Wee B. Bridges

Gregg Alf spoke to this in the Strad article Nov. 2006 issue.

You have to know when to cut your loses. Why fight it. Life is short Get a better neck block to start with.

No. A long and contentious practice of reworking instruments in Cremona, yes it is well known. In an effort to maintain the good name of Cremona in the market place, the Consortium was established to bind members of the consortium to the greatest moral integrity in the exercise of their craft. But only to be a member of the Consortium, and receive the official stamp of approval do you jump these hoops (some as mentioned above.) http://www.cremonaviolins.com/en/the-consortium/ (more on the rules/use of the collective trademark after the jump.) There are many more makers in Cremona other than those in the Consortium.

Practice.

I would have to agree with Torbjörn Zethelius above, I don't see it as an issue. Might not be what you intended but if it ain't broke don't fix it I wouldn't worry about it and move forward

Many good points and analogies made so far... I remember this publications back in 2008 and having this conversation with Charles Beare—he was surprise as well by the findings. It is probably heartening for amateur makers and a little dis-heartening to school trained makers. What one can speculate is quality in workmanship on the outside, most likely reflects quality of workmanship on the inside. There is certainly more to making a violin than what is seen, that will withstand the test of time, independent of sound. What is the saying—the "art" is revealed through the knowledge of the "craft" which is generated by the "skill" of the craftsman. The bigger picture of what we are trying to do is elevate the craft to an art. In this regard it is about line, proportion and form. Aesthetics complement sound (however the reverse not so much.) Along the way we are always in pursuit of quality sound and playability—this will sell an instrument. Yes beauty is in the eye of the beholder; even in a blind world the one-eyed are considered as gods.

Pressed tops as in mass production, vs bent tops? The late Bill Fulton at one time put out a VHS tape (VCR) of his bent top process. Maybe some one has digitized the old video. from the web: https://www.violins.ca/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2044&sid=2abc58b055c5488f1e015fe41540b629 https://www.talkbass.com/threads/fulton-violin-plate-bending.281323/

Every instrument is different. You can not always expect a miracle

What it tells me— this is good sounding Strad and thus well played & well traveled year after year—Tuning with the left hand tend to wrap around the scroll. No (?) Maybe I am wrong. Also some speculation about sliding in and out of the old-style saddle bag case has been offered up. If like today typically you carry the violin sound post side down for obvious reasons (treble side down when on edge.) Maybe there is some tendency to wear on the back of the scroll biased towards the treble side as well, in these historical cases (?) Here is the head of the ex 'Joachim' GB Guadagnini violin, 1775 Turin.

I found this interesting: https://www.thestrad.com/lutherie/why-is-the-thickness-of-the-front-and-back-of-stradivaris-instruments-so-unpredictable/7727.article Especially their definitive closing remarks.

Where did you get to have this privilege ? Back in 2014 when it was stolen DARNTON & HERSH RARE VIOLINS publish a wonderful set of photos in an effort to track it down. http://darntonhersh.com/files/lipinski_strad_docs.zip. Maybe you can get your hands on the folder of ~30 high quality pics "To help with the recovery effort, the Darnton & Hersh firm and Michael Darnton are waiving copyrights to a set of detailed high-resolution images of the violin and an archival description" Here is one I had pulled years ago, photo credit: Tom Lynn/getty Images/AFP

https://trianglestrings.com/reinforcing-cracked-pegbox-wall/

Most printers allow you to scale up or down by %. Look at printer settings.

Every poster is different. Luck of the draw I guess. I suspect poster are a loss leader for The Strad—maybe this explains why they don't do it anymore, or limiting there output. They have produced a lot of nice poster in the past, a vital resource for many. good luck !

https://tarisio.com/cozio-archive/cozio-carteggio/the-paganini-cannon-violin/ I don't have Biddulphs two volume set in front of me at the moment, but I believe the Cannon is include; if you can get your hands on it. https://www.skinnerinc.com/search?s=Peter+Biddulph Also "Joseph Guarnerius del Gesu - Cremona 1995" has some very good pics of the cannon. (not full size), especially multiple views of the scroll and maybe more affordable: Here you might find of interest: http://www.premiopaganini.it/archivio/pdf_doc/congresso2004.pdf