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Technical
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A c.1750 violin by Michele Deconet
Peter Koerner examines the French maker’s mid-century instrument
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Preparing the wood surface before varnishing
Samuel Peguiron shares a method involving a bespoke mixture and wood shavings
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade 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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Premium ❘ FeatureIn 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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Premium ❘ FeatureCentre 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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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1796 viola by Sebastian Dalinger
Rainer Michael Cocron examines the Austrian maker’s late 18th-century instrument
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Premium ❘ FeatureWhere 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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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Bow tip replacement – part two
How to shape the new tip after having replaced the ebony and ivory
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Premium ❘ FeatureRaising 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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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1969 viola by Gio Batta Morassi
Yuri Pochekin examines his own mentor’s viola
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade 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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Premium ❘ FeatureA 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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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade 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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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1927 violin by Evasio Emilio Guerra
Andrea Schudtz examines the Turin maker’s early 20th-century instrument
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Premium ❘ FeatureTaking 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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Premium ❘ FeatureDecorating 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
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Focus8 tips for perfecting your violin varnish
Advice from The Strad Archive on preparing, applying and drying varnish for best results
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FocusAsk the Experts: protecting your instrument in hot and humid temperatures
Four luthiers and restorers advise a musician on how to care for her instrument during the hot summer months. From August 2014
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NewsHarry Mairson to speak online about digitally curating and studying the Italian violin making tradition
The computer science professor and amateur luthier will discuss his ’Digital Amati’ project using digital methods for understanding the structure and interpretation of classical stringed instruments, with digital curation, in a free Zoom talk to be held on 15 May 2024
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FocusAsk the experts: What should a luthier look for when choosing tonewood?
For a beginner luthier, choosing the perfect spruce and maple for an instrument can be a confusing process. Three experts in wood selection offer some guidelines