Compensating for misalignment

[Sam Howell]

It's always been my practice to compensate for misaligned fingerboards (necks) at the bridge position by fitting the bridge to lean, one foot longer than the other. The other two approaches are to 1) "cheat the crown" (cut the string notches closer to one side of the bridge than the other; and 2) trim the ankles from the outside on one side and the inside of the other. 

Does anyone want to argue the superiority/inferiority of any of these approaches?

 

[Michael Darnton]

No matter which, the string path is a dogleg. One additional method, but invasive, is to move the endpin so the path is straight, or better, just slide the tail guy sideways. Whichever, I place more tonal importance on a straight path than I getting centered right between the f holes.

But the decider is always sound, for me, and if it's important I do what will work best and that's usually to bear down and rip out the neck and do it right.

[David Burgess]

Sam, another approach is to put the string path straight, and not worry whether or not the top and bottom strings are perfectly equidistant from the sides of the fingerboard.

But I haven't found that a straight string path always sounds superior or plays better. Sometimes things work better offset a little bit for reasons I can't entirely explain.

[The Violin Beautiful]

I tend to prioritize finding a balanced position for the bridge in relation to the centerline of the top, not to the fingerboard. If I’m dealing with instruments with crooked necks, it sometimes comes down to what will work best for the customer. If the strings end up too far to one side, it’ll feel like the fingers are falling off the board in higher positions. I will sometimes adjust with the customer until the position is comfortable for the player and then do my best to adjust the post to make up for the detriment. 
 

If things are misaligned, you have to make some kind of sacrifice to make it work. Lining the strings up perfectly on the fingerboard is my compromise, even though it can look odd. I don’t tend to lean my bridges or move the strings out of position because I see those things as sacrifices to the structure and tone of the bridge, and the more components are compromised the greater the difficulty in finding a balance (at least in my mind).

[Michael Darnton]

@The Violin Beautiful In my experience, when the board drifts it only drifts towards the bass side, making the decision to center the bridge on the nicks a hard one (as the E string will then be too close to the edge.) Such is life. :-(

[violins88]

My 21st violin has a tilted neck. If the endpin were moved maybe 5 mm to the right, it would be aligned. Here is a very impromptu recording. I hope the neck lasts a long time.
 

 

[Don Noon]

18 hours ago, The Violin Beautiful said:

I tend to prioritize finding a balanced position for the bridge in relation to the centerline of the top, not to the fingerboard...

If things are misaligned, you have to make some kind of sacrifice to make it work. Lining the strings up perfectly on the fingerboard is my compromise, even though it can look odd. 

My first priority would be to center the bridge on the body, and compromise other things:  shape the bridge crown and position the string grooves to get the string/fingerboard setup right.  Perhaps the string/fingerboard lateral position could be offset slightly as a compromise.

On one of my early violins, I somehow got the neck alignment off to the E side, and made the adjustments as above.  There is enough friction at the bridge feet to keep the bridge from sliding sideways from the increased sideforce... most of the time.  Impacts to the bridge or waxing the top are not advisable.

I suppose theoretically shifting the strings to the right would increase treble and decrease bass and vice versa, but with a datapoint of one, I haven't been able to notice.