Books › The violin : how to choose one, 1893 › scan 40
Scan 40
The violin : how to choose one, 1893
2 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 36. See the scan on archive.org.
1ribs of the best of these out of an old billiard-table, and these violins are now very valuable; but Panormo was a genius in violin making, and on some of his instruments used an oil varnish which for brilliant lustre, transparence, and elasticity, will compare with that on the best Cremonas, ay, even with that used by the elder Joseph Guarnerius. He had also the rare wisdom to leave his violins very thick in wood, and they will shortly rank with the best violins of Stradivarius. His only fault was that of occasionally breaking the varnish by rubbing it down at the corners to give the violin a picturesque appearance; but as Stradivarius is said to have done the same at times, Panormo is in good company. Nicolas Lupot had more wisdom. Stradivarius, I may observe in passing, frequently erred in his thicknesses, and generally on the wrong side—that is, in leaving the wood too thin. In some cases he tried to amend the error by gluing on a thin slip, but that is a limping expedient. Guarnerius at times erred in the same way, but in some of his violins he left enough wood to satisfy the most exacting, and these violins are now the most valuable of his works in existence. To every violin maker I would therefore shout—"Leave plenty of wood in your violins." Some violin makers reply—"Oh, we dare not leave much wood in our violins, or they would not sell well." That is a mistake. I have indeed tried new violins which were thick of wood and which sounded harsh, but that to me was invariably a proof that the wrong kind of wood had been used, particularly for the breast; for I have tried violins very thick of wood and fresh from the maker the tone of which was faultless. The wood was of the right kind. It must be noted, however, that if the wood be left thick the model must be large. To put thick plates into a narrow-waisted Amati or early Strad model would be like fitting a lady with a ploughman's iron-shod boots, the wood could not have room to vibrate. A deal board twenty feet long and one inch thick will bend easily; but saw off a piece a foot long and you cannot bend it. It is the same with the plates of a violin—the thickness must always be proportionate to the size—feminine thickness for a feminine model and tone; masculine thickness for a masculine model and tone. Thin wood gives a thin tone. If the wood be hard as well as thin, the tone will be both thin and shrill. It is always a hazardous experiment to put hard wood into the breast or back of a violin, but the effect may sometimes be neutralized by making the opposite plate of very
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