Posted on June 13, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Violin Bridge Holder Violin Bridge Holder by Alan Carruth Originally published in American Lutherie #7, 1986 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 Thanks to George Manno for some feedback on his experience with bridge tuning. Bridges on good violins do tend to be quite similar, but I still like to work them up individually. And he is certainly right about fitting the feet! One dimension he seems to have left out is the thickness of the feet at the bottom of the bridge, generally given as 4.5MM (3/16"). If this is too heavy it can make the instrument sound “closed.” If you don’t want to thin it anymore a bit of wood can be removed from the end of the leg without affecting the stiffness too much. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on June 6, 2024May 27, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Kit Fiddle Drawings Questions: Kit Fiddle Drawings by Robert Hickey Originally published in American Lutherie #90, 2007 ■ Robert Hickey of Liberty, North Carolina asks: Last weekend I learned about “kit fiddles” (also called dancing master’s violins) while visiting the historical area at Williamsburg, Virginia. Where could I obtain detailed drawings of the instrument? Robert Hickey answers his own question: Thanks for passing on the info from Darcy Kuronen at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, pointing to the kit violin at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. Michael Latcham, Curator of Musical Instruments there, mentioned the oddity of this instrument and also that the instrument has no sides, and they are not even sure if it was ever a viable instrument. But he did refer to luthier Claude Lebet in Rome (www.claudelebet.com), who examined their instrument and has information on other such instruments. He has written a book on the subject, La Pochette du Maître à Danser, which includes text in both French and English. It is a history of kit violins from the 1400s to the present with a wealth of photos of instruments held in museums mostly in Europe, but a dearth of drawings from which an instrument could be constructed. These instruments were made in a variety of sizes and styles to no particular standard other than the ability to fit into a coat pocket of the time. This lack of standardization may well be the reason that there are few if any plans available. It seems that the builder is free to do whatever works. I wonder if there was any bracing inside. These instruments were much more than curios for several hundred years. The era’s greatest luthiers made many of them, including Stradivari. Too bad they fell from favor. ◆
Posted on March 7, 2024June 6, 2025 by Dale Phillips Hardanger Fiddle Hardanger Fiddle by E.M. Peters Originally published in American Lutherie #7, 1986 The Hardanger fiddle differs from the conventional violin in several respects. Most apparent is the fact that it has eight strings. It has four strings which are bowed in the usual manner, and in addition it has four strings on a lower level, running under the fretboard. These lower four, sympathetic strings resound to the vibration of the four upper strings when these are stroked with the bow. There are other differences between the Hardanger fiddle and the common fiddle, too. The bridge and the fingerboard are flatter, making it easier to stroke two strings at the same time. Much of the time they are stroked two at a time, one open and one stopped. The usual fiddle is tuned one way (E, A, D, G), but the Hardanger fiddle, in the hands of an expert, may be tuned in over twenty ways. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on March 4, 2024May 16, 2025 by Dale Phillips Chemical Stains Chemical Stains by Michael Darnton Originally published in American Lutherie #32, 1992 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 One of the biggest problems for the violin maker trying to replicate the effects of time is the imitation of the color of ancient wood. Even unantiqued instruments benefit from the rich appearance of old, time-darkened wood under a coat of fine varnish. Chemical stains have the greatest promise for replicating the look of old wood. Unlike aniline and pigment dyes which insert foreign colors into the wood, either in the form of a soluble dye or of a solid pigment, chemical stains cause a color change in the wood itself. The change is both permanent and clean-looking when compared to that of aniline and pigment colors. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on March 3, 2024May 9, 2025 by Dale Phillips Marvels among the Reeds Marvels among the Reeds by Susan Norris Originally published in American Lutherie #11, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 Maybe it was my fantastic upbringing with parents who were (and are) scientists, lovers of nature and animals; people who loved to have fun and who nurtured the inquisitive mind in all of us, their children. I grew up sleeping with a bobcat curled up around my head, swimming with dolphins in warm lagoons, and tramping around in pursuit of lizards in the desert. When I think of where my inspiration comes from, these marvelous communications with animals and people from all over the world come swimming colorfully into my vision. When I walk out in the woods near our shop, the trees and mountains sing inspiration to me, and I can’t help but create in ways that speak their soul and mine combined. A number of years ago, soon after I moved to Vermont from Oregon, where I had been studying violin making with Paul Schuback, I met Fred Carlson and Ken Riportella at a Guild convention in Boston, which I had miraculously stumbled upon. Their approach to instrument making excited me and rang true with my own feeling that instrument making is an evolving process, and perhaps it’s been getting a bit too stuck. There is absolutely no reason why it can’t continue to grow and flower along with the rest of us! Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
