Books › The violin : how to choose one, 1893 › scan 64
Scan 64
The violin : how to choose one, 1893
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 60. See the scan on archive.org.
1and the best First strings, named Neapolitan unpolished strings, are those sold by Mr. Edwin Race, Douglas, Isle of Man, at 8s. 6d. per bundle of 30 strings. Whether gut as a material is a dear article I do not know, but I find that many makers of first strings at a fancy price have a craze for making them up no thicker than a thread of sewing silk. Any one who would give 9d. for such a string is a poor simpleton, for it is bound to be sawn through in a few hours, or less—most often less. Violin strings should never be oiled, no matter what advertisers, eager to sell quarter-ounce bottles of oil at a shilling each, may say to the contrary. If a string maker cannot turn out his work ready for use, he should be let severely alone, or told to learn his business over again. The first string should always be left unpolished, as polished strings have some of the strands ground through, and so fray out sooner; they are also more liable to play false. A good unpolished first, which is firm and dry to the touch, gives a brilliant tone and lasts well; a greasy and soft string gives a dull tone and is rarely durable. I have had strings from some of the best dealers in London which were soft as a bit of twine, and which had a wretched tone, yet they were said by the sellers to be the best in the world. The violin player who believes everything that dealers tell him will soon have more in his head than he can conveniently carry. My last advice then is, believe no one; test for yourself; compare one thing with another without compunction; avoid the faddist; shun the violin maker who is a crank, and more especially if he declare that he is the man who can make a violin, and that all other living makers are worse than imposters. If he chance to be an advertising man, the louder he may blow about his wonderful violins and his marvellous secret methods of putting them together, the more rigidly and sternly avoid him. He is generally a liar; sometimes a monomaniac; good for the world if he be not a rogue as well. Some one has written that "Truth is mighty and shall prevail;" if so, surely that must come in that far distant golden age when
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5shall be no more.
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