Bridge position: What's most important?

[Bill Merkel]

^Yes!  Perlman said Heifetz's hand was the perfect size and shape, meaning there is one   He doesn't do bad with his own big hammy fists though.  He and those on the opposite end are good inspiration for those without the standard hand...

[uncle duke]

5 minutes ago, Bill Merkel said:

  If you see some kind of twitch immediately after a shift most likely it's a small (or big) pitch adjustment.

I'd say the player is just searching for the sweetspot as compared to the last instrument they regularly used.  

[uncle duke]

4 minutes ago, Marty Kasprzyk said:

If having standard violin dimensions is a good idea does it then follow that having standard size players is also good?

Well, a player should dance with the one that brought them even more so if they started at a young age.  One less thing to worry about. 

As for myself I worry about neck/fingerboard thickness together - left too thick and the vibrato becomes more work.  Adjustments to the neck shape should start after the heel profile is deemed acceptable.  This opinion is just based upon my own left hand usage.  Too big of a heel can cause hand/thumb confusion.

As for bridge placement that 325mm placement makes some instruments sound strong - if used, higher up note intonation is what I'd be concerned about along with the notches not influencing me to move bridge even with them.  Do I want the violin to sound good or do I want the bridge and notches line up well?

 

[Edward Byler]

Many of del Gesu's violins have short string lengths in spite of normal neck lengths. Some very good makers copying them put the notches and bridge north of the 195mm as well . I shoot for a 193mm ,not 191mm like the original ,but that gives me around 326-7.

[nathan slobodkin]

7 hours ago, Bill Merkel said:

One thing string length says directly is how much you're going to have to stretch the 4th to do common things in first position or that ought to be common, like extended 4th finger.  If you were shopping.   No two people do the same things with their thumbs, much less at the same time, plus that's going to be determined by what the rest of the hand needs to do, not the fact that you just shifted.  If you see some kind of twitch immediately after a shift most likely it's a small (or big) pitch adjustment.

Just my point Bill.  When you learn to shift you learn a certain hand position that will put you in tune when your thumb touches the neck root. If you play on a short necked instrument your thumb touches but your fingers are still playing flat and you have to slide your fingers up to get to pitch. Long necks are somewhat better in that you can learn to move your hand up a set distance just like a trombone player moves their slide but it is definitely helpful have the guidance of feeling for the neck heel.

[Tostra]

Thanks for all the inputs. I will post a better picture when I get home and measure things more accurately if I have a better ruler. 

I think I'm going to put it a little closer to the notches, but maybe not all the way. That 2:3 ratio seems like a good thing to base it on, as I myself have been very annoyed at "wrong" heel placements according to my hands when getting a new cello. I might also just try a few positions ad see where it sounds best. 

[David Beard]

The octave frame of the first finger to the fourth finger, which also frames the fingers in each position and half position, is already changing and getting smaller with every half step we go up the string.  So a player is used to adjusting these continually with each position change.   The skills to change as needed to play in tune on instruments with slightly different string lengths falls within the skills needed to play on a standard length instrument.

i know there are players who do want the exact standard length.   But any player who is willing can easily adapt, almost instantly.      

I would suggest accommodating any player that wants the standard string length.   But all else being equal, I would rather adapt the string to the instruments ideal set up (what the maker planned).

[Quadibloc]

16 hours ago, David Beard said:

 I would suggest accommodating any player that wants the standard string length.   But all else being equal, I would rather adapt the string to the instruments ideal set up (what the maker planned).

As the topic of this thread was making a brand-new Baroque instrument for a customer, in that case, couldn't you do both? That is, given whatever design you are using, scale it up or down so that the string length in the instrument's ideal set-up, as intended originally, is the standard string length?

[Al Cramer]

My experience is pretty much limited to doing setups on ca. 1900 German/French trade instruments of no great value. For these I think soundpost position trumps bridge position. I set the bridge at the position of greatest wear on the top plate, (which is always somewhere between the outer and inner notches on the f-holes), then noodle around with the soundpost until it sounds best. Then I shift the bridge until it sounds even better.