Violin Forum/Message Board

[John Cadd]

I have a post setter made of aluminium alloy ,but the pointed blade had a very obtuse angle in it . There are some advertised with stainless steel which could file down to a sharper edge . For some reason they are selling straight ones .That seems an obviously bad design. Are brass ones any good ?

[John Cadd]

Basically I dislike the traditional setter with a spike/blade . Today I pulled out some electrical plastic trunking strips I had left over . Just roughly cutting a few pieces to length the basic idea of how to make something work evolved . The piece that worked best was narrow square section trunking . The plan was to have the post contained within 3 sides and a loop of string to hold it in place.Two small holes in the "vertical " plastic and one larger hole in the horizontal plastic . The trunking was bent at 90degrees to fit in the hole .A flat clear section was to allow that bit to go under the top as far as the post position . The box section sides were left as a handle and as a channel to hold the string . I thought afterwards a clothes peg will fit in the slot to hold the string tight .
As It happens it worked without the peg.The first tryout I could not put the post inside the channel with it inside the violin so I cut a small section off the side part.Then the post could drop down without a problem. The loose loop of string was pulled tighter and on the opposite side I used a six inch steel ruler to nudge the bottom end into place.
I had taped across the belly at the bridge line so the aiming point was clear to see .Bridge feet position all marked .
I cheated a bit before gluing the top on . I had drawn the bridge line and feet positions inside the belly with a pencil .
My home made "length gauge" made in soldered brass was used .It has a certain amount of friction to hold the setting on it`s own.The popular screw action types on ebay looked a bit awkward and I had a thumb grip added to mine to make it one handed .
So todays fitting worked like a dream and the post never fell down once . The peg addition means there are no knots to bother about.Just pull the string out.

[John Cadd]

Here are some measurements if you need a soundpost setter.
One piece of electrical trunking 22cms long.1.5cms wide, Sidewalls 1cm deep.the part inside the violin is shorter than the soundpost.That section is 4cms long.cut down the sidewalls and bend it down almost 90 degrees.On the longest part (horizontal) cut away the sidewalls for 2.5 cms. That leaves a flat section to slide beneath the the belly edge .
The soundhole width is too narrow for the one centimetre sidewalls so they have to be shaves down to about 5 mms. The top edge of the sidewall nearest the tailpiece must be cut away for one centimetre to allow room for the post to be inserted(after the plastic is inside .) The vertical piece of plastic needs two small holes for a string loop to hold the post.The 2 string ends come up through a bigger hole in the horizontal section and then they lay in the channel .At the end of the channel cut away the sidewalls enough to fit a clothes peg. That keeps the string tight enough .Not that tight really . If you leave out the peg the post still stays where it is .
Now the operation is
1 ) Pull the loop loose.
2 ) Insert the plastic end in the soundhole.
3 ) Put the soundpost into the hole through the string loop.
4 ) pull the 2 string ends to hold the post securely .
5 ) Fit the peg on the end for the string .
6 ) Use a small steel ruler from the bass side to nudge the Bottom of the post while the plastic nudges the Top of the post into position . Looking through the end pin hole you can see the post moving into a vertical position. The plastic is so light it will not need much (any) holding. Have a bright light shining through the soundhole . Check from all the best angles that the post is in the right place .
The post should have a line marked down one side to get the grain orientation 90 degrees across the belly grain . The bottom of the post needs a clear mark so it`s not upside down .
The clothes peg ensures the post will not fall down .[ Invented in 20 minutes .]

[John Cadd]

The plastic setter worked with no strings attached and the end pin out. I had taped across between the inner nicks and made some marks for the intended position of the post . But when I tried that position the violin was not happy . The G string was weak and the top strings (what I could hear of them) sounded harsh . Only the D string confirmed that this violin had a voice and maybe a soul as well . A quick comparison for the bridge position relative to the post was to slacken the strings a little and move the bridge sideways. That quickly showed the post wanted to be nearer the centre of the bridge foot.All of the the strings sounded better .
By this time the green tape had been removed between the nicks . The strings were wound onto the tuning pegs . So the problem was ---the tailpiece keyhole slots were too small to remove the strings. Not wanting to unwind everything from the peg box I had to file each tailpiece hole and slot to remove each string. All without damaging the strings sprouting out where they were not wanted .
Then for some reason I tried to reposition the post using the S shaped Stabber on the post . Complete fiasco .
But sideways movement for a post is not possible .The curve change is too steep and I need a longer post . So I left it there for the day . But this violin has some new life to come.I will not need so much patience next time . The tailpiece saga did not help me . The plastic adjuster will work with clear markings . Tailpiece holes are not designed for screw down E string adjusters. They are cut out as if nobody will ever try to fit an E string adjuster .

[John Cadd]

The sound post setter theme took another twist today. I had the thought in mind originally to make some kind of scissors action . That was todays effort. It was made of flat plastic in 3 layers .It was thin enough to fit into the bass side sound hole and reach across the violin. One layer of plastic has a U shape cutout in the end . On top of this is a pair of plastic strips just narrow enough to lay flat on the bottom layer .These two pieces both have a V shape cutout and the touching edges have been shaped to open and close on the sound post.To prevent them getting out of position another plastic layer keeps then "in plane". The back end of these 2 strips are cut away in the middle to give a very limited scissor movement .To hold the soundpost securely a folded piece of plastic foam is pushed between the ends .
The scissors part is put in the violin and without the foam the sounpost is put in the gap between the v shaped cutouts . The foam pad is inserted in the end of the setter to grip the post . Now all you need to do is use a small steel ruler to raise the top of the post and move it into position . The setter takes care of the bottom end and that can adjust north and south as well as side to side. This is always better with some marked tapes in place on the belly and without the end pin in the way .
This version looks like a very flat slide rule. It`s all held together with green tape. I left it flat and it just holds the post even if the positioning goes wrong. You don`t lose the post. It starts again with the top end just inside the soundhole. The setter and steel ruler work together . When the correct position is achieved ,the foam pad is removed and the V shaped jaws open. The setter is removed . I just need to organise the 9 volt tiny lamp that illuminates the insides . The glass lamp is small enough to fit under your thumbnail .
The result today was a good G string .The D string was even better .I never knew an open D string to sound so good . The E string was good too .The A string sounded as if it needed more rosin or some adjustment to my implant .

[John Cadd]

Only one tiny alteration is needed for the latest flat post setter. The V shaped cutouts worked ok but in the bottom layer of plastic the straight cutout should have stopped where the V shapes were. When I pressed the setter inwards , the post slipped past the V shapes. Nevertheless the post was not dropped and resumed it`s normal position again .
The design relies on the shape of those two plastic strips which lay flat on the base layer . The contact edges between them has a slight curve .In the relaxed state the V shapes are normally open. When the foam pad is squeezed in at the back end the V shapes close on the post . The "pivot point " in the two plastic strips is created with a layer of green tape wrapped around. near the middle. The top layer simply stops any over riding happening. I left it all flat as the setter only needs to hold the post about 1/2 an inch from the bottom .
Preferably the post ends are shaped carefully to cater for the back and belly angles.Use the outside back to front and upside down check for both ends ..
Large screw adjuster calipers are best to transfer the post length from the brass measuring tool .That makes a "Go/No Go" setup .
Improvise with bits of plastic strips to see how the gripping action works . Green tape saves the bother with mechanical fixings .It will last a few months whatever happens .Test the push/pull action to make it all work properly .A proper post fit does not need any more than gentle contact . The history of sounpost cracks in violins may not all be due to humidity changes .It may be Humidity or it may be Timidity to avoid touching the soundpost . So if you live in Death Valley get some plastic strips and Have at it .