Products December 2020: Dolfinos chinrest

Based in Switzerland, Dolfinos entered the market last year with its Air rest, an innovative product that combined a chinrest and shoulder rest in a single unit. Although it has been taken up by players including violinist Leonidas Kavakos, such an all-encompassing design is not suitable for players who already have a preferred shoulder rest, or who play without one at all.

In response, Dolfinos has now released a standalone chinrest that attaches to the instrument using the firm’s novel system. ‘The new Pure rest combines the advantages of the Air model with a significantly smaller presence on the instrument,’ Dolfinos founder Michael Wiener explains. ‘Instead of attaching to the side of the instrument, our unique adaptor fits around the nut. This increases the stability of the interface between the instrument and the rest, and means the clamping force on the body of the violin is reduced by half compared with traditional fittings. Less pressure on the wood is better for the instrument’s sound and general wellbeing.’

As a video on the Dolfinos website demonstrates, the height of the chinrest can be freely adjusted without stepwise increments. Two sizes of adaptor makes the rest suitable for instruments with a height between 34mm and 47mm at the point below the bridge, while Dolfinos offers players a choice of nine types of wood or hypoallergenic ABS plastic for the chinrest itself. ‘Overall, the rest is around 40 per cent lighter than a traditional Guarneri-style rest in ebony,’ Wiener says. ‘Players can also opt to include an anti-slip pad with a structure inspired by the clinging properties of a gecko’s feet. It does away with the need for awkward homemade solutions and, like everything else we do, has been engineered to have the smallest possible impact on the instrument’s natural acoustics.’

Dolfinos Pure violin chinrest €279

email mail@dolfinos.com

web www.dolfinos.com