Books › The violin, how to make it, 1880 › scan 126
Scan 126
The violin, how to make it, 1880
4 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 120. See the scan on archive.org.
1century the bow arrived at great perfection through the scrupulous care and attention of that celebrated French maker, Francois Tourte, who has left a lasting fame throughout Europe. The bows of this maker, from their excellent quality, were high in price, and now it is almost impossible to obtain them, from their having been anxiously sought after by many of our finest professional Violinists and collectors of such worthy mementoes; but excellent bows are now to be had by several other distinguished makers, and, what is of the utmost importance, at a reasonable price. Amongst those esteemed makers may be mentioned the following: — Lupot, Tubbs, Stentor, Panormo, Picatte, the Dodds, Vuillaume, and Johnson. About the period when Tourte thus perfected the bow in France, we find the elder Dodd distinguishing himself at the same art, whilst a short time after this, the bows of his son, John, worthily merited a high degree of fame. They are light and firm, being made from well-finished and fine wood, maintaining permanently their original curvature, and are shorter than those of Tourte, whilst they are moderate in price, being from half-a-guinea and upwards, according to quality and finish. To Violinists, a Dodd bow will prove much cheaper in the long run, than the purchase of one of the so-called cheap ones, the latter being after a few months' usage utterly worthless, whilst the former very rarely gets out of shape. Again, in Paris, we have Vuillaume, whose bows also possess great excellence. From the bows of Tourte have been derived the standard measurements of the length, and proportions of the stick, the proper balance, the slide for fastening the hairs, etc. We may assume the standard length of the stick to be 29 inches, but the medium length is about 27½ in., the height of the head and nut from the body of the stick being about ¾ in. For about 4½ in. from the end, where the nut is placed, the bow is of uniform thickness, being a fraction over 5/6 in. in diameter, and gradually, but not uniformly, tapering to about 1/5 of an inch in diameter, where the head is formed.
3The bows which have the most perfect balance for playing, have the hair 25½ inches long, and their centre of gravity is about 7½ in. from the nut, and in the bows of the Violoncello the length of hair should be 23¾ in., whilst they
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