved that a violin without neck and head loses much of its tone. A piece of wood, usually ebony, called violin holder, has, since the great violinist Spohr recommended it, come much in use; it facilitates the holding of the violin, protects that part of the violin where the neck rests, and, if well made, so as to keep the pressure from the vibrating part of the belly, does not prevent the vibration as much as the chin, and perhaps a large beard. The bar, a piece of pine wood, for the purpose of strengthening and regulating the quality of sound, is thin at the ends, and gradually rising in height to the middle, runs under the G
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