All Technical articles
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Premium ❘ FeatureStars of Africa: South African tonewood
Wood physicist Martina Meincken presents the results of a study investigating whether indigenous woods of southern Africa might be suitable for use as tonewood for instruments
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Premium ❘ FeatureA unique poster: ‘Paderewski, Wendling’ violin – part two
Expert and conservator Balthazar Soulier has curated this month’s poster which, for the first time, features an ‘original composite’ violin: the ‘Paderewski, Wendling’, made by Montagnana and Guarneri ‘del Gesù’. Here he places this unique instrument in context and highlights complementary information to enable a better understanding of the poster ...
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1937 violin by Giuseppe Castagnino
Alberto Giordano examines a 20th-century violin by the Chiavari-based luthier
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Repairing a bow stick
François Louant presents a method for attaching new wood to the stick at the frog end, when the original material is unsalvageable
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1924 violin by János Spiegel
Zoltán Délczeg examines a 100-year-old instrument by Hungarian maker János Spiegel
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Making a wooden peg shaper
A method for creating a model with an interchangeable blade
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A c.1740 viola by Johann Christian Hoffmann
Alex Krieger examines a viola by one of the best-known German luthiers
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn the zone: a one-person double bass repair method
For luthiers working alone, double bass repair can be a difficult task to take on. US bass maker Nick Lloyd presents his ‘Zone method’ for re-gluing a bass top using just one pair of hands
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A c.1750 violin by Michele Deconet
Peter Koerner examines the French maker’s mid-century instrument
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Preparing the wood surface before varnishing
Samuel Peguiron shares a method involving a bespoke mixture and wood shavings
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Purfling and edgework after closing the box
A method that allows for more aesthetic freedom than completing the plates before finishing the soundbox
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: An 1845 violin by Johann Georg Stauffer
Jakob Nachbargauer and Adrian Elschek examine a mid-century violin by the successful Austrian guitar maker
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Premium ❘ FeatureCentre of attention: centring and alignment
Inspired by the work of the Cremonese masters, David Folland explains his method for finding the centre line of an old instrument
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1796 viola by Sebastian Dalinger
Rainer Michael Cocron examines the Austrian maker’s late 18th-century instrument
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Premium ❘ FeatureWhere science meets art: Positioning the f-holes
Inspired by the work of the illustrious Cremonese masters, Alvin Thomas King presents a practical method for modern-day luthiers to position the f-holes on an instrument
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Bow tip replacement – part two
How to shape the new tip after having replaced the ebony and ivory
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Premium ❘ FeatureRaising the bar: Bass-bar experiments
Joseph Curtin reports on a series of experiments at the 2023 Oberlin Acoustics Workshop, which attempted to ascertain the acoustic effects of altering the height and scoop of the violin’s bass-bar
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1969 viola by Gio Batta Morassi
Yuri Pochekin examines his own mentor’s viola
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Bow tip replacement – part one
Jenelle Steele explains a detailed method to remove an old tip and fit a new one, before shaping
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Premium ❘ FeatureA closer look: Examining the ‘Salabue, Martzy’ violin
The Strad’s lutherie consultant Philip Ihle put together this month’s poster of the ‘Salabue, Martzy’. Here he points out several extra details to help luthiers make an exact copy of the instrument
