Emilg

yeah well, by 'not working' i sort of meant 'confusing' and 'complex' after having used .40 density i went to 0.38 on the last two, which seems work nice, but it's hard to tell if there were other factors as well. I read DG used 0.38 on average, Strads were 0.39 average but with a wide spread from 0.35 to 0.44 iirc. I'll have to wait a bit to use the 0.43 billets i have until i know what i'm doing

Could it be that we only get to see and hear the good violins and the failures end up as spare parts or in the bin. I read somewhere that a successful luthier was terrified that he couldn't live up to expectations after making an excellent one. I did see a video on YT of a girl playing a Strad copy which was made by collaboration of 50 luthiers, it sounded pretty good next to the original. (imagine 10 luthiers working on the top graduation/arching at the same time ) Yes QB, in fact everything matters, but i think Danube is making the point that there are no magic bullets, every fact has contradictory opinions and reality seems to go it's own way. It's always difficult to say what did what in the end result (at least for me). Few more things that 'don't work' - density - aging - playing in - blind tests - appraisals - bows

Maybe you can add: - wood treatment: soaking, baking, fungi, .. - graduation: exact copying of the old masters

Very good summary Danube, you should write a book on violin building Still, now and then we get lucky and make a nice violin, but it's all beyond our control

Violins eh, why can't it just be easy and straight forward

David, did you measure M5 of the top before and after those years?

Thanks Marty, ok how about the tension due to the glue coat shrinking .. is it temporary or does it last forever?

you can order them direct from the Warchal webshop, all first sets are 50% off so you can try different strings

I have bought a set of Timbre, but i'm saving it for #6.. sofar i have been using Karneol and Amber, i think they are pretty good also.

Marty, does this also apply to eggwhite? And how long will this tension last, or is it indefinite?

This one from 2004 looks quite similar, maybe even the same one .. https://www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/2239/lots/271A Estimate $100-200 Sold for: $235

Don, as an experiment i re-topped a violin which had a quite weak sound (#3). I used a piece of spruce i had from my guitar building days for bracing. It was quite wide grained but had a highish RR of 15.1. The free plate M5 however turned out disappointingly low: 280 Hz w/o bb and 327 w. bb. at 68 grams. I coated the inside with a few layers of eggwhite, maybe less than 1g. M5 was now 340 Hz with bb, an increase of 13 Hz! So what you say makes sense: the crossgrain stiffness was low because of the wide graines and the eggwhite sort of fixed that. The longitudinal stiffness was probably uneffected by the coating. I guess together they support M5. The violins sound was totally transformed. It is now the loudest violin i have, with a strong E which i hope will mellow down a bit. G and A are strong too, as is the D, which on my other violins is sometimes weaker in the lower positions. G, D and A also sound good, but A from 5th pos and up and E need to develop (sound stiff/harsh). To sum it up: i'd say the top makes up 90% of the sound and power. I can't say what the eggwhite did soundwise, but it helped stiffen the top (M5) quite a bit.

Thanks, i hadn't realized he was a fellow dutchman ..

Or start with just violins So the Chinese production is about 300.000 violins a year, for the last 50 years? Probably less in the beginnning, so ca. 10 million total. If 30% has been disposed, that leaves 7 million. If the total production in the rest of the world (from the 16th century, what's left) is about half of that, 10 million total look about right? Different approach: if 1 in every 500 persons owns a violin world wide, that would add up to about 14 milllion. Are there any estimates on old Italians / Cremonese? and German, French, Eastern Europe?