scordatura

Q. How many Juillard students does it take to change a light bulb? A. 1 and 99 to say they could do it better...

Joe I would not read into my use of the word convictions. It just seemed that you were convinced that linseed was the first application to the wood. I have considered purchasing your varnish system. I am just trying to understand what it is and why you are doing it that way. For me sound and appearance are equally important. Not saying that you are not approaching it that way but I get the impression that for some it is about how it looks. As a player who makes, I would sacrifice sound over looks. But only a tiny bit!

Well OK. What I am saying is that an instrument that is dull (too much damping?) never appeals to me. I prefer an instrument that does the work for me (rings if you will) rather than trying to get something to sound that never gets up to speed. If that makes any sense...

I am interested in your varnishing system. What are you basing your conviction on? The appearance of the wood, historical evidence, scientific evidence? Not sure why (hunch or "prevailing knowledge") but I am hesitant for sound reasons to subscribe to the first contact being linseed. Unless it is more resin than linseed...I want my top to ring like a bell.

Small world. I lived in Honolulu for six years. When I first toured a sugar mill the comment was most of the sugar industry went to the Phillipines. Similar to the Pineapple industry. Granted both industries are still there in at least in some small way. Hard way to earn a buck harvesting sugar cane... OT Sorry - There used to be a guy who lived on the big island named Jim Robinson. He had worked in either Jacques Francasis w/Morel or at Nigos. Does anyone know what happened to him? I got to know him very well when I was playing in the symphony and had my shop there. Back on topic. What is the problem with the Vernice Bianca as proposed by Sacconi? The albumin is a nice substance to ossify or harden the wood. Hard to remove once dried as evidenced by my door being egged for reading chamber music too late one weekend in Honolulu. It dried (water resistant) in the HI sun and was a bitch to get off the door. The honey adds a nice whetting to the wood and good color. Gum Arabic problematic for some reason?

I would also suggest using the google site search eg - keywords site:www.maestronet.com/forum

What solvents and ratio of solid to liquid for each? I would think this would be somewhat important.

Great images. Even though PGM's model is not as in vogue as some, there is something about this maker that speaks to me. Varnish, craftsmanship, etc.

Personally I doubt that the varnish is going all the way through. I think the effect of the smoke coming from the f holes to be due to other causes. Perhaps he added somthing to the insides before he closed the instrument.

I'm liking the cello. Nice work.

That is what I understand too There have been other things in the works but the commitment to the Vuillaume is there for the time being.

Kudos to Joe and Bruce. It is great to see tangible info rather than the "written theory" that we frequently see around here

From what I understand she is committed to the Vuillaume.

Hillary would not be playing this violin if it were not a great fiddle. An artist of her calliber would have access to Strads and Guarneris etc. for purchase or loaned to her. I have played a number of Vuillaumes over the years and found the spectrum of one or two that were exceptional and some that were ok and a couple that were "what is the big deal about this violin". Have not played that one. Vuillaumes have taken a pretty big jump in price of late. Is this because the big Italian makers are getting REAL expensive or is it because she plays a Vuillaume? My take on it is mostly yes for the former and to some degree the latter. I just met today a violinist (Paganini competition winner) who plays a Peresson. He said he used to play a del Gesu for a while and had no problem giving it up for the Peresson. I have another friend (principal second violin in a second tier orchestra) who owned a nice Peresson from the 70s (supposedly a good era) and sold it because he found it lacking. Go figure...

What are peoples opinions on the source of the color of the ground? Is it inherent in the ingredients or something added to create the color? I know that some are using shellac but if we subscribe to the notion that the cremonese were not using shellac what is yielding the gold/honey color?

I have done this by hand. I feel that this is a better way...more control.

I always plane on the angled side of the bridge. I would not advise hand holding the bridge. Not worth the risk.

Bridge Planing Holder Jig My jig a la Weisshaar is as follows: 8cm length 4.5 cm wide The wedge is 4mm at the thick end tapering to .5mm at the top. I used ebony for the sides/holder for more strength. I usually plane side to side then at an angle from the center out. I want it to be slightly thicker in the center. Hard to describe with words. I have a stepped undercut at the top and at one of the sides. I was thinking I should do both sides... Hope this helps a fellow CT maker.

Does anyone have high resolution images or links to high resolution images of Petrus of Mantua violins? I did a quick search on google and did not find anything spectacular. This summer I may be able to provide some as a friend owns a Petrus.

I can second the opinion on Petrus of Mantua. I have seen two Petrus' of Mantua and one in particular had varnish to die for. I had the violin for a day and could not stop looking and marveling at the varnish, color, ground etc. I wish I had taken photos of that fiddle as example of what to do with the finish and ground.

I think the concept is to allow transparency. The ground should not obscure the wood.

My ground criteria are: Refractive index similar to wood Strengthens wood Minimal Damping Penetrates wood Golden Color Allows varnish to adhere (or not if you want the varnish to chip off if you want the instrument to look old at some point down the line) Stabilizes the moisture content of the wood Isolates varnish from wood Good surface "wetting" properties so that the grain is enhanced

Yes I have seen that. Wonderful to see those guys in such fine form and so much younger. Interesting to note Perlman who is more horizontal than Pinky tends to play Strads. Pinky likes Guarneris.

Yes it is easier to play fast passages away from the bridge. At the bridge likes high vertical force (pressing if you want) and a slow bow speed (sonority). Playing fast passages tends to like a lower sounding point (where you are playing on the string relative to the bridge/fingerboard) in this case toward the fingerboard. Much of this goes on automatically with great players. Look at the way for instance Josh Bell plays. He has a lighter style/sound than Mintz. He tends to use more bow speed and less pressure than Mintz or Zukerman. He tends to play more in the upper half a la Gingold. Mintz and Zukerman are what I call vertical players (heavy slow bow) while Bell and say Milstein are/were horizontal players (bow speed over weight) I was lucky to work with Gingold for a bit and watched Josh as a teenager in action. It was remarkable to me how different Ginglold's bow arm was than the Cerone (Galamian) approach that I was used to. Gingold did not have a big sound. He had all of the elegance you could ever want. He played on an Amatise Strad which also did not have a gigantic sound. Gingold was awesome. Beautiful person. Studied with Ysaye. Sorry if I am going on a bit.

Playing near the bridge is an outgrowth of the Galamian school. For those who have the privledge of standing in front of an orchestra to play concertos know that all of the colors or notes mean nothing if you can't be heard over the orchestra.