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  2. JavierPortero
    Nice instrument Stephen
  3. PhilipKT
    I bet it has antiquing....
  4. Today
  5. Rue
    ...more info too...
  6. PhilipKT
    Photos are necessary for any useful reply.
  7. zdalton13
    That's a fair point.
  8. ruprecht ruprecht joined the community
  9. Andreas Preuss
    And if I may add, if this theory were correct CNCed violins would be the best in the world.
  10. Don Noon
    I have read a few old books that attempt to explain how a violin works, and they have been without exception wrong from my understanding of today's physics and acoustics... even though the authors may have a good reputation for building violins. I don't believe there is any good explanation of how a violin works that is easily understood, as it works in different ways at different frequencies, and each way is complicated. A change to "improve" one frequency can affect all other frequencies in different ways. And then, what matters in the end is the balance of everything. It's like trying to solve a set of a thousand simultaneous equations with ten thousand unknowns... with the biggest unknown: what a human thinks of it. If understanding HOW a violin works is the key, then the best violins would be built by the smartest acousticians and physicists. However, it is apparent that the best violins are built by those with long experience with good violins ... i.e. WHAT works.
  11. Yesterday
  12. Michael Darnton
    I do not see ideas that could not be derived from the earliest Amati instruments. Why credit the Brescians when it is all right there in your own tradition?
  13. Dennis J
    The picture in the book represents a cross section at the sound post position with sound post included. But the back and front plates seem to have about the same thickness and shape as well as arching height. To me that is not typical of early makers' construction methods. It may be an ideal shape to fit the internal reflection shape necessary for the theory but that is all. But if there is a beneficial relationship between the back and front plates as far as resonance is concerned it can only be achieved with a deliberate, planned arching based on using arching guides to produce those shapes. Freehand arching could not achieve anything but two random shapes which have no common surface at all.
  14. Nick Allen
    Hmm. I tend to extend the C bout arching a little farther into the upper bouts myself, and have gotten consistent feedback that my violins are warm. Hmm. Gets me thinking.
  15. Davide Sora
    Yep, I consider Hieronymus' scrolls above all other Cremonese makers for refinement and taste. But limiting the field to the archings do you see this Brescian influence?
  16. Michael Darnton
    All of the "Brescian" influence I see in Cremonese making always tracks back to the Bros Amati, who are, in my opinion, the best makers ever. Which basically means Hieronymus Amati, I guess. Long Strads, too, are basically just long Bros Amati violins, as are the late Strads. Whattaguy!
  17. Davide Sora
    What makes you think this? It seems to me that the back and the top deform in a different way.
  18. Davide Sora
    I read the book and tried to follow its construction system in the early years (it is easy to be fascinated by similar things at the beginning) but apart from the complication I realized that it led me to do things that were not seen in the original archings or interior work, or at least that I have never seen. But don't take this as an attempt to discourage you from following his method, our conclusions may be different and our goals too
  19. Fade started following Personal approach to violin making
  20. Davide Sora
    I think blending the area just inside upper corners is the most difficult task in arching making, if you tell a student to be careful not to dig too much he will leave too much wood and if you tell him not to leave too full he will dig too deep in this area However, I agree with Evan and I prefer to make this area more flexible due to the intrinsic stiffness of the arch just above the F holes and the proximity to the per se very stiff corner blocks area. I suspect that Del Gesù was not wrong at all and that he did it intentionally even if perhaps his proverbial little accuracy led him to exaggerate a bit every now and then. I also believe that this dispels the myth that he was inspired by the Brescians, who do exactly the opposite, but in this case I'm going a little too far beyond my knowledge of non-copyist maker, I could easily be contradicted. However, the arching posted by Michael Darnton is very beautiful, an excellent execution of that area
  21. ChicagoDogs
    Thanks Dwight - very interesting regarding Flesch and his story.
  22. duane88
    depends on how thick your varnish is!
  23. zdalton13
    If that is the case it sounds from what I've read that he only applies two coats of varnish which seems a little sparse to me.
  24. Davide Sora
    Hi Michael, at the moment there are no denials or confirmations for Mondomusica, I have doubts that it will be possible to make event like that, too many people around, but we will see.
  25. Michael Appleman
    Re- read the bass article. There are different aspects to the antiquing process, craqueling, removing worn areas, distressing with scratches and chips, and filling the crackles, scratches and chips with patina, then removing, distressing patina-ing again until the antiquing looks right. From my reading, what Roger was "putting on" at different times was "patina," or false dirt, not the varnish itself. That went on at the beginning, but it got distressed fairly quickly before it dried too hard.
  26. Michael Darnton
    i have not read Roger's method, but can say that there's a danger in doing all the antiquing at the end that it will look like it happened all at once. In reality, some scratches and types of wear get polished out through time, some don't, the various colors of dirt are different, etc., so if you are doing it all at once, you have to consider that. It sounds like his method will give a more natural result, as if it happened gradually.
  27. Michael Szyper
    What a moving video, thank you for sharing Davide. I can’t dare to think that maybe there won’t be mondomusica this year. All the best wishes to the Cremonese people and this beautiful town.
  28. zdalton13 started following Another antiquing question
  29. zdalton13
    So, I am getting ready to start varnish my instrument that I want to antique. I've read some references that say to antique the instrument after all the varnish layers are finished. However, I am planning on following Roger Hargrave's instructions on antiquing as they are the most detailed. But there is one thing I am confused about. I know he antiques the instrument during the varnish process but from what I read it sounds like he applies a lawyer or two of varnish, does some antiquing, applies a fresh layer of varnish and then repeatedly antiques and applies a new layer of varnish until he is satisfied. Is this correct or am I reading it wrong?
  30. Evan Smith
    You know that's what I always thought,, but,,, there is some rather interesting research out there on the thymus gland you might want to take a peek at. Knowledge is ever increasing faster than it is possible to keep up, kind of like a truck going down the highway with stuff falling out continuously, I can't grab it all, but I'll check out some for sure. At this point I have to depend on providence to show me what I'm supposed to get. Evan the scavenger
  31. Michael Appleman
    Well described, Evan. That's very much like what I've observed and what I try to do.
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