Michael Darnton Posted March 17, 2005 Report Posted March 17, 2005 I just finished this today. I've never done anything like it before, but always wanted to. The assignment was a violin made in 1715, and set up in Paris in 1790 (to go with the new owner's transitional Tourte bow). I threw in the idea that if it was that age, it probably wouldn't have had its original board, which would have been replaced around 1760-1770 or so, with one of that time, but there wouldn't have been a neckset done at that point (a bit too early for that, by about 20 years). This is the result (I didn't have the right G string on hand, so that's not "authentic", and the bridge needs a bit of work, still.-): the violin (too big to embed on this page, I think.) The pegs are hand-made, not by me, about 30 years ago, and I did make the old-style tailpiece to match them.
Michael Darnton Posted March 17, 2005 Author Report Posted March 17, 2005 No--it's Italian spruce. . . supposedly. I don't necessarily believe that, since I didn't think they had any left. The wood is from SVS.
johnviol Posted March 17, 2005 Report Posted March 17, 2005 the reason i asked is that i have cedar tops that look just like that, the winter grains are bold and pronounced. cedar tops tend to have a very strong sappy smell too. nonetheless beautiful work, i like the underside of the fingerboard too, what radius did you use?
DarylG Posted March 17, 2005 Report Posted March 17, 2005 Michael, I think that looks pretty freakin' awesome!
Michael Darnton Posted March 17, 2005 Author Report Posted March 17, 2005 Radius on the underside? I just made it look like the arching that was below it, with a bit of expansion of the empty space as it went towards the bottom of the board. The top surface is like a modern board. For heel shapes and neck thickness, I just went with a composite of the violins in the book Shapes of the Baroque from around the late 1700s with the type of neck/board I wanted--this is friendlier than the really early shape that would have been original. The other departure from tradition is that instead of nails I used a stainless steel screw to hold the neck on. I once had to fix a violin with this type of neck held on by a big screw that had rusted and was holding the neck away from the ribs and couldn't be budged to move, so that's why the stainless.
johnviol Posted March 17, 2005 Report Posted March 17, 2005 nice work. any more photos of this project?
Michael Darnton Posted March 17, 2005 Author Report Posted March 17, 2005 No--when I was working, I wasn't thinking of photos.
Andres Sender Posted March 17, 2005 Report Posted March 17, 2005 Looks absolutely wonderful Michael! [Edit: which is to say, really stunning!] You can get the 'knot' for the tailgut onto the endbutton by burning the ends to widen them (soldering iron works great for this, smell is... entertaining), and make a half-hitch under the endpin, (which some tie with thread for peace of mind), like the Amati bros. violino piccolo at the National Music Museum: http://www.usd.edu/smm/Violins/AmatiViolin...pieceBackLG.jpg http://www.usd.edu/smm/Violins/AmatiViol...kPortraitLG.jpg
johnviol Posted March 17, 2005 Report Posted March 17, 2005 i know what you mean. nowadays my clients all ask that i document everything, so the wife comes in my shop everyday and takes pictures for me. makes a great addition to the finished violin. imo
Michael Darnton Posted March 17, 2005 Author Report Posted March 17, 2005 I'd seen this done with copper wire, which is what this is. I've also done it with a knot under the endbutton which is just a triple overlap (no knot at all) with the ends burned, a little like the way strings are held on classical guitar bridges. . . and now that I look at your link, that's how this one is, too), but I didn't have the appropriate piece of gut for that. I can change that later, though, if wanted. I sort of like the little polished copper twist on the bottom of the tailpiece, though.
Dean_Lapinel Posted March 17, 2005 Report Posted March 17, 2005 Wow!!! Beautiful work, beautiful photography!
Steve R. Posted March 17, 2005 Report Posted March 17, 2005 Very nice work. I think you did real well on the neckshape, since that shape and fingerboard angle are just about what I had on my violin (with a wedge under an modern style board) until until I had the neck reset and reshaped last November. My violin is dated 1790.
Andres Sender Posted March 17, 2005 Report Posted March 17, 2005 I guess this landsman's 'half-hitch' is a double-overlap. A sailor would say I'm turning the hitch the wrong way I suppose...
TimRobinson Posted March 17, 2005 Report Posted March 17, 2005 Beautiful - I wanted to make my third a baroque style now I feel like giving up :-) What is the fingerboard made of? I thought I had read that they were veneered with ebony over a lighter timber. Tim
Michael Darnton Posted March 17, 2005 Author Report Posted March 17, 2005 This one's ebony because it's not baroque--it's transitional, somewhat later.
Jacob Posted March 17, 2005 Report Posted March 17, 2005 Thanks so much for posting these images (I made a point of asking everytime this project came up, remember?). Looks fantastic. Is the saddle recessed into the end block?
Michael Darnton Posted March 17, 2005 Author Report Posted March 17, 2005 The saddle's a small one, half-way through, and doesn't stick up much.
yaumnik Posted March 17, 2005 Report Posted March 17, 2005 Wow, what a beaute! How does it sound so far?
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