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Scan 73
Chats on Violins, 1905
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 55. See the scan on archive.org.
1an admirer of Titian's art, or a condemner of Galileo's theories (great questions in those days) is not known. Old Father Time grumpily says: "I can remember no more, only that da Salo lived, manufactured violins, instructed the young Maggini in the art of violin-making and—died."
3Undoubtedly the finest work of this maker was put into his tenors and basses, the violins are generally voted rather rough, though opinions differ vastly on the subject. One eminent French writer speaks of da Salo's ff's as "disgraceful," and his "varnish almost black"; another writer that the varnish was excellent and of a deep brown; another, that his work was highly finished and the model long and high, which is again contradicted by a fourth writer, who says that his models varied in height and his work was rough. The explanation of this diversity of opinion is evident: da Salo's work was unequal because he was feeling his way, and only now and again succeeded in producing a fine instrument.
5Mr Haweis in Old Violins speaks of a fine specimen of da Salo which was the property of Lord Amherst. He mentions playing on it, and says the A and D strings
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