Violin Forum/Message Board

[musicianpractition]

Carved vs. laminate vs. solid vs. pressed wood


I am trying to figure out the different wood types of violins. The different wood descriptions vary depending on which manufacturer website you go to.

Specifically I am trying to find out the main wood types. Are violins basically broken down into 2 main wood types? Solid vs. Laminate and Carved vs. Pressed? I am not sure and am a little confused.

Let's say you have a solid top, back and sides. Just because it is made from solid wood, does that mean it’s always going to be carved? Can there be a violin with solid wood that is not carved? Are there solid wood violins that will have the top arch not carved, but heated and pressed?

Is laminate and pressed used interchangeably in this context? It’s my understanding that pressed is just referring to how the top is heated and pressed into shape with a mold and has nothing to do with the wood being laminated or solid? Whereas a carved top is literally having the arch of the top carved and not heated and pressed and also has nothing to do with the wood being solid or laminated?

It seems like a violin will either be made from solid wood or laminated wood (construction?) and the top will either be carved of pressed (arch type?), but the two categories should not be interchanged or should they?

Here is a list of violin wood types as I understand in regards to how they should or shouldn't be compared:

Solid vs. Laminated (Should be compared together)
Pressed vs. Carved (Should be compared together)

Pressed vs. Solid (Shouldn't be compared together)
Laminated vs. Carved (Shouldn't be compared together)
Laminated vs. Pressed (Shouldn't be compared together)
Solid vs. Carved (Shouldn't be compared together)

An example of why I am not sure about what goes hand in hand, is the Yamaha AV20 http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical-instruments/strings/ac-violins/av20_sg/?mode=model

It is described as "Fully hand-carved", though it says it's bottom is "(2-piece back)". So this would lead one to believe that not all carved violins are completely solid?

As I know it, the carving of the wood to achieve the arch is separate than the "graduation process"? Is there are a common term to describe the process of shaping the wood either by carving or using the press method? Perhaps it's just called "Pressing Method"? Are there many violins made that are actually pressed or is this rare?

Am I missing something?

Thank you.

[L P Reedy]

You are vastly over-complicating this stuff. These days it is basically solid/carved vs laminate. Laminate only in the very cheapest fiddles but in some half-way decent cellos and basses. Laminate is pressed, which is the reason for laminate. Carved is always solid.

Sides are always solid, never carved, always bent. It is possible to make bent (pressed) solid wood plates and it has been done, both one-piece and two-piece, but is rare. A two-piece back is still solid wood and more common than one-piece. Nearly all tops are two-piece, rarely one.

Probably doesn't hit all your details, but all I'm up for.

[Mat Roop]

mp..You are missing a lot!
Check out this link and it will detail in pictures the making of a viola, which is essentially the same process for the violin.
Be sure to view each of the stages listed on the left side.
http://darntonviolins.com/viola.php?set_id=0

Anything pressed or laminate in a violin is not (in my opinion) a real violin, but rather a VSO (violin shaped object), so in my mind there is nothing to debate or compare.

2 piece refers to the fact that the top or back plates are solid, but book matched with the seam in the centre as seen in the above link...most of the best violins are made this way, relatively few being made with one-piece plates which will not have the centre seam
Good luck!... Mat