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Hi Emiliano! I totally agreed with you in this for many many years. I looked into thicknes patterns, learned from making icons, read books etc. However, this method was out there in parts and I got curious. Making my instrument # 158 was the first attempt to do anything in this way. It came out not too bad. Since then, I have discovered more and more, both how to expand the method but also I found logical explanations of strange features in the old masters work, such as the back plug and the different stop lenghts on the F-holes etc. (Now I am on # 450) Many makers have written me and thanked me for the method. Most of them are amateurs making some of their first instruments but also there are pro´s that thanked me for it and claimed that they were for the first time following a path instead of guessing how much or where to take away material. They also say that there is a major improvment in their making. As an experienced maker like you might be, I understand that it feels very awkward to step aside from what has been tought in violin making schools for so long time. It definitely takes courage and will to seek a new way. If it feels too scary, I definitely urge you to stay in your method. (But this one is better :) )

Ok, that is a lot of thoughts and questions. Many answers are to be found in the videos, so I just sum it up like this. In my theory, the plates show 4 archings. Two outer and two inner. The arch is formed with a starting point in the middle and the next point outside of that can be lowerd in pitch by removing material. The goal is to have the same pitch all the way to the edges on all 4 arches. Thicknesses are more or less unimportant put aside as being merely signs where a second "pitch-check" would be in place.

Hi and thanks! We took them away because I did not like the transparency, caused by the positive stain.

It has been a while since I did that, but I think it was Larsen "Il Cannone" with a Pirastro "No 1" E-string.

I don´t tune the neck but the fingerboard can be tuned so the wolf note is diminished.

Thanks! Go ahead! :)

When checking the scratch tone up to the end, the tone rises. The goal for me is that the pitch should be the same even if you leave the bass bar and keep on scratching at the top beyond the end of the bar. This can only be done if you shorten the bar. Following the "traditional school", it is also known that a higher arch, gives a shorter bar, so the length is not an exaxt number. Also, when the bar curves concave, it does not give support for the top any more, but becomes "dead wood" outside the bar end.

@@westerlundsviolinverkstada9892 Interesting, thanks!

I don´t really believe in methods, where you shave off some tenth of millimeters to get the perfect tap tone on a free plate and then glue it to a rib construction of thousends of time the weight and stiff it up into a totally new system. What I think this system does, is to form an arching, outside and inside on both plates, that has equal properties in supporting all adjecent parts along the arch. Unfortunatelly, we live in a time where numbers are king. Everything has to be measured and presented with a number. These scratch tones can be heard but does not give a number, since they can´t be recorded. Therefore it is rejected. I use the "light method" to find areas to check a second time.

Well, what you need is something so hot that you can do the process. No one knows how they did!! Some know-it-all persons claim that Strad did this because.... There is a gap between the old makers and modern lutherie that Makes all theories to be just theories.

I actually does not care about this number. The length of the string is set by the body stop length and then, the 2/3 of that, neck length. Very often on del Gesu´s the measurements are closer to 192 and 128.

The answer is that the new one was slightly dimensionally bigger. I try to match the pitch of tapping from the outside across the bass bar position, and on the top on the side of it, but here I missed. I guess it was at the final fine-shaping of the first bar. I agree that the pitch goes up when you cut the sides, but I wanted more resistance, so I went for a new bar. The first one was tapered as well.

No, the densities are not registered. Of course it has a role in the spectrum of making but as I see it, it is an advantage to have relatively light wood, as long as it has strength, because it is a lower mass to put in motion. The method I try to explain is more about archings and how the parts of the arch co-work together.

Thank you!

Luckilly I do not have that much problems with that. I could use an Ozone generator if I found something like that.

Nej. Tonen har bara med välvningskurvan att göra. Du kan välva i stort sett vilket material som helst.

As I said; -the thicknesses are not that important to a certain point. Of course there is a break point, where it gets too thin but the box construction can withstand very hard tension. I feel that the idea of the method is that every point supports the neighbouring point and the power vectors are always going inside the wood.

Ha ha!! Don´t forget to match the pitch to the other side by tapping both sides.

@@westerlundsviolinverkstada9892 I will keep that in mind.

That is a gamble! If it is a known makers work, I never would do that. It is like improving the smile of Mona Lisa. On an old factory instrument, -Go ahead but don´t hope for too much.

@@westerlundsviolinverkstada9892 Right! I will do this test on an "industrialized cello" made from Araucaria wood and then report the results here! thanks !

Yes. It has actually nothing to do with what material it is.

If I said that, I was wrong. Starting thickness of a violin should be about 3,5 for the top and 5,5 - 6 on the back. For cello I would say 6 for the top and 8 for the back. Center starting thickness. In the upper and lower bouts it can be thinner. Always check with the tapping tone to be sure before removing wood.

@@westerlundsviolinverkstada9892 Perfect ! Thank you very much for the guidance!

Hi! I guess you mean the inside graduation. If so, I think 5 mm is going too thin as a starting point. Wood can be very different and other factors also play in, such as model and arching height. I would start at about 6 - 6,5 and then take off material until the outside knocking matches the inside knocking. I always start with the top, first doing the outside arch and after both plates are arched, I do the top graduation, then the back. I have no desire to reach a certain pitch, such as C#.

@@westerlundsviolinverkstada9892 I have a used cello, old and disassembled. Is it possible to make "internal" adjustment on the plates of a used cello?

@@mauriciomuller1972 It could be an improvment but if it is an original work form a known maker, it is a big NO! I never alter another makers work. If there is a problem, I contact him/her for a discussion. If they are deceased you have a very big responsibillity.

@@westerlundsviolinverkstada9892 It is a factory instrument. No author. So I dismantled Cello and would like to try tuning the caps

I am not an expert in this but the idea is to make the craquelle just before the varnish dries. Then the egg white will pull the surface and make it happen.

Yes. I sure let the layers dry before aplying the next one. Then different varnishes has different drying times. A UV-cabinet also shortens the drying time. There is a rule in varnishing, -"Aply fat on lean" which means that you should go for a harder layer before the softer if you use different types.

@@westerlundsviolinverkstada9892 Thanks for your response. I’m sure you don’t want to give all of your secrets away, but does the fat over lean mean that it needs to be an oil varnish on top? I’m not sure I can work out what a fat spirit varnish would be.

The lean - fat expression is both from oil varnish. It is dependent of oil - resin ratio and also if there are softeners mixed in. High resin, such as kolophony makes it hard and "lean". A 50 - 50 oil - resin varnish is average fat and is what many factory varnishes are about. I use a high resin varnish from Old Wood in Spain. It is a 3:1 resin - oil.

@@westerlundsviolinverkstada9892 thanks! I’ll take a look.

I mix half and half of nitrite and pottash. Then I disolve it in water. The amount of water is not that crucial as the water will evaporate and disapear anyway.

I agree that it should be placed like you say, acording to the nicks. I was just a coward putting it horizontally.

Thanks Peter for your reply! 😊 Sometimes on posters of old valuable cellos it looks like the bridges are not actually horizontal. I think it must be intentional but I have not found any info about this on TH-cam and in the literature except from you!

The problem if I do as you say, could be that the player sees the skew position and then tries to "adjust" it. As I see it, the treble side may be of highest importance.Therefore I make it the way I do. Sound is many times a matter of taste, which takes a lot of parts into consideration, when trying to improve it, such as tailpiece, strings, rosin, etc.A skew bridge can work for someone and be a subject of irritation for a person that does not know.@@magnushansson6159

I made a video on how to set the arching height. 22A . I don´t try to set the top of the arching at a special place. It finds itself. What is important, is to understand that the differences in pitch at the top of the arch, is very minute and you really need to be LISTENING.

@@westerlundsviolinverkstada9892 thank you!

Yes. As I see it, the method is a way to form an arching. Then it doesn´t take into account if the plate is glued or not.

The answer is of course that I missed that when I made the violin at the start. Anyone can make a misstake. The important thing is what you do then.

@@westerlundsviolinverkstada9892 Yes, of course, I understand that, was just wondering if maybe some other process changed the bass bar relationship to the top.....sounds like it was a simple mistake, understood, thanks.

Ok, that is one idea. I have no arguments against it, but I am a traditionalist in some ways.

@@westerlundsviolinverkstada9892 I’ve just fitted a base bar to an old trade ? fiddle I bought 50 years ago. I used a magnetic tool to measure the top plate thickness. It was thin in a few areas but generally very thick along the centre joint. I took the top off and the bar was 9mm thick and really short and crudely shaped. After fitting a new bar , I shaped it following Johnson & Courtnal and then found the plate resonated at 400 Hz. I trimmed it a little and it increased which I wasn’t expecting. I wanted 375 Hz or F#. The bottom plate was thick too, so I put it back together and today I set it up. I was disappointed when I played it, but it’s still settling down. I need to do more reading and thinking to try and understand things.

@@westerlundsviolinverkstada9892 I’ve just fitted a base bar to an old trade ? fiddle I bought 50 years ago. I used a magnetic tool to measure the top plate thickness. It was thin in a few areas but generally very thick along the centre joint. I took the top off and the bar was 9mm thick and really short and crudely shaped. After fitting a new bar , I shaped it following Johnson & Courtnal and then found the plate resonated at 400 Hz. I trimmed it a little and it increased which I wasn’t expecting. I wanted 375 Hz or F#. The bottom plate was thick too, so I put it back together and today I set it up. I was disappointed when I played it, but it’s still settling down. I need to do more reading and thinking to try and understand things.

I first make approximate marks where the points of the F-hole should be. It is easier to know where to look. That is the inner nick, the point under the lower hole and the point over the higher hole. Then I just gently tap and find where the pitch has a top, which sets the final spot.

Thank you. When / if time allows it, would you be willing to make a video on this procedure? Also, are you usually considering the highest tone (from tapping) as a marker for the table's potential pressure point, and therefore a place where the drilling / cutting for the f-hole should go? Furthermore, is the size of the f-hole dependent or related to the sound that the tapping produces?

@@andreibirsan4541there was already a video about f hole positioning and inner nick (bridge) placement