Questions: Violin Ribs

by Randy DeBey

Originally published in American Lutherie #70, 2002 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Six, 2013

David K. Kyle of cyberspace asks:

I came across a violin made by the JCV Company where the ribs are one continuous piece, and there are no corner or end blocks. The ribs are shaped as if there are corner blocks. It is a little thicker at the end to hold the end pin, the two ends of the ribs are joined to the heel by grooves. The heel protrudes into the body to accommodate the grooves. Is this an unusual method for making a violin?

Randy DeBey of Portland, Oregon responds:

There was a short discussion of this type of construction in a violin maker’s e-mail discussion group last fall. Apparently, this method was common in Saxony until the mid-1800s and can still be found today in remote places of Finland and Eastern Europe. Not long after the discussion, a violin of this type was brought to me for repair. It had a bottom block and thin wood plates across the insides of the corners to disguise its lack of corner blocks. The base of the neck extended into the top of the body and the upper ribs were wedged into grooves on the sides of the neck base. It was not a well-made fiddle, more of a curiosity. ◆