James Sanford

Good grief! I just use a coupla rulers!

 

Higher bridge does give some more volume, but everything is a tradeoff.  If 27mm projection wasn't pretty near optimum, it wouldn't have become the nominal standard. Learn to really cut a good bridge and fit a sound post, and be really consistent in your work before you start messing with other stuff.  If you can't do really good, consistent setups, then how can you tell what difference other changes made.  Too many variables.

Good advise which I will follow.  Really just curious as to how this is viewed in the violin community.

I have established a consistent approach to the way I set these instruments up. I have even taken lessons from a competent teacher as to how to use the bow so I can better evaluate the sound of these instruments.  I am not a fiddle player so this is a bit of a challenge but I am now consistent enough to be able to discern the difference in tone and volume of a series of instruments.

I have never had a really good violin in my hands so the learning curve is hindered.  My teacher has a 1920's Becker which I am hopeful he will allow me to look at and perhaps play just a bit.  This would help I am sure.

Thanks to all who have responded.  I will follow advice given.

Another question...mandolins generally have more volume with higher bridges.  Is this an area of experiments in the general violin community and if so what are the pros and cons?

Don: in the decorations to the scroll the beaded border is just too perfect, suggesting a mold. It would have taken someone forever to get those so perfectly rounded.

Vathek,  I posted a picture looking down on the decorations and you will note that they are the same except mounted in reverse positions.  I think this confirms the molded question.

I have almost finished the repair to the fiddle referred to in this thread.

I am an amateur repairman so be gentle......

I was a dirt track race car driver for several years and we always said the paint job was acceptable if you stood 25 feet back and it looked good.  The same applies to this fiddle...

I shimmed the fingerboard to raise the bridge height and the fiddle sounds good but is not loud.  I will probably re-shim it later to raise the bridge in hopes of getting more out of it.  Looking at some of these pictures, the bridge looks too thick also so I will do some work there.  french 1.jpg   76.61K   50 downloads  french 2.jpg   69.93K   64 downloads  french 3.jpg   93.95K   63 downloads  french 12.jpg   60.3K   56 downloads  french 10.jpg   64.72K   61 downloads  french13.jpg   63.08K   57 downloads  french16.jpg   28.5K   49 downloads

This is probably heresy in the violin world, but many mandolin builders use a paper shim between the top/back and ribs during the voicing stage which of course allows easier separation without damage.  FWIW.