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Books on Viol De Gamba Construction.

William B

By William B,
in The Pegbox

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William B Junior Member

William B

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Hello all.

Well, my first post here since joining a while back.

I have been looking - to no avail - for books concerning the building of Viol De Gambas.  The main treatise I can come up with is:

Building a Treble Viola Da Gamba: A Detailed Step-by-Step Guide
by Wolfgang Bottenberg

Save that I can not find it anywhere -it is seemingly out of print and has been for some time. I have seen it in a luthier Library but I am in Sydney and the Library is in America.

Does Anyone have any good sources of information for building the various Gemba's? (I have watched many, many you tube videos, but they only take one so far....).

I have found this publication - "Viola Da Gamba  by Nathalie Dolmetsch"  is anyone here familiar with it and it's contents?

I actually do have some Gamba  plans on the way , and additionally, I have books on Double Bass construction. But books specifically Gamba? no Luck. If anyone can help or suggest some good sources, I would be eternally grateful.

If anyone has this Bottenberq book and would like to part with/sell it, then again, I would be eternally grateful.

Thank You for taking the time to read. I figured that this would be the best place to ask, it's such a great site and I have learned so much here.

Sincerely

William

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duane88 Enthusiast

duane88

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Somewhere I have a book on musical instrument making that has violin making by Adam Paul, Gamba Making by Diedrich Kessler, classical guitar building (can't recall who). I'll look for that. It is more an overview of the construction of each instrument than a method book. I can't recall the name, but I have it here in the shop somewhere...

 

This:

51butKNFbaL._SX315_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

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Josep Pampidó New Member

Josep Pampidó

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I have also the 'Making musical instruments'. There are only 22 pages on this subject in it, so not much detailed. Making a search in Google by 'Making musical instruments Ford Australia' appears several entries in public libraries. I am interested also in a more detailed book. If necessary I can scan these pages and send them to you.

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J.DiLisio Enthusiast

J.DiLisio

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On 11/28/2020 at 11:08 AM, jacobsaunders said:

You could do worse that starting with reading William Monicals “Shapes of the Baroque” (if you haven't already). One used to be able to download it for free from his web site, but the website seems to have gone dead. Perhaps another Maestronetter knows where you can get it from now.

https://www.academia.edu/25898590/Shapes_of_the_baroque

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William B Junior Member

William B

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Firstly -  apologies to ALL in my lateness of reply.

Well. There is quite a lot to go through here with links and suggestions - so I would like to answer you all and maybe ask some questions - but I will do that tomorrow.

In the meantime and once again: thank you for your replies.

William B.

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William B Junior Member

William B

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On 11/29/2020 at 3:08 AM, jacobsaunders said:

You could do worse that starting with reading William Monicals “Shapes of the Baroque” (if you haven't already). One used to be able to download it for free from his web site, but the website seems to have gone dead. Perhaps another Maestronetter knows where you can get it from now.

Thank You,  I have downloaded this from: (1) (PDF) Shapes of the baroque | William Monical - Academia.edu

 

On 11/29/2020 at 4:01 AM, duane88 said:

Somewhere I have a book on musical instrument making that has violin making by Adam Paul, Gamba Making by Diedrich Kessler, classical guitar building (can't recall who). I'll look for that. It is more an overview of the construction of each instrument than a method book. I can't recall the name, but I have it here in the shop somewhere...This: (Making Musical Instruments Charles Ford

Thanks -  I believe it is in a library here.

 

On 11/29/2020 at 3:20 AM, jacobsaunders said:

Bau einer Gambe,Viola da gamba, nach dem Original von Michel Colichon Paris 1683 - YouTube

Thank you Jacob - I have this bookmarked. Very nice.

 

On 11/29/2020 at 4:55 AM, violguy said:

I have some useful info for you, but I am not in my library at present. I will post later today.

Thanks ViolGuy - If you did manage to find or recommend anything it would be very appreciated. I have some plans coming for a Bass Viol - which at least will give me a start.

 

On 11/29/2020 at 6:42 AM, Josep Pampidó said:

I have also the 'Making musical instruments'. There are only 22 pages on this subject in it, so not much detailed. Making a search in Google by 'Making musical instruments Ford Australia' appears several entries in public libraries. I am interested also in a more detailed book. If necessary I can scan these pages and send them to you.

Thank you, It would be great if you had them scanned - but do you think the book worth getting in general, for general knowledge?

 

On 11/29/2020 at 9:01 AM, Marty Kasprzyk said:

 

You might find something on the construction in:  Journal of the Viola da Gamba Society of America

 https://vdgsa.org

https://vdgsa.org/cgi-bin/membership/m1.cgi

Great - I will go there as soon as I can. and basically ask similar questions. lol  I have found one in Australia too.

 

On 11/29/2020 at 11:50 PM, Mark Caudle said:

I am sorry that didn't work out but here is Dietrich Kessler's classic article from 1982 which explains his discovery and methodology for English (and French) viol construction

kessler1982.pdf 8.13 MB · 14 downloads

Sorry, still can't upload. I'm giving up.

What you have sent is great - it has a link to the edition it comes from on the side. If the problem you had is because of send here - I can give you my address if you like. But I really appreciate what you have sent. 

 

On 11/30/2020 at 5:50 AM, Carl Johnson said:

Fred LaBarre wrote a dissertation on making a Treble Viol, you can download it here

https://ccrma.stanford.edu/marl/CASL/documents/LaBarre_Dissertation.pdf

There’s a drawing for a treble that’s unfortunately not at that link, I will try and find a pdf I have and add it.

I have downloaded this, thank you. IF you did have that pdf at the end my gratitude would be sincere. I can not find it anywhere. Thank you.

 

On 11/30/2020 at 7:31 AM, J.DiLisio said:

https://www.academia.edu/25898590/Shapes_of_the_baroque

I have downloaded this too. it is fantastic. Very illuminating. Thank you

 

On 11/30/2020 at 9:57 AM, Jaan Tatikas said:

https://www.amazon.com/La-Viole-de-gambe/dp/2249251096

 

It is for Kindle but I think you should be able to convert it to .pdf or other formats if needed.

Oi Vey! This took a lot of faffing to get. Fortunately a friend in the UK  gifted it to me in the end. Microsoft Word Translate is really helping with my (now) slow French. It is a really good publication. Thank you.

 

On 11/30/2020 at 11:13 AM, Andres Sender said:

Take LaBarre with a grain of salt.

I would really like to know why you say this. As I trust your words, especially  with me being so new to this.. Is it not so "accurate" or too much...'fiction'?  
please could you let me know? Thank You!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Wow. I really wanted to get this response out earlier, but, well, life stuff..  I hope I haven't left any one out. So much information and help was completely unexpected, and already I have learned so much. Just from reading and looking. I hope I can be of help as time goes forward..

Many Regards and stay well,
Wb.

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violguy Senior Member

violguy

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On 11/28/2020 at 12:55 PM, violguy said:

I have some useful info for you, but I am not in my library at present. I will post later today.

I was going to refer you to the LaBarre Ms. but others on here have beat me to it!

In your recent post you mentioned having plans for a Bass VdG. Where did you get them as I have been looking for new sources also?

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

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William B Junior Member

William B

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On 12/8/2020 at 5:42 AM, Salve Håkedal said:

If you read german:

 

I don't read German - but there are always ways around that! It looks like it is out of print, but I can see it on the internet, I will Search. Thanks!

 

On 12/8/2020 at 8:07 AM, violguy said:

I was going to refer you to the LaBarre Ms. but others on here have beat me to it!

In your recent post you mentioned having plans for a Bass VdG. Where did you get them as I have been looking for new sources also?

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

Thank you violguy - yep, got that.  I got the plans from....er...I have to search to remember - but I just found this- have not had time to search the site yet:The Orpheon Foundation: Viola da gamba Albanus

Blasted if I can remember where I purchased the plans from. AHH! wait I will search PayPal:
GAL - Guild of American Luthiers.
Plan #40 - English Treble ’Gamba after Henry Jaye
Plan #29 - Low-Cost Bass Viol.
 

Do you have the same ? Or different? Do let me know.
Regards Wb.

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violguy Senior Member

violguy

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On 12/8/2020 at 7:59 AM, William B said:

I don't read German - but there are always ways around that! It looks like it is out of print, but I can see it on the internet, I will Search. Thanks!

 

Thank you violguy - yep, got that.  I got the plans from....er...I have to search to remember - but I just found this- have not had time to search the site yet:The Orpheon Foundation: Viola da gamba Albanus

Blasted if I can remember where I purchased the plans from. AHH! wait I will search PayPal:
GAL - Guild of American Luthiers.
Plan #40 - English Treble ’Gamba after Henry Jaye
Plan #29 - Low-Cost Bass Viol.
 

Do you have the same ? Or different? Do let me know.
Regards Wb.

I have those GAL gamba plans. In fact, I have one on my bench right now. The Boston Museum published a set of plans,drawn by Donald Warnock. I also have this gamba under construction presently. Still searching for more plan sources.

Cheers!

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William B Junior Member

William B

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11 hours ago, violguy said:

I have those GAL gamba plans. In fact, I have one on my bench right now. The Boston Museum published a set of plans,drawn by Donald Warnock. I also have this gamba under construction presently. Still searching for more plan sources.

Cheers!

Thanks - is that the "Division viola da Gamba" from Boston Museum of Fine Art?
Wb.

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JELaBarre New Member

JELaBarre

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On 11/29/2020 at 1:50 PM, Carl Johnson said:

Fred LaBarre wrote a dissertation on making a Treble Viol, you can download it here

https://ccrma.stanford.edu/marl/CASL/documents/LaBarre_Dissertation.pdf

There’s a drawing for a treble that’s unfortunately not at that link, I will try and find a pdf I have and add it.

I still need to scan dad's book (I have the original paste-ups and drawings).  I had been thinking of posting it under Creative Commons (one of the non-commercial licenses) so it could be readily used by schools.

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Mark Caudle Senior Member

Mark Caudle

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The best viol plans I know are those drawn by Stephen Barber of the Colichon and Meares now in the Royal College of Music collection (the same Meares as the one in the article by Dietrich Kessler). I don't think these are readily available and Stephen Barber has now passed away. But really worth searching for as they are superbly detailed. 

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