sospiri

I have only seen photos, but he has superb carving skills in imitating the famous makers in many details. It's very nice. But if it was American it would have had a label. For a faker, wouldn't an unlabelled instrument be used, i.e. Chinese or Eastern European?

Two different instruments. Old and new. If the neck is longer, should the plates be thicker? Is a 60-65g belly better for a 229-330mm string length than 70-75?

What's the Latin for "Restore, don't improve"? And what about "Invasive surgery only when absolutely essential"?

Even if you could do it yourself with minimal damage, there is still no good reason to remove the belly, just to look at the linings from above.

A nailed on neck 1cm shorter?

So, no scraper? What about burnishing?

Is there a big difference inside and out? I see big jumps in RH here in the UK for outdoor readings, but are the indoor readings much more stable, even without air conditioning?

I am aware of your proclivities.

Are you an expert in the subject?

Violins. No UV box. Several experiments with direct sunlight, often for many hours. Conclusion, direct sun drying is pointless. However, I am in agreement with the quote, which is most likely from Nicolo Amati as John Harte explained above. My point all along was how these quotes could be misinterpreted. There is a good explanation here: https://themessiahviolin.uk/ Click on the link to the pdf files, below the image of the book. Open Chapter 12

I have thousands of hours of varnishing experience. That is not an exaggeration. That's why I have been trying to discuss these ideas since I started posting here. But as you see, people get ideas in their heads that are questionable.

So are you still insisting that this quote is attributable to Stradivari?

Is it a famous quote from before he was born? Go on, please dig it out for my enlightenment.

Absolutely

I'm trying to explain that the quote has been misinterpreted down the years. The actual quote from Stradivari was about retouching some varnish. It wasn't specifically about his varnishing method. The whole issue has been muddled up and repeated without specific reference.