Books › The violin : how to choose one, 1893 › scan 39
Scan 39
The violin : how to choose one, 1893
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 35. See the scan on archive.org.
1CHAPTER VI.
3The Best Substitute for an Old Violin—The Different Qualities of Wood and Tone.
5To those who have not patience to search for the really grand old violin I should say that the best substitute is a new violin made of old wood by a skilful violinmaker. Such wood is worth searching for, and is frequently worth more than its weight in gold. The pine is more easily got than old maple or sycamore. Vuillaume, the French copyist, when he was young and enthusiastic, got a deal of his wood from old Swiss chalets, and these earlier violins are now bringing high prices—from £25 to £50—as his work was very pretty, if somewhat mechanical or characterless. The weak point about Vuillaume's violins is the varnish, which is poor-looking stuff, and so friable that it soon rubs off and leaves the wood bare. Those who ought to know even whisper that it is only a soft spirit varnish, like that used by some of the second class Italian makers. Ten years ago a violin was made for me of very old wood by Hardie, and lent about by me among professional players to be ground at day and night, and now that violin is as good as many fifty years old. The beams and rafters of old buildings sometimes give very good pine for the purpose, which should be white and even in grain, and absolutely free of knots. Red and yellow pine contain too much resin, and give a smaller tone. The maple or plane tree must be sought in old furniture, old bedsteads, and chests of drawers. The wood, however, might be two or three hundred years old and yet make a very poor fiddle, as all wood is not resonant, which explains why very old violins are frequently very bad; but that could easily be tested before the violins were made, if the violin maker be worthy the name. Vincenzo Panormo, a wandering Italian, who made very fine copies of Stradivarius, about the end of the last century, is said to have got the backs and
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