Produced by Ron Swanson
THE REPAIRING & RESTORATION OF VIOLINS.
PRINTED BY E. SHORE & CO.,
3, GREEN TERRACE, ROSEBERY AVENUE, LONDON, E.C.
[Frontispiece: HORACE PETHERICK.]
_"THE STRAD" LIBRARY, No. XII._
THE REPAIRING & RESTORATION OF VIOLINS.
BY
HORACE PETHERICK.
_Of the Music Jury, International Inventions Exhibition South
Kensington, 1885; International Exhibition Edinburgh, 1890; Expert in
Law Courts, 1891; Vice-President of the Cremona Society_.
ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR.
London:
THE STRAD OFFICE, 3, GREEN TERRACE, ROSEBERY AVENUE, E.C.
D. R. DUNCAN, 186, FLEET STREET, E.C.
New York:
CHARLES SCRIBNERS' SONS, 153-157, FIFTH AVENUE
1903.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.--Introductory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
CHAPTER II.--Slight Accidents--Modern Restorers--"Chattering"--
The Proper Sort of Glue--Its Preparation and Use . . . . 3
CHAPTER III.--Minor Repairs--Cramps and Joints--Violin Cases--
Rattles and Jars--Loose Fingerboards--Atmospheric
Temperature--Old-Fashioned Methods of Repairing--Modern
Ways--A Loose Nut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
CHAPTER IV.--Injuries to the Head or Scroll--Insertion of Fresh
Wood--Colouring of White Wood--Separation of Head from
Peg-box and Re-joining--Stopping Material for Small Holes
or Fractures--The Peg-box Cracked by Pressure . . . . . . 28
CHAPTER V.--Fracture of Peg-box and Shell--Chips from this
Part--Filling up of Same--Restoration to Original Form,
after Parts have been Lost--Worn Peg-holes, Re-filling or
Boring Same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
CHAPTER VI.--Loosening of Junction of Graft with Peg-box, and
Refixing Same--Grafting, Different Methods of Performing
this--Lengthening the Neck--Old and Modern Method--Renewal
of Same--Inclination of Neck and Fingerboard with Regard
to the Bridge--Height of Latter, and Reason for It . . . 58
CHAPTER VII.--Finishing the Fingerboard--Fixing the Nut--Size
and Position of Grooves for the Strings--Filing Down the
Graft--Smoothing, Colouring, and Varnishing Same . . . . 84
CHAPTER VIII.--Injuries that can be Repaired from the Outside--
Insertion of Fresh Wood in Fracture of the Ribs--The
Effects of Climate on the Glue in Violins . . . . . . . . 92
CHAPTER IX.--The Glue Used by the Early Italian Makers--
Insertion of Pieces of Wood for Repairing Lost Parts--
Replacing Lost Rib and Repairing Interior without Opening
when Possible--Securing Loose Lower Rib to End Block--
Different Methods--Treatment of Worm-holes--Fixing on
Graft on Neck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
CHAPTER X.--Ways of Removing the Upper Table and the Neck--
Cleansing the Interior--Preservation of the Original
Label--Closing of Cracks in Upper Table . . . . . . . . . 114
CHAPTER XI.--Getting Parts Together that apparently do not
Fit--The use of Benzine or Turpentine--Treatment of
Warped or Twisted Lower Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
CHAPTER XII.--Removal of Old Superfluous Glue by Damping--
Replacing Old End Blocks by New Ones--Temporary Beams
and Joists Inside for Keeping Ribs, etc., in Position
while Freshly Glued . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
CHAPTER XIII.--Re-opening the Back to Correct the Badly
Repaired Joint--A Few Words on Studs--Filling Up Spaces
left by Lost Splinters--Matching Wood for Large Cracks,
etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
CHAPTER XIV.--Repairing Lost Portions--Margins of Sound Holes--
Matching the Grain--Fixing and Finishing Off--Replacing
with Fresh Wood Large Portions of Upper Table--Lost Parts
of Purfling--Restoring It with Old Stuff . . . . . . . . 155
CHAPTER XV.--Repairs to Purfling (continued)--Filling up an
Opening Extending to the Whole Length of the Violin--
Fitting the Core--Fixing it in Position and Retaining it
There--Finishing the Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
CHAPTER XVI.--Repairing Undertaken by People in Business not
connected with that of Bowed Instruments--Removal of a
Fixed Sound Post--Fitting a Fresh Part of Worm-Eaten Rib--
Bringing Together the Loosened Joint of the Back Without
Opening the Violin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
CHAPTER XVII.--Insertion of Studs along the Joint Inside
without Opening the Violin--Lining or Veneering a Thin
Back . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
CHAPTER XVIII.--The Bar in Olden Times--The Modern One--The
Operation of Fitting and Fixing the Bar--Closing and
Completion of the Repairs--Varnishing of the Repaired
Parts having Fresh Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
PREFACE.
An ancient writer once asserted that "of making many books there is
no end"; had the violin been invented and used as far back as his day
he might have added, "and of repairs to violins," inasmuch as the number,
nature, and variety of the damages that constantly occur and find their
way into the presence of the repairer, are such as could not be counted
and seemingly are endless. The readers of the following pages will
therefore not expect to find every possible ailment to which the violin
is liable, mentioned and its appropriate remedy marked out. If the more
minute kinds of injuries are endless, they may yet be generalised under
a limited number of headings, or in groups. It is with the hope that
a sufficient number has been treated of, and the way of meeting
difficulties pointed out plainly enough to enable the intending
practitioner to follow on in the same lines, that this work is placed
before the public. All the repairings referred to, have, with the
accompanying annoyances and pleasures, been gone through by myself,
and therefore the present little work may be taken as the result of
personal experience and it is hoped may be acceptable to the readers.
H. PETHERICK.
_July, 1903_.
The Repairing and Restoration of Violins.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
The art of the old liutaro of Italy may be said to have become during
the last two or three centuries, identified with the art of
constructing such musical instruments as are played with the bow.
As was the case with other and kindred arts, that of violin making had
its rise in one of the old cities of Italy, where from small beginnings
it gradually spread to other places and over the borders, until there
are very few places of importance where it was not practised with some
degree of success, commercially if not artistically and acoustically
considered.
During the early period of the art, repairing was of a rough and ready
kind, chiefly in connection with damages sustained under ordinary
usage and accident; while extensive and costly renovating, such as is
so frequently undertaken at the present day, must have been of rare
occurrence, for the reason that it was then quite possible to get equal,
sometimes better, quality in quite new instruments which were being
sent forth every day by the resident makers. With the onward march of
time this has been changed; the art of the Italian liutaro having
reached its climax some century and a half back, the masterpieces
executed during that time are gradually diminishing in number and
cannot be replaced by instruments having a sufficiently high degree
of excellence; naturally enough the skill of the repairer has been more
and more in requisition, so much so, that many who have shown
exceptional ability for this kind of work have achieved a reputation
for it alone, among the large circle of dealers in the principal cities
of Europe. The necessities of the time have thus brought into
prominence a modification of the art of the old Italian liutaro, in
which there has to be displayed much more mechanical ingenuity if with
very little or no originality; the high class of artisan has become
strongly in evidence, while the artist has disappeared. It was in the
consideration of these facts that the idea was first suggested that
a work treating of the general methods adopted by professional
restorers for important work, coupled with helpful hints in the
management of minor injuries, would be interesting and acceptable to
amateur as well as professional repairers, besides the numerous
readers of THE STRAD, in the pages of which the following chapters were
first issued.
In sending out the matter in book form, some alterations and additions
have been, as usual, found advisable for completeness. All readers
readily admit the impossibility of touching upon one half of the
various accidents and ailments to which a violin is liable during its
usually long life; the most likely ones have therefore been taken, and
it is hoped that the suggested treatment of these cases may enable the
repairer to become sufficiently adept for undertaking such others,
serious, or slight, as may not have been here referred to.
Further, the author is hopeful that those readers who may feel
indisposed themselves to put into practice the various hints,
instruction, or advice, will be enabled by knowing how good repairing
is carried out, to select the proper kind of person into whose hands
they can safely intrust their cherished instruments.