Books › The Violin: How to Master It, 1880 › scan 21
Scan 21
The Violin: How to Master It, 1880
4 lines. Read by computer on 23 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1tried many experiments to make the much-talked-of amber varnish. I have employed many chemists, who readily undertook to dissolve amber. I have consulted makers of varnish, and, after all, am now prepared to say that amber, after having been fused, is useless for varnish making, and when dissolved by other means does not give a sufficient percentage to furnish a body which will compare in any way with the varnish used by the Cremona makers. Their chief study was the making of the violin. Their varnish was a simple one, and that it was no secret is clearly proved by its having been used by them all. Sometimes their varnish is poor looking, and in many cases seems to have been carelessly put on; but there is no doubt of its being an oil varnish, but that its gum is amber is doubtful"
3From this statement it may be inferred that Mr. Mainds does not call his mixture an amber varnish. A specimen now submitted to me confirms in part his original description. The varnish, however, is poor in lustre, and certainly not so transparent or so rich hued as one I am about to describe by another discoverer. The color, indeed, does not appear to be a liquid part of the varnish, but merely some granual color which has been stirred into it, as it shows in minute red specks throughout the coating. There is good testimony, however, as to its improving the tone of violins covered with it; and it is undoubtedly an oil, not a spirit varnish. A Mr. Heaps also claims to have discovered the secret; and Dr. Geo. Dickson, some of whose rich-toned instruments, made by himself, and exquisitely finished, I have seen, has discovered a varnish, which, if it is not the real Cremona one, is as like it in color, transparency, and characteristic tone as any I have seen. The color is a deep red, as if the white maple upon which it is laid were transformed into a rich-hued piece of mahogany. There are no minute spots of color discernible—varnish and color appear to be one and indivisible; and when the wood is sloped at an angle of 30 or 35 degrees from the spectator, it shows on every light veining of the
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