All Technical articles
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In Focus: A 1924 violin by János Spiegel
Zoltán Délczeg examines a 100-year-old instrument by Hungarian maker János Spiegel
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Trade Secrets: Making a wooden peg shaper
A method for creating a model with an interchangeable blade
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In Focus: A c.1740 viola by Johann Christian Hoffmann
Alex Krieger examines a viola by one of the best-known German luthiers
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In the zone: a one-person double bass repair method
For luthiers working alone, double bass repair can be a difficult task to take on. US bass maker Nick Lloyd presents his ‘Zone method’ for re-gluing a bass top using just one pair of hands
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In Focus: A c.1750 violin by Michele Deconet
Peter Koerner examines the French maker’s mid-century instrument
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Trade Secrets: Preparing the wood surface before varnishing
Samuel Peguiron shares a method involving a bespoke mixture and wood shavings
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Trade Secrets: Purfling and edgework after closing the box
A method that allows for more aesthetic freedom than completing the plates before finishing the soundbox
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In Focus: An 1845 violin by Johann Georg Stauffer
Jakob Nachbargauer and Adrian Elschek examine a mid-century violin by the successful Austrian guitar maker
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Centre of attention: centring and alignment
Inspired by the work of the Cremonese masters, David Folland explains his method for finding the centre line of an old instrument
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In Focus: A 1796 viola by Sebastian Dalinger
Rainer Michael Cocron examines the Austrian maker’s late 18th-century instrument
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Where science meets art: Positioning the f-holes
Inspired by the work of the illustrious Cremonese masters, Alvin Thomas King presents a practical method for modern-day luthiers to position the f-holes on an instrument
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Trade Secrets: Bow tip replacement – part two
How to shape the new tip after having replaced the ebony and ivory
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Raising the bar: Bass-bar experiments
Joseph Curtin reports on a series of experiments at the 2023 Oberlin Acoustics Workshop, which attempted to ascertain the acoustic effects of altering the height and scoop of the violin’s bass-bar
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In Focus: A 1969 viola by Gio Batta Morassi
Yuri Pochekin examines his own mentor’s viola
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Trade Secrets: Bow tip replacement – part one
Jenelle Steele explains a detailed method to remove an old tip and fit a new one, before shaping
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A closer look: Examining the ‘Salabue, Martzy’ violin
The Strad’s lutherie consultant Philip Ihle put together this month’s poster of the ‘Salabue, Martzy’. Here he points out several extra details to help luthiers make an exact copy of the instrument
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Trade Secrets: A workshop facility to measure violin family acoustics
Creating an apparatus for routine quick and easy measurements while making and setting up the violin and related instruments
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In Focus: A 1927 violin by Evasio Emilio Guerra
Andrea Schudtz examines the Turin maker’s early 20th-century instrument
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Taking acoustic measurements from internal vibrations
Normally, acoustic measurements are taken from outside the instrument – but the internal vibrations can reveal even more. Colin Gough presents a method for listening inside the soundbox and demonstrates what it can tell us about the sound
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Decorating a bow frog: let the flowers bloom
A very specialist part of the bow maker’s craft is the addition of decorative inlay into a bow frog. Vladimiros Sorokin-Andreou presents his method for this intricate and delicate part of the process