Scan 50
Georg Gemünder's Progress In Violin Making 1881, 1881
8 lines. Read by computer on 19 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1fall considerably, the neck must be set back; for the bridge must never be lowered, as that would impair the tone of the instrument. A good violin, in which the wood has not been scraped away, requires a somewhat higher bridge, as the instrument possesses greater strength of vibration. It is true that such a bridge renders all defects more perceptible, and generally the pressure of the strings is greater when the bridge is higher. Those instruments which are damaged and faulty, may be improved in some degree by a lower bridge; but in that case the tone certainly loses in power.*
3The 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
5* In the 1828 edition of his work, published at Jena, our author says that the suitability of the bridge depends more on its weight (consequent on its thickness) than on its height; for the latter regulates itself—at least, in part—by the position of the finger-board. He then describes the way in which he himself proceeds to ascertain the exact weight of bridge which any instrument requires, namely, by making six little pieces of wood into the shape of one-third part of a violin mute, and of the respective weights of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 grains. These he tries successively on any bridge which he finds unsuitable, by placing them between the D and A strings, until the weight thus added to the bridge renders the tone of the instrument satisfactory. He then weighs the bridge and the little piece of wood together, and selects a new bridge of a weight precisely corresponding to the result, and which shall exactly balance the old one and the mute-shaped little block.
7Mackintosh, in accordance with his theory, says:—"It is necessary that the timber of the bridge should have pores proportionate to those of the violin; and to prevent this being left to chance, it is necessary to examine the wood of the bridge, and not put it on the violin unless it be of a quality suitable to that of which the violin itself is composed."—Tr.
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