Books › The violin, how to make it, 1880 › scan 27
Scan 27
The violin, how to make it, 1880
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 21. See the scan on archive.org.
1lengthening or shortening the strings, by a double finger-board and keys, whilst in 1854, W. E. Newton claims an improvement of tone in the Violin by the insertion of a horn or trumpet into the body of the instrument; whilst an invention for attaining a similar effect is claimed by G. Jacque in 1856, by placing a box, containing a number of strings, in the interior of the Violin. A Violin, in which a small frame is inserted between the back and breast, as a substitute for a sound-post, by which means the sound of the instrument can be modified, was invented and claimed provisional protection in 1857, by De Laphaleqûe, whilst an improvement for increasing the volume and richness of tone, by grooving the back and breast, was patented in 1858 by John Robertson; and on December 9, H. Bell has a specification for the improvement of the Violin, by the insertion of a glass elliptical chamber into the body of the instrument; and a modification of the above by the same gentleman is specified in 1866.
3About the commencement of the present century, a Violin-maker in the south of Scotland (Sinclair) exhibited a number of Violins, or rather boxes, of his own production, having extraordinary peculiarities of construction. Some were of the ordinary size, but the outline almost triangular, others of smaller dimensions; one had twelve vibrating wires stretched across it, and tuned to correspond to the tones and semitones of the scale; in addition to the ordinary strings for the purpose of augmenting the tone of the bowed strings by vibration, whilst another had two bridges, one being so much higher than the other as to allow a free passage for the bow to pass, and play upon either set of strings. Other fanciful artists have doubled each string, and tuned in unison, or in octaves, purposing thereby to augment and enrich the tone.
5Another Scottish maker a few years later, formed another fantastic "double-breasted" instrument with common sides and two necks, separated by an opening for the hand of the player, with a duplicate set of strings, but having only a single enlarged back which corresponded with both breasts, somewhat resembling a double Violin. This Violin, as might be expected, produced loudness of tone, consequent from its increased area and number of strings. An eminent Scottish amateur purchased a fine Stradivarius
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