Violin Forum/Message Board

[John Cadd]

A problem for Strad Poster copyists is perfectly illustrated by the Del Gesu Plowden violin .Cross sections with Xrays show the bassbar side down and the sound post side up .Has there been a one sided reduction or did the sound post side go up as a wobbly balance reaction .If you copied the shape and turned it around to get it even by averaging would that be better? Did the shape change affect the long curve at the centre? If you copied the wobble exactly would it get worse ? Did original gut strings on G and D have more tension than modern strings? How many versions of the Plowden would cover all the possibles?
Bassbars all had to be replaced at one time for stronger ones. The spectacular tone quality would have made the owner very protective to the instrument even if the belly had sunk down on that side . So that becomes a clue for us .If there is no belly crack above the sound post that side is innocent .

[Michael Darnton]

When I started using templates on my Cannone del Gesu model. I first took the original, and the results were pretty good. Then I averaged the two sides by eye, and the results were better. Then I generated my own curtate cycloids based on the Cannone archings. The templates were extremely close to the original and worked even better.

Bass bars aren't usually replaced by owners. Shops do it between owners because no one wants to change something that the owner is already happy with.
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[John Cadd]

I don`t mean any recent bass bar changes .I meant the "historical " change round about the time neck angles were altered from the original position .