Violin Forum/Message Board

[L P Reedy]

For me, violin making has never been more or less than a craft. I have a model now that works well and I'm not interested in getting "creative" with it. Of course, every instrument is still a little different, and I try to be a little "artistic" in making each one look and play as well as it can. I'm not a sculptor, I'm a pattern carver.

[John Cadd]

I don`t think we are locking horns. The questions can be discussed and sometimes the conclusions may be different . What I was drifting towards when I asked about changing molds or changing anything in the construction was how much should a maker change from one instrument to the next. Since Stradivari was mentioned early on we can see from his example that he changed gradually . So being an experimenter in construction makes sense . But too many uncontrolled changes will not give much of an indication for the next instrument . Artisitic touches in appearance with corners or scrolls will not affect the main result of the sound . So the artistic part can there but is not the whole point . Adding in a reference to the topo lines , The lines can be a good guide to getting close to a basic shape. There is nothing to stop a careful adjustment once that stage is reached. Adjust the figures to give a higher arch before you start if necessary . Then cut more away if you change your mind . Just make some notes about each change for future reference . That`s not an instruction for anyone else or horn locking. Just a possible way to go about it . I have no idea what thousands of other makers all over the world do . It would take a long time too find out .It just makes sense to me .