Violin Forum/Message Board

[ted]

I recently inherited an old violin (it is a Buthod) French 19th Century I think.

It does not have a nut at the end of the finger board.
To my memory of the instrument it has never had one since the 1960s when I first saw it.

When played the strings do not buzz.

Questions
Should it have one.
Would it have had one originally.
Are there consequences of not having one that I should know about.

Ted

[actonern]

Ted:

If no nut, what "steers" each string appropriately spaced into the pegbox?

If the string height above the fingerboard is very high you could get away with no buzzing, but other mischief is sure to await...

Is there a gap of approximately 5 mm between the end of the fingerboard and the beginning of the pegbox excavation? If so, you're missing a nut. If not, a nut made the instrument.

[actonern]

Ted:

If no nut, what "steers" each string appropriately spaced into the pegbox?

If the string height above the fingerboard is very high you could get away with no buzzing, but other mischief is sure to await...

Is there a gap of approximately 5 mm between the end of the fingerboard and the beginning of the pegbox excavation? If so, you're missing a nut. If not, a nut made the instrument.

[FiddleDoug]

Yes, the instrument must have a nut! There needs to be correct space between the strings and the fingerboard at both ends of the fingerboard, and those are controlled, to a large extent, by the nut and the bridge. The nut and the bridge also have small grooves to maintain the correct string to string spacing. Take it to a luthier to get it checked over and set up correctly.

When my playing sounds bad, I always attribute it to "the nut at the end of the bow".
_________________
Doug Wall

www.wallindependent.com