Books › Violin making and repairing, 1927 › scan 48
Scan 48
Violin making and repairing, 1927
6 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1the instrument, they will gradually lose in force, exactly as the rings in water caused by throwing in a stone gradually decrease in force. These vibrations must therefore be helped by very gradually lessening the opposition offered to them on the way, but always remembering that the material must be of sufficient strength to carry them properly. Therefore very slightly taper the plates in every direction, but only with the minimum amount of taper. By hollowing out the cheeks of the plates, for instance, with the mistaken object of lessening resistance, it will be found that the wood is too weak to carry the vibrations in a proper manner, and the consequence, in violins of this character, is weakness of vibration and thinness of tone.
3A still more serious defect is inability to wear well, and many of the violins of Vuillaume (a celebrated French maker) are spoiled through this practice of hollowing out the cheeks of back and belly.
5Soundholes.—The next operation to be undertaken, after the belly is finished, is the cutting out of the soundholes. The shape of a Stradivari soundhole is given by Fig. 27, and its position on the belly is also indicated. A is the centre of the belly and B the corner. A full-sized tracing must be made of this, and it must be laid down on the outside of the belly exactly in the position indicated. It may be traced through carbon paper into its proper place. When it is traced on one side, turn the drawing over and trace it down on the other side of the belly from the centre joint of the belly and the curve of the edge.
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