Violin Forum/Message Board

[John Cadd]

The superglue worked . The first time I ever used superglue on a violin .The top section of the bridge came down smoothly . Tonewise I`m not sure yet. If wound strings have been disturbed they seem to like a rest and time to settle. E strings in plain steel seem impervious to being moved around .
This 3/4 set of strings were from Astrea .They have been with us a long time but don`t get lots of publicity .
The weight of this bridge ended at 2.06 grams. So the latest change took 0.6 grams away . Is that too light ?First try the sounds were not good. They improved suddenly with fresh rosin.
So new bridge .Good soundpost position .Strings not yet run in .Time will tell .

[John Cadd]

Not wanting to leave any stones unturned I checked the sounpost position just in case it was too tight .I knew there was a built in problem involving the soundpost already .That was the soundhole was just too narrow to allow a 6 mm post in through the slot .It would only just sqeeze in between the notches , I knew that needed to be sorted out when the post fell down .
I rescued the post by making a lassoo with strong black cotton. As I was nudging the post into the loop I had to remember that a tiny wooden post had no brain or survival instincts to keep away from cotton loops .
That came out through the larger hole easily . Some drastic action was to judge the angle of the inner edge and rub away the hard varnish with a diamond file.The file is about 1 cm wide and not especially fine . Abrasive enough for the job .The varnish turned into white powder . I don`t think the wood was affected but the post is an easy fit now . It might need to be changed one day in the future .No point leaving a nasty surprise .
The post was checked and a tiny improvement in the top surface made .
It was placed on the pencil lines again. The plastic gauge to give the position behind the bridge checked out , plus the small gauge for side to side position to match the bassbar position opposite .
I managed to get a sound with some sensitivity to it .As usual the open A string resists more than the other three strings . It will play in as it stands now . The bridge weight could go down to 1.7 grams but it will be best to delay and use a separate bridge for any more weight tests.
All good practice but there was a point where I questioned if there was much point in 3/4 violins for adults.
A alternative is to shorten the neck on a full size violin by one inch. The scroll reattachment is not especially difficult . If a player has short fingers the one inch difference in playing scale would not be difficult . Flexibility in the wrist angle would be my problem .I have not tried the cutaway shown by Edgar Russ . It would be good to ever reach the fingerboard end .

[John Cadd]

Thinking about 3/4 violins for adults ( eg Me). I used a cheap plastic shoulder rest as a temporary support and without fitting a chinrest --found it very comfortable .That was a surprise .If you feel where the jawbone touches the top it`s only touching about an inch from the edge. I don`t press with any force anyway .That is a bad habit in itself and would lead to neck tensions .
Because these 3/4 (children`s ) sizes are robust and covered in tough varnish it would help children to not have a chinrest at all .I may be shrinking but the lower rib size fits me perfectly .The foam layer on the shoulder rest grips my clothing .
Zino Francescatti is an interesting player physically .He does not reach the highest notes with the thumb anchored at the neck join.His thumb jumps onto the belly edge in Rond des Lutins .
Also before he begins , you see him reach under his collar and arrange a pad to act as a shoulder rest . That is as clear an example as you need .
For practice today I bought a metal mute made of brass .It`s a traditional mute but it touches the bridge on the tips of the prongs .There is less contact than an ebony mute would have,and the volume hardly changes . But the A string is smoothed out very well . I need to do a few more experiments . An interesting detail I did not expect . When I was young with fully functioning hearing I always assumed Heifetz played everything with a mute on his bridge .

[John Cadd]

The brass mute is adjustable. I mean it needs to be adjusted . The prongs are too straight as it arrives .Mainly the 3 prongs need to have angles that match the bridge and one that is adjusted for a 4/4 violin will be too slack for a 3/4 . The best way is to use an old worn out bridge. Fit it on and press the prongs near the top with pliers.That spreads the contact across the bridge wood area instead of tiny tip contact which does not mute anything . That works with an old 4/4 bridge. Now use a vice to press the prong ends in a little to suit the 3/4 bridge . The bronze is springy enough to grip properly and reduce the overall sound volume . It mutes properly but is not a "silent "practice mute.
An Ebony 3 prong could not oblige quite so easily . Fine sandpaper folded over an old bridge might improve the fit if needed . I`m not familiar with ebony flexibility so I ordered one to find out . I used to have a wire and plastic tube mute that slides along the A and D strings .My first one was no trouble .Fitting a second one became a battle with 2 pairs of pliers and took me an hour . Although I have seen one on David Oistrakh`s violin .

[John Cadd]

The "new3/4violin" is progressing well . The Astrea 3/4 strings have a full tone now.The soundpost needs a tiny tweek but only a very little . I have had more practice fitting soundposts than adjusting them .
But the diversion about mutes is very interesting .I need to pull all that together and compare the different types of mute. I bought a new ebony mute .It`s a traditional 3 prong design.The slot is cut straight and as it is made it has little muting effect. The best way to run it in is to use a thin steel ruler with a piece of sandpaper on one side. You can start the creation of an angle to suit the shape of a bridge . After a few tests I reminded myself the the back of a bridge (facing the player ) is basically flat. So to cater for the bulge on the front of a bridge the mute should be marked to keep it facing the right way .As it fits now it tilts towards the treble side but it`s important not to ram it on forcefully.Ebony mutes have been known to break . But a mute that works well does not need a lot of pressure.
If I have the mute the correct way round all the strings sound very sweet. Turn it round and the balance in tone gets very uneven and unpleasant .
Comparing the ebony to the bronze ,the bronze is an inferior design . The sound quality is in a lower league. Maybe I need to work on the flat back and bulging front aspect .The metal is very adjustable and I have not rejected it totally .