JohnCockburn

They’re so easy to make yourself with a couple of blades and a bit of square section tubing.

Hi Marty, yes I know that Colin is a good player. I think I mentioned that earlier. He was leader of the UK National Youth Orchestra as a young man, I believe. And I wasn't saying for a moment that his work wasn't useful for practical making purposes. I happen to think it is, although others clearly disagree. I was just saying that even if it was of no immediate practical use, the work would still be of considerable value as a contribution to the body of knowledge on the vibrational behaviour of stringed instruments. I've done a bit of collaboration with him on student violin projects. I also knew him in a "previous life" when we both worked in the same field (high temperature superconductivity).

really nice work, Dave.

My view: Pure pursuit of knowledge and understanding, even if completely and utterly devoid of immediate practical utility, is a beautiful and worthwhile thing. And the bloody hard work it usually entails is worthy of respect. That's all I have to say, really.

Don - I suspect that giving any particular individual what they feel they need was not the primary motivation for this work. If you wanted to find out whether Colin might be able help you achieve your goals in future work, I'm sure he'd be very open to discussion.

Hi Anders, The subject of your thread is "How the air and body modes combine". Colin Gough's work addresses this very comprehensively and effectively, which is why I mentioned it. Regarding relevance to violin making, I think it's very nice to see to see people like Colin doing violin science for no other reason than the advancement of understanding. This is ultimately far more valuable than the bogus offering of "magic bullets" , or the self-publicising, headline-seeking "Secret of Stradivari"-style pseudoscience we so often see, There's useful stuff there, if you're prepared to think beyond the quick fix. And Jezzupe - this is good honest work. Your mockery would be better directed elsewhere.

I edited it because I thought "bog standard" might not be understood by non-UK people, and also might be interpreted as a bit pejorative (which wasn't my intention) No idea of the origin, but it's in fairly common use in the UK.

They're pretty much "standard" thicknesses. "I Segreti di Sam" must lie elsewhere....

Thank you for the insightful contribution.

Well, I wouldn't claim that it's given me a magic Strad-beating formula I just find it helpful to have a clear and reasonably accurate picture in my mind of how the box and its associated components work together. Colin's a nice guy, good communicator and an excellent physicist (and violinist). The ability to explain complicated concepts in everyday terms is usually a pretty good indicator that someone knows what they're talking about.

"Because plate mechanics are so complicated, it is not easy to extract simplified design rules for body modes like B1- using the theoretical equations in Gough's work" Yes, the plate mechanics are complicated, which is precisely why the physics is a little challenging to follow. Maybe "simplified design rules" have too many limitations. There are relatively few equations in Colin Gough's papers, by the way.

Hopefully, it won't be the "right" sort of C-M when you buy it, and the "wrong" sort when you trade it in.

Well, much like violin making and restoration, physics is difficult and requires patience, determination and dedication if you want to get anywhere. Amongst other things, Gough's work explains the origin of the vibrational modes, and the relationship between them, very clearly. I've found it useful, as well as interesting for its own sake.

I think that anyone with a genuine interest in this area should take the time to work through Colin Gough's definitive publications. It's all there.

The modes we're discussing aren't independent. They're coupled.