Muswell

A set of Wittner violin pegs weighs 42g, before trimmming, compared with 22g for ebony pegs. My wrist watch weighs 62g. Use the Wittners and take off your wrist watch.

I had a very good classical guitar and a lute stolen. Allianz were very understanding and accepted that neither instrument was replaceable, like for like, and gave me the money very quickly. The household insurers who covered the other stuff which was stolen were more difficult and I was very glad the instruments were with a specialist.

I made an 8 string guitar, which wasn't an archtop, with a violin-type bridge for a friend. He wanted to have a soundpost too but I read about someone who had tried it and it was not a success. Apart from anything else I think a problem would be that you would be diverting input energy straight to the back, which is damped by contact with the players chest, or belly in some cases. I also thought that you might need to arch the back , or put in some bracing on the back, to take the forces from the soundpost. Anyway, I convinced him that we should go one step at a time and start with the bridge. I built that and he was happy so I managed to avoid any more messing around.

Brandy? You aren't drinking rubbing alcohol are you?

When I modified the wooden plane, which I use for general woodwork, I finished with the gap at 2 mm. My jointing plane is 0.8mm. If I were going to modify your wooden plane for centre joints I would start with no gap and then gradually increase it until it does what you want, using the iron as a reference to keep it all square.

I had the same problem and I set a piece of wood into the sole to close the gap from the front.

Easily done the first time you touch one because it is way sharper than you might expect for something which isn't an edge tool. Maybe they hone the edges just for amusement.

Another vote for Luthiers Bench. I too have the one that Stewmac sell and it is gathering dust since I stopped making guitars.

I have a jig to plane a square section, then a second to plane into an octagon followed by a home-made dowel plate to take off about 0.2mm. It's very peaceful.

Arcus bows are carbon fibre, lightweight and certainly the P5 I use doesn't dampen, in my experience.

I have an Arcus P5 which I use on 3 violins and don't have the problem you describe, maybe the bows just don't go well with your violin.

Did you know that she died last month? The video of her doing the same circuit in a Ford Transit van is a wonder.

Indeed. I went to quite a few concerts given by the excellent Chilingirian Quartet over the years and was struck by the way Levon would spring out of his chair at moments of drama. As the years went by the altitude decreased. Such is life.

Playing a guitar with an overhang would be uncomfortable for both the leg and forearm.

Yes.