Violin Repair Guide

(Technical Reference). A must for instrument owners, this guide provides illustrated step-by-step instructions for bow rehairing, repair and restoration of the violin, viola, cello and string bass. Features more than 100 richly detailed illustrations!

Are you a violin teacher, player, or parent of a new player? Would you like to know something about how violins work, and figure out what's wrong with them when they don't? Then this book is for you. I will walk you through the vocabulary you need to be able to talk knowledgeably with a luthier, teach you about maintenance, and provide you with tips to keep your instrument functioning well. Violins are great, but best when they work. If your violin needs help, start diagnosing what to do here.

(String Letter Publishing). Here's the book that should have come with your violin! Written by a team of leading instrument makers, repairers and musicians, this is the one comprehensive guide to selecting, understanding, preserving and protecting any violin, from a modest fiddle to a priceless Stradivari. Richly illustrated with photographs and drawings, it covers topics including: selecting the proper instrument and bow, understanding common repairs, finding the right maker, guarding against theft, getting a good setup, protecting your violin, choosing a case, and more.

The repair and restoration of violins has been an established craft ever since the first instrument was painstakingly assembled. Inevitably wear and tear and some excruciating accidents have made the study of stringed instrument repair a necessary element.

The violin was first mentioned in a book in the sixteenth century. An abundant and diverse literature on the instrument has grown since then, and a complete general guide to these materials has not been produced in the modern era. The last, Edward Heron-Allen's De Fidiculis Bibliographia , was published in1894. This book fills that void, organizing and annotating information on the violin from a variety of fields and sources. It provides a comprehensive, though selective, guide to all facets of the instrument. The book is divided into 4 main parts: Reference and General Studies; Acoustics and Construction; Violin Playing, Performance Practice, and Music; and Violinists, Composers, and Violin Teachers. It will serve as a ready reference for students and scholars, and is a welcome addition to the esteemed Routledge Music Bibliography series.

This book contains 41 chapters of detailed repair description, 125 photographs, 60 technical illustrations, & a pattern pocket with 18 patterns. Limited edition of 2000 numbered copies. A review in the international magazine THE STRAD begins, "This is an impressive looking & important book for violin makers. Produced by two of the world's leading practitioners of the craft of violin restoration, it sets out to describe the techniques used in their workshops & to make these techniques available to the violin maker who lacks easy access to training in restoration workshops." The bulletin of the Violin Society of America states, "This long-awaited text presents the art & science of violin repair in a manner so clear in its concept & so unambiguous in its language that it is as enjoyable to read as it is informative. This book should rapidly become a vital reference work for violin makers everywhere." Published & distributed by the authors, 627 North Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1903 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XVIII. The Bar In Olden Times--The Modern One--The Operation Of Fitting And Fixing The Bar-- Closing And Completion Of The Repairs-- Varnishing Of The Repaired Parts Having Fresh Wood. MUCH false reasoning upon insufficient premises has at times on and off been bestowed upon the subject of the bar and its supposed mysteries. Space at command will not allow of a dissertation on this detail of the constitution of the violin. A few remarks will perhaps be sufficient for present purposes. When violins were first sent forth by their inventor, Gasparo da Salo, the bar was sometimes omitted, possibly in all the earliest ones, the strain on the upper table being then slight as compared with that of the present day--at others it was very short and weak. The substance of the upper table was considerable, and much over that which the later and modern makers approve of, and thus there was a counter-balance. At the present time still stronger bars are inserted, and very frequently without rule or reason. Occasionally a coarse bar will allow of good results as regards the emission of the tone, the length and thickness happening to be suitable to the proportions in detail of the instrument. A weakness at each end of the bar is an oftrecurring cause of bad going with regard to the vibrations. From this we may infer that when the bar was first thought of and inserted it was simply with an idea of supporting the part over which the third and fourth strings were stretched, and that as the tension of the strings became greater in consequence of the rise in the pitch, so the bar had to be increased in strength, that is, longer and deeper. The discovery or unearthing of an old master in its original condition will therefore be followed by the opening...