Violin Forum/Message Board

actonern · Super Member Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 444

Has the neck overstand above the belly has been getting taller over the years?

jacobyfineviolins · Member Joined: 04 Mar 2013 Posts: 55 Location: Omaha, NE

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actonern · Super Member Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 444

I should have been clearer!

Lots of 19th century fiddles seem to have overstands around 4mm, or even less... while modern work seems to be more towards 7 mm, 10 mm for violas etc.

I guess I'm wondering if there is any reason to vary the 158 degree string angle... either with overstand adjustment or saddle height.

MANFIO · Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 8:11 am Post subject:

Christopher Landon advised me to increase the overstand in my violas.

I raised it slowly till 10 mm and liked the results. That worked with the high bridge I like to use, the wide C bouts and thick graduations of my viola model.

But it may not worrk with other instruments.
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Michael Darnton · Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 9:11 am Post subject:

I started, around 1990, raising mine, to attempt to achieve the magic 158 degrees. It's pretty hard to get with a low overstand on a new violin that hasn't sagged in the middle over time--easy on an old one, where you get an extra 2mm of effective overstand by the sagging middle.

At least a couple of other people were thinking the same thing at that time, I know--I got the 158 idea from a maker from France, and knew an es-B&F restorer in NYC who was fitting really high saddles to achieve the same thing. I started putting on really high overstands, but now I steal a little bit from everywhere to accomplish the same thing without it being so obvious, since I think the additional leverage that high overstand puts on the neck heel is a negative.
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Chet Bishop · Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 4:30 pm Post subject:

Is there a "magic angle" like that for violas and celli, as well?
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Michael Darnton · Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 4:40 pm Post subject:

On violas it's definitely an adjustment: you vary the sound over a range of possible acceptable variants by varying that aspect. Since no one is sure what a viola is supposed to sound like, many strokes for many folks.

Cellos, I haven't figured out yet.
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MANFIO · Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 5:05 pm Post subject:

I never measured the angle of the strings in my violas...
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jacobyfineviolins · Member Joined: 04 Mar 2013 Posts: 55 Location: Omaha, NE

The overstand height for viola and celli, as they are more variable than violins in shape and arching, is always an adjustment game. The higher the angle of the strings on the bridge(low projection/low nut), the more sound the instrument will produce.
This also translates to a harsher, brighter sound, in some aspects of it.
The lower the angle (high projection/high nut), the mellower the sound, sacrificing power (maybe only under the ear) for color and warmth.
This isn't absolute. It's another tool in the bag of tricks used to bring an instrument's sound to a centered, pleasant place.
So if I look at my viola's arching and edgework, plate thickness, etc, and say Man, this beast is going to be harsh because of the marriage of these factors, and I want to force it back to a gentler sound, I will jack the overstand up to 8 or 9 mm to mellow it out.
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