joerobson Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 A client of mine is doing his second "through the heart" viola. He drills a hole under the first string and has the sound post from the bridge to the back under the string. Has anyone done this? Heard of it? Have the background research? I believe the research was done by a couple of Finnish physicists, but I could be wrong. Thanks, Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonLeister Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 The Strad did an article about it, that might answer your question. I wish I could tell you which issue it was though! I'm guessing about 5 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Catoira Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 Hello Joe, The Through-post procedure is not an uncommon thing to see around where I am. A lot of people thought it was the greatest idea a few years back... You'll cut the top end of the frecuencies, i.e. the trebles so "it works" great if you are converting a small size fiddle into a "viola" My opinion? I wouldn't do it on anything with any value... think reversibility, once the hole is there, you can't put the wood back on. Well, you can do a through patch, and then things get expensive. Just my personal view in the matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Liu Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 I am not sure what you guys are talking about. Does anyone have a illustration? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Dorsey Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 I am not sure what you guys are talking about.... A hole is drilled through the top under the treble bridge foot. The soundpost runs from the back through the hole in the top to the underside of the bridge foot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernhard Ritschard Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 This reminds me of the medieval crwth.... And of the collaboration between the antroposoph Rudolf Steiner and Dr. Thomastik in the beginning of the 20th century, which resulted in a similar bridge-soundpost system. Many of these instruments have been built by a maker in Nürnberg... Weidler is his name, if my memories are correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
go_oa Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 As the proud possessor of one of the violas that Stradivarius made while in Romania in 1960, I decided to try the 'Hole in the Heart'. It worked pretty well. The viola improved a lot when I thinned the plates, and the 'Hole in the Heart' helped some more. Also my luthier's opening the bridge. The idea is that instead of locking a node into the top plate at the bridge, you free the top to have new and different modes, hoping that you will get better bass response. The poor thing has an open seam right now, so I have not played it recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
go_oa Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 As the proud possessor of one of the violas that Stradivarius made while in Romania in 1960, I decided to try the 'Hole in the Heart'. It worked pretty well. The viola improved a lot when I thinned the plates, and the 'Hole in the Heart' helped some more. Also my luthier's opening the bridge. The idea is that instead of locking a node into the top plate at the bridge, you free the top to have new and different modes, hoping that you will get better bass response. The poor thing has an open seam right now, so I have not played it recently. I got the picture attached! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Noon Posted February 10, 2011 Report Share Posted February 10, 2011 I did one of these conversions on a cheapo fiddle. Read about it here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph Liu Posted February 11, 2011 Report Share Posted February 11, 2011 Thank you Brad and go-oa. I have seen a few pictures but haven't seen an actual instrument done this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joerobson Posted February 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2011 Hello Joe, The Through-post procedure is not an uncommon thing to see around where I am. A lot of people thought it was the greatest idea a few years back... You'll cut the top end of the frecuencies, i.e. the trebles so "it works" great if you are converting a small size fiddle into a "viola" My opinion? I wouldn't do it on anything with any value... think reversibility, once the hole is there, you can't put the wood back on. Well, you can do a through patch, and then things get expensive. Just my personal view in the matter. Jose, For physical reasons, my client needs a small viola, but his primary motivation is a viola that has strong response across all strings and especially at the high end. Any feed back from the instruments you have heard? Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlesurgeon Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 This reminds me of the medieval crwth.... And of the collaboration between the antroposoph Rudolf Steiner and Dr. Thomastik in the beginning of the 20th century, which resulted in a similar bridge-soundpost system. Many of these instruments have been built by a maker in Nürnberg... Weidler is his name, if my memories are correct. Finally, an example of the phonics rule for vowels: a e i o u and sometimes y and sometimes w Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John (london) Posted September 7, 2020 Report Share Posted September 7, 2020 (edited) Bernhard Ritschard, Thomastik instruments (including a crwth, which they called "crotta", for less money) were still being made and sold in the 1980s. They had a hole on top through which the soundpost came. One foot of the bridge rested directly on that soundpost which connected to a bottom "S"-shaped bass bar, and the other foot rested on the top, which also had a "S"-shaped bass bar. The wood was soaked in body temperature water for 48 hours before carving. The same wood was used thoughout the instrument (maple or cherry, for 1st or 2nd violins respectively, silver birch ( think) for violas, and mountain ash for cellos - Dieter (a Rudolph Steiner organisation representative who had contacted my father, but needed to be in London, so he stayed with me. Unusually for a German, he had very little English, but I took him to a Swiss Brotherhood Church in Highbury so he heard the Gospel at least once in his life) said nothing to me about double basses. I was played a recording of Bach S & Ps played on one. The instrument sounded quite responsive, but there was something about the tone I just didn't like. Edited September 7, 2020 by John (london) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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