Violin Forum/Message Board

Just finished my fourth copy of the 1592 Amati viola.
This time I am having to use an UV light box to dry the varnish.
Don't know much about this - how long do I leave the instrument in the bo ...

I know that this is a thorny subject and that there are any number of differing views held on the subject, but as something of a newcomer can I ask what the Forum experts and professionals do to seal ...

Thank you Mr. Darnton for the advice and the interesting info.

I will re-shape it in-situ as you suggest.

I have just inherited a partly built viola from a competent but now sadly deceased amateur stringed instrument maker.
The bass bar is beautifully fitted and shaped but I am a bit worried about the bu ...

As an amateur maker (but not a particularly experienced one!) I find
that the hollowing out of hardwood backplates can be rather hard-going
at times, particularly for the larger instruments. At the ...

As an instrument maker, but a newcomer to bow making I would like to make my own Baroque viola bow.

Can anyone tell me where I can obtain drawings and detailed info.?

Is alder a suitable wood for making a one-piece back for a viola?
Does anyone have experience of this?

Does it have any particular quality tonal ...

Thank you Mr. Darnton
I'll certainly take your advice and continue doing the same as everybody else! I'm not really intent on messing with things - my thoughts about thin ply+ veneer came about fro ...

Thank you - but as far as thickness is concerned .8mm plus veneer is, of course, very close to 1mm.
Is there anything about the actual ply material itself that makes it
unsatisfactory for this ...

A professional maker once told me that the sides of an instrument have no effect on tone production whatsoever and are there merely to hold the front and back apart.

I'm intrigued by this view of ...

Thank you Mr. Darnton

Sorry if anyone thinks I'm labouring the point unecessarily, but just to be entirely clear:
is the deepest point of the scoop exactly half way along the length of the board, ...

Thank you folks for your views. The decoration is formed from standard purfling into a figured maple top. I set it down 1mm. so I suppose I could try to get a scoop of half a mm. Seems a bit risky tho ...

I am making my first viola, a copy of the Amati 1592 from John Pringle's drawing. The drawing clearly shows perfectly straight lines for the sides and top surface of the fingerboard. I know these line ...