It looks like I will be varnishing well into July as the cello remains "in the white" and won't get started until late June.
Spring is speeding by. We're only about 3 weeks away from the longest daylight period of the year. Consequently I have been varnishing with a careful intensity. The spring sunlight seems to be at a perfect angle for curing varnish without overheating the instruments. Here are the instruments currently in the works. The left violin and the second to the right are recent varnish candidates. Notice how their appearance is quite different from each other. They represent the distinctive nature I try to bring out in each instrument. I am trying to envison how the white one will look when varnished. Until I do so, I don't think I can start the process. I think I will use a dark amber varnish with very little colour added.
It looks like I will be varnishing well into July as the cello remains "in the white" and won't get started until late June. Today I started to assemble my 20th instrument. This a milestone of sorts for me. I thought I would mark the occasion by reverting to my own model. I had good luck with it in the past. Occasionally their owners bring them in for a checkup and I get to hear the full, dark resonant quality that they both seem to share. I like the shape of the outline of this pattern so I look forward to seeing that around the shop. I selected a 1 piece back that I feel has a very elegant and traditional flame pattern. For the top I'm using spruce wood from a different log this time. The wood still comes from the same area as my cellos and more recent violins, and it has the same low density that I have become comfortable with.
I always feel that the violin construction process starts by making the end and corner blocks which will anchor the ribs. In the photo, the blocks have been temporarily glued to the pattern. And so the journey begins. I hope to have this one settled and sounding good by fall. I had a great discussion this week with a gentleman who wanted to install mechanical pegs on his violin since his arthritis made it difficult to use the fine tuners on the tailpiece. This makes a lot of sense given his challenge. He initially thought he wanted Wittner brand pegs. My experience is with the Peghead and Perfection brands of mechanical pegs. Peghead and Perfection pegs are very similar from a mechanical standpoint.
I just finished installing a set of Perfection rosewood pegs on one of my violins pictured above. I've been installing mechanical pegs for clients, but I had no first hand long term experience with them. I had a set of rosewood pegs in stock and a violin that would look good with them, so it seemed like a good idea to try them. However, after my conversation and some internet research, suddenly I was wondering if I should have gone with Wittners. This curiosity grew as I read some reviews on the internet. The shop I am associated with goes almost exclusively with Pegheads. Good looking and reliable. Another shop in town goes almost exclusively with Wittners. Mechanically sound and easier to install. I decided to ask my supplier about their perspective since they carry both. Their view is that from a performance perspective, the Wittners get the edge. They just feel a little nicer to turn. They would score 10/10 as opposed to Perfection pegs at a 9/10. From their view, both pegs work very well. The Wittner pegs have a composite head. They look like plastic, just like their excellent performing chinrests and tailpieces. The Perfection pegs come in 2 levels, composite and wood. In the wood, you have a choice of ebony, boxwood and rosewood. The wood headed Perfections cost slightly more than the Wittners and look more natural. On my handcrafted violins, I'm always going to recommend the Perfections. They work well and are cosmetically vastly superior in my opinion. Yes, they are a little trickier to install, but that's my problem. Having said that, my limited experience as a vendor of mechanical pegs has been somewhat mixed. On one set, the A peg would suddenly let go of tensioning the string. This is part of the peg design. Push in, it gets grippier, pull out and it lets go. Accidentally knock the head and it could let you down. Another player found that on the cello, it was easier to fine tune the A string using the fine tuner on the tailpiece. Without the fine tuner, they could still dial in the string, but it took longer. Another cello player tried them for several months and asked for a tailpiece with fine tuners to complement the pegs. Again, the pegs took too much time to adjust. Another client could never get the E string to hold it's position. It would slightly drift out of tune. I ended up removing the pegs and installing rosewood wooden pegs. (Yes, mechanical pegs can be removed.) My current impression after a few days of trying these pegs is that they do the job. I'm used to tuning with wooden pegs on lots of different violins, so I don't find using well fitting wooden pegs to be a difficult task, and neither are the mechanical ones. However, I'm also used to having wooden pegs seizing up or letting go with changes in humidity. I don't expect that I will have that problem with these pegs. The new cello is in the final stage of preparation for varnish. It was playable last week and friends commented that it was sounding comparable to its predecessor. Perhaps even more powerful. We will have to see how it changes tone with varnishing.
What surprised me was that there wasn't any buzzing when I started to play it. Buzzes can be caused by a whole host of things, but are usually caused by open seams or string grooves in the nut that are not appropriately sloped and even fingerboards which are not fully glued down. In this case, the fingerboard was tacked down in 3 small spots. In spite of all the shortcuts I took to get the cello temporarily playable, it sounded great. This is in contrast to some recent repair work I took on. While my standing rule is not to do repairs for those I do not know, I made an exception to address a cello that had recently been purchased used from a major big box store. It came to me with an incredibly tight soundpost and open seams on the upper and lower bouts of both the top and back. The A string had chewed through the nut groove to the point where it was resting on the fingerboard. The fingerboard had zero scoop and in fact it had a hump under the C and G strings toward the nut end. Humps are notorious for causing buzzes. The nut was also loose. I corrected all these problems and guess what? The client is hearing a buzz that was not there previously. After 12 hours of additional troubleshooting including consultation with another skilled and trusted luthier, the matter is still unresolved. In this modern age, although there is a large body of knowledge related to stringed instrument function, sometimes we are reminded that there is still an element of mystery related to these wooden boxes. Strings are a challenge. My clients are generally very discerning when it comes to the tone they are looking for in a violin and strings have a lot to do with tone production.
Once you have a violin adjusted to sound its best in terms of volume, evenness across the strings, responsiveness and good dynamic, then it comes down to other qualities that players seek: bright, dark, gritty, smooth, warm, focused, muddy, clear, etc. The string industry continues to develop a plethora of strings to address the needs of varying violins and varying listeners and players. That's great, there's probably a string that allows a violin to sound "right" for every player. Certainly, there's at least 1 brand of string that sounds best on every violin. But, with the average price of a set of strings hovering in the $100 range and with the average playing life of about 150 hours, most people are reluctant to do much experimenting. As a purveyor of strings, I'm reluctant to carry a lot of inventory as the markup on strings is slim and it doesn't take long to have several hundred dollars worth of open stock kicking around in the cupboard. I've adjusted to the situation by primarily stocking 3 brands of strings. Dominants, because they are the standard (although I would argue that Tonica strings are as good or better since they were reformulated a few years ago). Most players grew up on Dominants and rely on them as the standard, so I carry them instead of Tonica. Dominants are resonably priced, reasonably stable, and last a reasonable length of time. If I think a violin tone needs to be warmed up, I go with the more costly Obligatos. They produce a nice complex sound, are very stable and also last a long time. Lately, I've been thinking about Infeld Red stings as an alternative to Obligato strings. They cost less and I've had good luck with them. If I need more strength than Dominants, I have Evah Pirazzi's. The sound is complex and the strings are stable, although the tension is relatively high. I haven't found anyone that loves the Dominant E string. Right now, I'm working with Goldbrokat E (inexpensive), Eudoxa E (wound and pricey) and recently Infeld Red E (very pricey and gold). Depending on the fine tuner on the tail piece, I need to carry 2 flavours, ball end and loop end. Let's not forget, that since most strings come in 3 gauges: light, medium and heavy, I need to carry at least some of the other gauges. For now, I carry the Eudoxa E, Dominants and Obligatos in the heavy gauge. My string box contains a lot of orphans and misfits. For example: the low tension and warm Violino, the smoky Larsen Tzigane, the revolutionary Warchal Amber, the ultra expensive Evah Pirazzi Gold, the gut core Passione, the Fiddler's economical Prim and the bargain basement Pro Arte. The orphan E strings in my collection include the Pirastro Gold E (pretty good) the Obligato gold E (also pretty good) and a few others that have become nameless. Most of these will probably lie dormant for years until they find a suitable instrument. I always start with Dominants on a new instrument (because over their 40+ year history, they have become the standard), and while I can then guess which brand of string will have the best effect on a violin, I'm often wrong. I'm starting to think matching strings to fiddles is unpredictable. Which means, I keep open stock on hand so that I can try the different brands on the same fiddle. If I'm lucky, I have someone else go through the exercise with me, so that we can compare what we hear. Also, the strings often (but not always) sound different under the ear, compared to listening to someone else play. Yesterday, I had a couple of friends provide feedback on the tone of the fiddle pictured above. I did extensive soundpost and bridge work on it, and I had gone from Dominants to Obligatos, so I needed some unbiased perspective on the work I did. Based on the first round of play, I moved the soundpost to bring more focus to the tone. Based on the second round, I switched back to Dominants. The third round of play indicated that the Dominants improved the tone, but it was a bit gritty. So, we switched to Pirazzi strings. The next round of play was the finale. This violin is now sounding it's best, which, in my opinion, is the first time it has done so, since I had Dominants on it as a new violin 18 months ago. Interesting how Dominants worked at one time, but changes in the violin over time required a string change to Pirazzi's later on. Simply going into a store and purchasing a different brand of string is not going to guarantee tonal success. On my creations, I start by ensuring the bridge and soundpost are set up to give optimal performance. Then, I keep open sets of strings on hand so that I can encourage people to try different strings on violins to see which ones work best before they commit to a violin purchase. I've also found it is very beneficial to test strings with the help of others. Interpretation of tone is somewhat subjective but confirmation on what you are hearing feels good, and disagreement brings about deeper discussion and greater understanding. When people are searching for a new violin, they often quickly dismiss excellent instruments because of the first tonal impression. This is unfortunate, because a simple change of strings could result in the discovery of a life long soul mate. As an update to the example I mentioned earlier, I've been playing on the Pirazzi strings for a week and am thinking the tone is not quite for me, although I know lots of people would love it. I think I favor the Obligatos, but tomorrow, I will gather my cohorts, and try a fresh set of Infeld Reds on it. Apparently I still have the fever. This is one of the best stages in making a cello. I am arching the top plate. The spruce cuts easily and the graceful curves gradually appear. I have control over the contours, and I'm trying to decide exactly what I want. There's a lot of concentration at this stage. I am creating an arch that resembles my previous cello in hopes that I get a similar result. The next step is to ensure that arching of the 2 halves of the top are symmetrical. That will have to wait, as I need to be freshly rested to do such precise work.
I make most of my violins using European maple because that's the tradition. However, I made two violins using North American red maple during my apprenticeship. The results were very satisfactory from a tonal and visual perspective and my only regret is that the wood came from New England instead of a more local source. Since the spruce that I source from Canada is second to none in the world, I've been feeling the need to complement the spruce with Canadian sourced maple. So on a recent trip to New Brunswick, I started asking around about some maple, and alas, I returned empty handed. A few days later, I found myself at a woodworking show held at Black Forest Wood Products, here in Calgary where I found the block in the picture. It was harvested in Eastern Canada and was one of 5 that I could choose from. After two hours of deliberation, I came home with this one. There's enough wood for 2 backs. The wood will season further in my shop for the next year or two, and then a new creation will unfold. It's amusing to think that I travelled across Canada in search of that special piece of wood, only to discover that it could be found in my backyard. I often think about violinists that feel the need to go shopping for an instrument in far off places when what they really need might be found locally, perhaps in some obscure luthier's home studio. A cello is making progress in the shop and for a bit of variety I've started a violin with a 1 piece back. Both will be varnished in the spring and will be available for playing in the summer My latest project related to violin and cello making is virtually complete. It's a certificate of authenticity which is intended to reinforce the identity of the instruments that I make. Faking and forgery in the lute business has been going on for hundreds of years. Centuries ago, makers would establish the identity of their instruments by gluing a personalized label inside the body of their creation. Presumably, they fashioned their label using a woodcut stamp, or they had them hand printed on a printing press. In keeping with tradition, I had my labels hand printed on a vintage letterpess. In the early days, hand printing was easy to duplicate because the presses and letters were common. That's not the case today. Letter pressing is usually done on one of the few antique machines in existence using type that has been hand set. Consequently, my labels are rather distinctive and any prospective forger will have to invest a lot of time and effort to duplicate this document.
Contemporary makers still use labels, often generated on an inkjet printer, but they have also resorted to embedding micro chips in their work, branding interior parts, and creating certificates complete with signed photographs of their instruments, sometimes complete with wax seals. My main approach has been to return to the printing press to create a form that identifies the instrument using letters and ink that relate to the inside label. To generate this form, I returned to mandolin player and full time printer, Michael Hepher, at Clawhammer Letterpress in Fernie, British Columbia. Michael is a very low key, brilliant artist. We were challenged to come up with a design and layout that did not exhaust his supply of letters. While he has many drawers full of "old school" lead letters, he only has a couple of drawers containing the font used on my labels. We ended up using a combination of fonts that worked very well together. In retrospect, this was probably more successful than if we had used a single font. The look is both snappy and vintage. Michael recommended a heavy, 100% cotton stock that allows the letters to be set deep into the material without showing through. It has a very luxurious feel and contrasts well with the dark (but not black) ink. The document describes the instrument in terms of dimensions and materials used. There is a section for remarks, and another panel describes the warranty. Outstanding tone, responsiveness and quality of construction will always be the hallmarks that I strive to achieve in my instruments. It is exciting to achieve a similar standard in an item related to my craft. Many thanks to Michael for going the extra distance. More on Michael and Clawhammer can be found here: http://clawhammer.ca/ It's not uncommon in the cello world for people to accept that a full sized cello is simply too cumbersome for them, and consequently they search out something a bit smaller. However, in the violin world, people seem to fixate on a full size violin as the logical and final progression from a 3/4 sized violin. This makes perfect sense if one is large enough to accommodate a full size instrument, or they feel they will grow into it. However, a number of adults struggle with full size violins that are too large for them. They choose not to look for something smaller, because they believe that full tone can only come from a full sized violin. In most instances, they might be right, but in my case, the tone of my 7/8ths rivals any full sized violin. I modeled my 7/8ths violin after a 1566 Andrea Amati. This violin would have been considered full sized 450 years ago, but today we would consider it to be a 7/8ths. It's one of my best sounding violins. The tone is rich and dark on the lower strings and transitions to clear and focused on the upper strings. The volume is strong without being overbearing. The response is immediate and it is set up to play easily. The amber varnish pays homage to the early days of violin making whereby colour was not added, but occurred naturally from the main ingredients and the cooking process. This varnish is handcrafted in small batches by a varnish maker in upstate New York who uses old world techniques and the highest quality natural ingredients. The spruce sound board is very fine grained and resembles the original violin. It comes from Log 241 which was harvested in Northern British Columbia. Wood from this log is no longer available, which is a pity because my best sounding instruments were made from it. Well balanced medium width flamed Slovakian maple from the Tatra mountains completes the instrument. A 7/8ths violin has a shorter string length. When people try to play one after being accustomed to a full sized instrument, they quickly discover that their intonation is slightly off. They immediately decide that the instrument is not for them instead of giving themselves time to adjust to the new situation which opens up the possibility of more comfortable playing. The limited demand for 7/8th instruments means that there is a limited choice of available violins in that size and most are of lower quality. High quality 7/8ths violins are extremely scarce. This violin was finished in 2011 and remains with me because my focus has been on full size violins and cellos and I simply haven't made time to show it around. Hopefully I will be able to make time this fall to heighten the visibility of this high performing violin as I am sure there is a player out there who would find this to be their ideal instrument. In the meantime, it's here in my studio and is priced at $4000. This is where violins are grown, at least the part of the violin that is spruce. This photo was taken at a farmer's market in Valemount, B.C. The 2 people on the left and the one on the right are members of the Carson family who supply top quality spruce tonewood. The guitar player is a guitar maker, Rick McCallum of Montana Guitar Shop. There I am in the middle. Gordon's playing a 5 string viola made with his tonewood. My violin is also made with Gordon's tonewood.
In addition to playing on several occasions with wonderful musicians, I managed to bring home enough spruce to make violins and cellos for 5+ years. |
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