Evan Smith

It is extra long to cover all of the damage that has occurred and give it extra support, it would appear there has been plenty of it, and on both sides.

A bit of stuff in the space between the wing ends on the F-holes, I've seen it several times before, just on one or two high notes.

Looks like severe damage on either side of the old block, you should know J's always right. Does that low rider end pin make it sound like a viola, with the extra length and all, or do all repairmen imbibe in cheese and wine?

hey Mike, I don't mean to jump in from nowhere, and appear like the devil, I really have other things to do than to post on an internet forum,,, for now, though I do miss teaching (20 yrs) and the interactions, internet is not the same as. Violins have been the center of my life for decades, so without it, something fundamentally is sorta missing,,,. That being as it may,, I think that I often am too short, to the point and thoughtless,, for, ,,,I think that ....."The", "I know something and you don't" attitude is really dark, and I may sometimes project that unwittingly. I really enjoy watching you guys do this stuff for the first time. It is really amazing ,the availability of good information now days and how well able you are to correctly produce something that is decent, right out of the gate, congratulations! And a mention for Davide and the great service he provides in our favor. A really good way to see corners and understand them, is to take photos and print or have them printed, a stack of them,,,some full size, and some, just the corners blown up extra large,, the size of your hand large,,the bigger the better. Back plates are more complete. Strad, Amati,,, and Del Gesu can be particularly interesting. Then take a compass, and relax, and sit down at a nice table in the park and just draw circles around the corners, and see how things interact. The compass is the law, so just pay attention, and see how things measure up to perfection, and judge accordingly. Once you get it in your head, you can't get it out, so be careful what you put in there. You will be able to make any kind of corner that you would like, perfectly. You can watch it take shape at your will. Have you seen the pics of the Lady Blunt corners that Michael Darnton so graciously posted? Those would teach a lot, they are as perfectly preserved as you will see, blown up they will show it all on closer inspection, but will thy pass muster? Some Del Gesu back plates are stunning, as are some Strads. Amati's can be spectacularly elegant, You need to look as them through the eyes of perfection to really see them.

With corners, a little bit can make a huge difference. There is a language to corners, and there are rules. Amati, Strad, DelGesu, they didn't just do it till they thought it looked good, there are geometric principles behind it, looking good to me, and to most people will look self taught,,home made, looking good according to geometric principles with a touch of artistic flair will always look elegant. Some of us have spent years studying Italian corners, they are elegant and refined. It is all in how the curves intersect each other, whether or not the radius changes throughout the curve, or remains the same, and how they intersect at the corners end. The impression should be that the lines are going to continue and curl back out and away from each other, not follow the corner out and at some distant point and cross each other at the end. It only takes a tiny bit of refinement to accomplish this final look. I personally at this early stage, would never finish the corners without the purfling in and the plate on the ribs, it is good enough to get a clean overhang, the basic corners cut out according to the shape of the mold, then the purf. It is the whole that has to congeal together along with the f's. It all looks completely different when it is assembled, then it is much easier to pull the corners into shape. Once a few are finished it all becomes evident. Davide can do anything in any order he wants, he has a crystal clear vision of his goal,,, from all directions, before and after. I would never put in any tribute to him unless I sat under his wings for a while, and could make a fiddle that looks like he might have made it, with all due respect. Evan, just blathering on.

A straight edge can be used to clear the channel over the purf and on to the outer edge, and the F fluting but mine are fingernailed a bit anyway, other than that, after a hundred, I wouldn't know how to use a square edged gouge efficiently for the rest of it, maybe someday I'll get it figured out. Evan, just blathering on, and on, and on.

are you sure? That is an odd number, though be it, the number of perfection, but 8 is really smooth and well balanced,,, it is!,,, might well improve the feel of the bow. 7, a bit scratchy,,, would you reconsider?

Great question, that would be a division of labor.

I did make a viola built on the back in 2 days, varnished it on the third. I did take the piss, quite a large one. When a violin maker is knocking them out for a living, there are things to consider. There is not much time for pecking around and nibbling at things all day, just cut it and get done. As a result of most humans being dominant handed, as in right or left, the work will appear different from side to side. Corners will be developed slightly different, f-holes slightly different, sides of the scroll different, and can be the most difficult. Of course one can take the time and make them perfect, and at times I do, but where's the fun in that. Much nicer to leave it to abandon, and if a person knows what they are doing, and lets the chips fly, things can turn out grand. A good workman knows how to let the tools dictate the work, and allows the tools do what they do best. I will use different tools for different models because they lend themselves to different outcomes easily. Rather than using a certain gouge (or scrapers) for the edgework or scroll, and trying to make it work, I grab the ones that give the desired outcome naturally, and I don't have to think about it. Just looking at your fiddle, it is clear what tools one would use to copy it, and it's probably based off of the the Alard Del Gesu, so a bit of asymmetry is acceptable. I think it's funny how a lot of these look to be Del Gesu"s built by Strad.

This is correct Henry. And as such different pieces of maple will have to be dealt with completely different. High density maple with shallow flames will need dark resin thinned and possibility applied with a bit of heat to get enough into the wood to show the contrast of the flames, whereas the same treatment will totally burn the flames of a lighter density with larger pores and deeper flames, deeper, referring to the angle of the flame in relation to the surface plane, and as such these need some type of sealer, light colored resin or a mineral ground to avoid the burn.

Looks like Carolina Poplar, commonly used for electric guitar veneered tops. Don't use it for a violin back.

The points on your corner blocks are way too long, best to take the ribs back off and shorten them now.

Some tails are great, some are nasty,,,, I suppose that they could be part of the process as in, they tie it in hanks before they cut it. Tie it with a bit of super glue to preserve it during cleaning. I don't know just guessing, they can spray it with a good surfactant, maybe 409? It cuts all dirt grime and oils, brush it out then rinse and brush. Then a bit of dish soap, brush and rinse. They would probably enjoy being part of the process. Then you just hi grade it by removing the bad, and retying the hanks. Or just tell me to go sit in the corner.

I honestly think you should be able to do anything that is needed on any violin with any of those bridges. Bridges are very sensitive to minor changes. No matter how stiff the bridge, you should be able to mellow out the harshest of instruments. Placing too much weight on bridges for the outcome will probably end in disappointment. For a long time every bridge I cut sounded different on the same fiddle, and that was after training under a master set up Dude with a capital D. They would say go cut a hundred, then come talk to me grasshopper. Now, every bridge sounds exactly the same if I desire, and designed to compliment any fiddle as I desire. There is a realm of proper stiffness and weight for a bridge. If they are so soft that they will produce only a soft mellow sound then they are too soft and will not enjoy a long life, they will fail early. They will filter out things,,, but? In this instance I am not concerned with what someone else says about it. I know what works and can demonstrate it at will. You could have some one show you how to properly match a bridge acoustically to the instrument. The Idea that picking out bridges from a known supplier by photos is beyond understanding. As is the problem with the internet, if you were here I could easily take any of, or all three, and prove my point, ah but alas, I am speaking into the black void of who knows what and where.

I had to look to figure which one it could be? Well Damn! That's all I have to sat about that.