Violin Forum/Message Board

[Asimauve]

I would like to share this story with all of you.

A few weeks back I had to help a neighbor who was recently widowed clear some stuff, unfortunately by the time I arrived the vultures (Mainly some nieces and nephews who pawned half her stuff) had already passed and all that was left was a few kitchen items and suits to put on Craigslist.

Suddenly in the depths of the closet, I see the tip of what looks like a musical instrument case, I thought it could be a flute or some other instrument ... I open the case and realize there's a violin inside, I call the lady to offer a purchase, she's not available to talk. Never gets back to me.

I drive by the house a few days later and a pile of garbage is stacked on the front lawn. I come out of the car and the violin is there on the street ... in absolutely pitiful condition.

I pick it up, head home and start looking at the thing, I've seen a few violins in my time, I am used to the factory assembled newer ones which are pretty consistent in quality. This thing looks like nothing else I've ever seen. The bracing, the finish, there's something about it that is unique in more than a few ways. Definitely hand made.

A few magnifying glasses start providing answers, and the first one is a name and a date.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/blN9S1O.jpg[/img]

Ok ... a good start, Adam Szymanski, August 21st 1959, an address and a few other details like the fact that this violin is based off a Giovanni Paolo Maggini template, Maggini was a violin maker from the 17th Century born in Brescia Italy, a student of Gasparo de Salo a legendary violin maker. Some violins will follow a Stradivarius template, there are a few different ones ...

The first objective was to figure out Szymanski and what he was all about, Google his name , you will literally find nothing ... EXCEPT ... an old microfiche article from the 60s, AND patents, now we're getting somewhere.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/LBTeLE0.png[/img]

The article gives an incredible insight into Szymanski, his 'secret' finishes and setups, his patents are also pretty amazing. For someone who is literally a complete unknown this guy sounds like a genius. At this point, this garbage find is starting to really pique my interest.



Here's his patent for what he calls the Bass Bar, an amazing invention that ... well to put it in his words

Today, a violinist when performing with a heavy orchestration must play his violin forcefully in its upper range sometimes giving rise to a disastrous tonal collapse. Even in violins hand-crafted by the old masters, the new and stringent demands of maintaining the tonal quality of the violin when it is played with power in its upper range have not been met with the consequent result of tonal collapse of the violin in its upper range. Attempts of all types to surmount this two-pronged problem for producing smooth tonal qualities throughout the range of the violin have fallen short. Such attempts have included the utilization of bass bars having varying shapes in violins. However, these attempts have proved to be unsatisfactory, the violins produced thereby having discordant tonal qualities at one or more points in the range or scale of tones produced from the violins.
Ok, the TLDR version, he figured out a way to improve a violin's shitty upper register response when playing loud.

Ok ... so Where do I go from here, well ... How about more pics !

[img]http://i.imgur.com/yuXJBrk.jpg?1[/img]

Ok ... so obviously not so good condtion SO ! What do we do, hit up the best luthier in town, google to the rescue, forums galore and ...

[img]http://i.imgur.com/VOEA2qD.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/W3S6QRH.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/SoYquAt.jpg[/img]

A complete setup that includes adjusting a few bumps on the fretboard, a new bridge, a little crack, a little bit of ungluing etc ... etc ... and in a few weeks it'll be back on it's feet !

Babam ! Will keep you guys posted

[Asimauve]

The full thread can be found with the pictures here :

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/an-amazing-violins-trek-from-50s-florida-a-garbage-can-to-my-hands.1677748/

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/an-amazing-violins-trek-from-50s-florida-a-garbage-can-to-my-hands.1677748/

[Dave Chandler]

Hi Sherlock!! An interesting story, but I had trouble with your links, but here I've added the link again.


http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/an-amazing-violins-trek-from-50s-florida-a-garbage-can-to-my-hands.1677748/
_________________
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Southern Violin Association

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm" Winston Churchill

"I took the road less travelled, and now I don't know where I am." Marco Polo

[L P Reedy]

"Genius" might be a slight exaggeration. If his patented bar was so great, it is strange that it failed to become popular. In reality, it is not that far from traditional designs.

[Dave Chandler]

[Mat Roop]

Well, I read the entire patent and I don't see how it is different for what is generally done... other than slight variations in thicknessing, positioning & shaping which we all do anyway. The only real difference I can see is that the thickness of the bar increases from the neck end to the tail end.
Dave, you are right, a patent needs to represent something specifically different ....it almost seems to me that he was patenting the bass bar and the patent attorneys nor patent office had no knowledge of bass bars.
Perhaps in 1961 bass bars were made differently??
Here is the full patent document
http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=03014394&IDKey=0FD2F7926429&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO1%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526d%3DPALL%2526p%3D1%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsrchnum.htm%2526r%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526s1%3D3014394.PN.%2526OS%3DPN%2F3014394%2526RS%3DPN%2F3014394

What am I missing??? Cheers... Mat

[Michael Darnton]

He's done a couple of unusual things. One is to make the bar almost the same height from one end to the other, except for the lump under the bridge. Second, he's made the width wider at the bottom end than the top. Third, he's put relatively more weight right under the bridge, rather than at the center of the bar as usual, and bunched that weight up in one place much more than usual.

A couple of these things aren't exactly new; the idea of tapering the width of the bar has been done, as has moving the center of the bar down towards the bridge, though usually much less than in the patent--generally trying to split the difference between more support for the bridge combined with more stiffness between the eyes of the fs, where the structure is probably weaker.

Making the bulk of the bar around the same height is new, as is the bunch of wood directly under the bridge. The Zaret bar does something a bit similar, in effect, but Zaret, in the examples I've seen, puts much more weight in the middle, and I think it's more centrally located.

From what I've seen, this bar would indeed sound smoother, but not in a nice way--removing punch and substituting sustain. It would also be generally darker sounding in a way that sometimes appeals to less-experienced players who mistake empty darkness for warmth. I think, then, that this would be more of a bar for players who didn't know better. :-)
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[Mat Roop]

Thanks Micheal... you helped my understanding on the implication of the changes in shape. What has surprised me is that if the patent is based on a new shape, that shape is very loosely defined. Having gone thru a patent process, I know they require very specific details about what the patent actually applies to, otherwise, you can't get the patent... but then 1961 was a different time.
just my nickel 's worth! (we don't use pennies any more in Canada)
Cheers, Mat