Posted on October 25, 2021March 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips Geometric Design of the Stradivari Model G Violin, Part Three: The Scroll Geometric Design of the Stradivari Model G Violin, Part Three: The Scroll with Robert J. Spear Originally published in American Lutherie #95, 2008 see also, Geometric Design of the Stradivari Model G Violin, Part One: Mold and Template by Robert J. Spear Geometric Design of the Stradivari Model G Violin, Part Two: f-holes by Robert J. Spear Scrolls are all about spirals, and in mathematics only two kinds of spirals exist: the Archimedean and the logarithmic. The Archimedean is considered a special case because it is the only spiral where the expansion of each complete turn is identical in dimension to the one before or after it. A commonly used example is that of a tightly coiled garden hose laid on a flat surface. All other spirals, including golden-section spirals, are logarithmic. Although the actual distance between turns of log spirals is not uniform, the rate of expansion remains constant. To the Renaissance geometer and artisan, spirals were a natural form of great beauty and inspiration. A spiral played with the viewer’s visual senses, leading his eye on a merry chase and fooling it with the subtle shifting of its expansion. In modern times, the execution of the scroll is considered one of the few remaining places on the violin where the craftsman can display individuality, originality, and skill — and sometimes even all of these together! 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 September 22, 2021March 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips The Paul Schuback Story The Paul Schuback Story from his 1986 GAL Convention lecture Originally published in American Lutherie #9, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 Paul Schuback was born in Barbados in the West Indies in 1946 and moved to the United States at the age of nine months. Through his experiences and training, he lived in thirty-three different homes before the age of twenty. His interest in musical instruments began when he was quite young, when he took up the violin at the age of seven. At the age of nine he began playing the cello, joining a youth symphony orchestra in Utah at the age of fifteen. Then, before graduating high school, he began his career as a luthier with a three-year apprenticeship to master Rene Morizot, in Mirecourt, France. Following this, he specialized in violin making in Mittenwald, Germany. He then became a graduate in bow making at the Morizot Freres again in Mirecourt, France. He continued his studies by researching historical instruments in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. From 1968 to 1971 he worked as journeyman in the Peter Paul Prier violin shop in Salt Lake City, Utah, before moving to Portland, Oregon, where he established his own workshop and where he resides today. 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 August 12, 2021March 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips Remembering Harry LeBovit Remembering Harry LeBovit by Fred Calland Originally published in American Lutherie #10, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 Harry LeBovit’s company was always and unvaryingly a pleasure, and his companionship was never touched by shyness, aloofness, or anything boring like that. I can’t remember the first time I met him, and I know why I can’t; the man put me at ease on the spot, probably saying something like, “You must be very happy doing something so interesting so well.” Now add to that a sort of uneven smile and a warm welcoming expression, and you have a master of diplomacy, a man capable of aggressive friendship, and an irresistible companion in spirit. 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 August 11, 2021March 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips Violin Varnish and Sealers Violin Varnish and Sealers by Graham Caldersmith Originally published as Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #276, 1984, and Big Red Book of American Luthierie Volume One, 2000 Probably more unsubstantiated speculation has been written about violin varnish, its effects on the instrument, and the quest for the “lost” Cremonese recipe than about any other of the subtleties of the violin and its behavior. It is true that those who have examined enough violins to appreciate the variety of varnishing systems employed by different makers in different ages cannot but admire the clear golden-brown varnish sometimes grading to a deep red that characterizes 17th–18th century Cremonese instruments. It is also true that varnish preparation and application techniques changed to more durable and convenient ones towards the end of the 18th century when faster drying oil and spirit varnishes were developed to meet the needs of the growing furniture trade, arguably at the expense of transparency and lucidity. So while bearing in mind that the early Cremonese varnishes were not unique to the violin trade, since they appear on fine furniture and wooden ornaments of the same period, we may reasonably inquire as to how important the varnishing techniques used by the Cremonese Masters were to the excellence of the violins they produced. Were the advantages of Cremonese varnishing merely passive, in that they preserved good violins into sublime maturity, or were they also active, conditioning the wood for optimal acoustical behavior? 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 August 11, 2021March 5, 2024 by Dale Phillips The Travielo The Travielo by Ernest Nussbaum Originally published in American Lutherie #5, 1986 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 Cellists who want to travel with their instruments have a problem: on air trips they must purchase a seat for the cello or take the risk of having it damaged if checked into the baggage compartment, and in most cars it won’t fit into the trunk and thus takes up at least one passenger seat. In other words, it’s too big. For professional cellists traveling to a playing engagement, the purchase of a plane seat is a necessity which at least constitutes a deductible business expense. For symphony musicians on tour there is no problem at all because orchestras have provision for safe shipping of the larger instruments. But for the cellist who would like to practice during a vacation trip or play chamber music with friends at the other end, the expense and bother of taking the cello along often result in its getting left behind. 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.
