MINOR REPAIRS--CRAMPS AND JOINTS--VIOLIN CASES--RATTLES AND
JARS--LOOSE FINGERBOARDS--ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE--OLD-FASHIONED
METHODS OF REPAIRING--MODERN WAYS--A LOOSE NUT.
The professional repairer is of course always provided with the well
known wooden screw cramps as used in all countries for centuries, but
if "up to date" men, they will have affixed the modern covering of cork
or leather at the parts coming into contact with the instrument. No
end of damage has been done at all times by neglect of this simple
precaution. Many gems from the old masters that would otherwise have
been matchless, are disfigured by an array of semi-circular dents or
bruises near the border. This is particularly noticeable when the
arching springs rather abruptly from a narrow channel and near the
purfling, or the rise commences from the border without channelling.
Here is shown the wisdom of the earlier Italian masters when
introducing the channelled model, the hollowing being a preservation
against damage by the impetuous repairer. Many otherwise excellent
workers are heavy handed, pressing all parts together very tightly but
not more securely. Good joints, cleanly and accurately cut, the
surfaces kept clean and not overloaded with good glue, are the best
for lasting, and of course for appearance.
Before leaving that part of our subject which is connected with damages
to the violin resulting from want of precaution or thoughtlessness,
it may be as well to refer to a frequent cause of disaster, often well
nigh ruin, by the use of badly fitting and badly constructed cases.
Innumerable as have been the varieties of style, shape and arrangement
of violin cases, there is still an opportunity for a new, good and
useful one that shall combine all or most of the requirements as regards
utility, portability, preservativeness and nice appearance. Those in
use for travelling with during the last century and the early part of
this, had the disadvantage of heaviness, besides their rounded forms
which prevented their being placed with a flat side downwards on a shelf
or convenient horizontal surface without some unsteady rolling; also
being often studded with brass nails like a coffin, a very grave
objection (diagram 4). The leather cases which require the instrument
to be placed in sideways have the advantage of giving good protection
against rain, but there is insufficient defence against accidental
violence; they are, further, more expensive than the foreign boxes made
of poplar wood, which are light and of sufficient strength when
carefully made. There was one good thing about the ancient cases,
however, the violin being inserted at the large end, the performer knew
at once whether the case was sufficiently capacious for the instrument.
Not so with those in common use at the present time, opening as a box.
To these may be laid the charge of causing an immense amount of
irreparable injury to numbers of violins of any standard of excellence
or costliness. This in the way mostly of depressions--"wells" as they
are termed by repairers--where the feet of the bridge rest. These are
caused by the lid of the case coming down on to the hard wood of the
bridge and pressing its feet like dies, into the comparatively softer
pine (diagram 5). It is a disfigurement to the violin and is sometimes
in a bungling manner altered by inlaying--badly in most
instances--square pieces of wood to bring the surface level. This kind
of damage to the violin has been attributed to the prolonged pressure
on the upper table by the strings being stretched up to modern pitch,
but this is a mistake, no strings at all playable would press
sufficiently hard and directly downwards to produce this result. The
double-cases in use are worse than the single, as they are necessarily
stronger and heavier. Both present the same difficulties in estimating
whether the violin with its bridge is too high for the roof inside when
the lid is closed. A good way of testing it is by rubbing a little soft
white chalk over the top of the bridge and then gently shutting the
lid down, which also should show no indisposition to do so; if on
lifting the lid any of the white chalk is seen to have changed places
and got on to the lining of the lid, put aside at once and for ever
the condemned case as being an unfit receptacle for your cherished
Cremona. Further, if the fit is at all tight, do not use pressure but
get another case, your violin would be a very bad one indeed for your
sympathies to fall in with a horrible suggestion once made by the maker
of a too closely fitting case for his friend's instrument, that he
should be allowed to take a shaving or two off the violin, it would
then go in nicely. As some excuse for this maker he was not an amateur
in this line, but a professional undertaker.
[Illustration: DIAGRAM 4.]
[Illustration: DIAGRAM 5.]
We may now shift our ground and notice another source of the
complaint--rattles, jars, chatters, or grunts, which ever may appear
the most appropriate title for another variety of annoyance to the
performer. Having found out with our felt-headed hammer, or if that
is not easily obtainable, a slender stick may be covered at the end
with almost any soft material enclosed within a piece of chamois or
soft leather, and tied so as to form a knob like a small drumstick.
Having tested the violin with it in the manner before referred to, and
there being no bad reports from the body of the instrument, the hurt,
seat of injury, or lesion, may be in the neck, fingerboard, or even
the scroll, any part being liable to give out its undesirable note,
or interfere with the proper emission of musical tone from the strings.
There is no portion of the violin that will not under certain
provocations join too willingly in the production of unwelcome sounds
if the exciting conditions are present--those of checked vibration,
or vibration that should be checked. An unsuspected cause may be
discovered by the tapping test to be lurking unseen, and often unfelt,
till one note being struck in unison or sympathy with the affected spot,
may cause it to speak in a decided manner. This is at the part where
the fingerboard parts from the neck over the instrument towards the
bridge--the rather thin glue, as it should be--may, through damp or
other causes, have lost its hold for but a short distance, and not be
evident while the fingers are pressing the strings over the part; but
when notes are struck nearer towards the nut, the pressure is relieved
and the fingerboard free to take its own part. This, although a trifle
in itself, requires for its cure proper attention with suitable
appliances.
After the removal of the strings, the first suggestion naturally
occurring will be to insert, with the blade of a knife, some glue and
leave it to dry. This is more likely than not to make matters worse,
as it should always be borne in mind that glued surfaces always require
pressing together, however well they may fit. Glue contracts as it
dries, and in the process apparently disperses and clings to any other
bodies rather than to itself. To put this in another way, if air is
allowed to insinuate itself between the two surfaces which it is
desirable to bring into closest conjunction, the contraction,
particularly if good, while in progress, will cause a separation in
the central mass of the glue, while the two surfaces will be left as
before, independent of each other, but more clogged. Pressure must
therefore be invariably brought to bear behind the opposing parts, so
as to drive out the air from between and prevent its re-admission--the
necessity of an exact correspondence of the parts will be obvious--at
the same time the glue is to some degree forced into the pores of the
surfaces, and when the moisture has dispersed among the myriads of
cells composing the structural growth of the wood and finally
evaporates from the external ones, the glue, having hardened, will hold
the parts together with a tenacity that can only be overcome by
prolonged application of moisture or actual destruction of the parts.
There is one very important consideration in connexion with glueing
operations that must not at any time be lost sight of--that of
atmospheric temperature. Much trouble may be brought about by
inattention to this help or obstruction, for it will act both ways
according to circumstances. In the glueing of important parts in the
construction of pianofortes, the operators are careful to have the
temperature of the surrounding atmosphere sufficiently elevated, as
well as heating those portions of the structure which are to be
accurately and lastingly joined, and particularly where hard woods and
smooth surfaces are brought together. The violin repairer must
strictly follow the same rule. The degree Fahrenheit at which glueing
operations are best conducted may be roughly estimated as nearly
seventy. The reason for this is that the nature of good glue is to
coagulate or "set" rapidly in a cool atmosphere and in this state--not
perceptible at once to the eye--it will resist a considerable amount
of pressure, the surfaces that should exactly cohere, slipping aside
and the whole work having to be done over again, perhaps with fresh
damage.
To return now to our loose fingerboard, an old fashioned and very clumsy,
inefficient way of fastening it after glueing, was to tie some string
round it, which of course getting much glue upon it during progress
had, when dry, to be torn or washed off. The modern, simplest and best
way is to have ready a soft wood mould with a square or flat back for
the under or circular part of the neck, and a similar but flatter one
to fit above on the fingerboard. These can be easily adjusted, and the
requisite pressure obtained by several screw cramps along its extent
(diagrams 6 and 7). It is not very often that the nut or small block
over which the strings pass on to the pegs gets loose, if it does, it
is the result of bad fitting and careless glueing. If it should happen
to come away, wash it, and when dry see that the under part to be stuck
to the fingerboard and the neck is quite square and level; warm it and
apply some strong glue to the two surfaces, and also to the parts with
which it is to come into contact, you can then place it in position;
press down and rub backwards and forwards once or twice, then leave
in the exact position required; if clean, accurately fitted and warmed,
it will not require any further pressing or clamping. If this part
should have been knocked off and lost, then a new one must be made.
For this purpose the hardest piece of ebony you can obtain is the best;
sometimes a nut of ivory or bone is used, but it has a staring effect,
although if properly done as above described, it holds well and wears
slowly. Some of the hard dark woods, cocoa wood and lignum vitae, or
dark horn are adapted for this purpose. Rosewood is not so well suited,
as the ruts or grooves are soon made deep by the friction of the strings
in being wound up, and renewal is found obligatory sooner than with
the other.
[Illustration: DIAGRAM 6.]
[Illustration: DIAGRAM 7.]
Having selected a suitable piece of wood it must be cut or planed square
and equal in thickness. It should be as nearly the right length as
possible before being placed permanently in position, the ends being
very tough in cutting. If by miscalculation they are found to project
over the width of the fingerboard, they should be--when the glue is
quite dry--cut through with a small bow saw close up, a gentle, careful
filing will reduce them down level with the side of the fingerboard;
the surface should run easily with that of the peg box, which is not
always of the same width as the other, the arching can then be proceeded
with, a chisel being first used, then a rather close grained file for
further levelling and the finishing off with the finest glass-paper
or emery cloth, having a drop or two of oil in it; this will give a
smooth, dull polish agreeable to the eye. The grooves in which the
strings will have to rest must be marked out or pricked to measurement
so that the spaces may appear regular when the violin is strung up.
The distance apart being occasionally done to the caprice of the player,
measurement should be kept of this matter of detail from some well
regulated instrument as a standard to go by. When the exact spots for
the grooves are marked or pricked, a very small, round or "rat-tailed"
file may be used to work the wood down at the spot, care being taken
that the file is constantly held in an exact line with the direction
of the fingerboard, otherwise when strung up the appearance at the part
will be that of distortion and the string will even be checked in its
freedom in passing through the grooves, each of which should be made
to receive the string not too tightly nor too loose. Of course the width
of each groove must be in agreement with the thickness of the string,
the widest being the D, the G a little less, the A less still and the
E least of all; the E should be a trifle closer to the fingerboard than
the D or G, the last, having the widest swing during play, should be
raised further off the board than the others. The arching of that side
of the nut may also be left a little higher. The nut should also be
made to slant down towards the peg box (diagram 8), the grooves being
of a regular depth on this and not deeper at the top (diagram 9). When
all is ready for the stringing up, a soft lead pencil may be used for
blackleading the grooves, they are otherwise liable to arrest the
progress of the string towards the pegs when tuning up and suddenly
letting them go with a click, making the tuning uncertain and
difficult; if the wood is rather obstinate--it is not always alike--a
touch of beeswax of the size of a pin's head where the lead is placed
will be an effectual cure.
[Illustration: DIAGRAM 8.]
[Illustration: DIAGRAM 9.]
We may now leave this as finished, going to the other end of the violin
where another nut is used for supporting the tail-string as it comes
over to the end peg. This part is frequently done in a slovenly way,
even by some repairers of good repute; there is no reason why it should
not be as neatly done in all respects as any other part. It may be that
the supposition is uppermost in the mind of the repairer that, like
the nut at the fingerboard, the pressure of the strings will retain
it in position. This is a mistake, there is a great pull forward,
especially if the wood is hard and dry. The material should be selected
for its solidity and hardness like that for the other nut. In olden
times, say those of the early Italians, this part, owing to the small
amount of strain in consequence of low pitch, low bridge and short neck,
seems to have been treated with almost indifference, a very slight
piece of ebony, cherry, pear, or other variety of hard wood found in
Italy, sufficing for the purpose (diagram 10). It was left level with
the surrounding soft wood, or nearly so; there was no occasion for
raising it at the time, as the tail-string projected from the
underneath of the tailpiece instead of that almost universally now
known as the secret tie (diagrams 11 and 12). This latter necessitates
the use of a higher and more substantial nut, otherwise the tailpiece
would be close down to, if not touching, the table, causing a rattling.
Further, in accordance with mechanical law, the strain or pull forward
increases with the height of the nut. It is therefore obvious, that
unless well fitted and held strongly, the nut will be liable to be
wrenched forward out of position. This is more frequent than would be
suspected, and is sometimes a secret source of damage or bad influence
leading to disaster in other parts of the instrument. The same
observations concerning the preliminaries apply to the fixing of this
as to the other nut. The modern arrangement of the part leaves but
little to be improved upon.
[Illustration: DIAGRAM 10. OLDEST FORM OF NUT.]
[Illustration: DIAGRAM 11.]
[Illustration: DIAGRAM 12.]
The length and thickness of the nut required having been determined
upon, we will suppose ourselves in the presence of an old worthy from
Cremona requiring a fresh attachment, the wood selected--Mauritius
ebony for preference--and the measurement as follows, 5/16 in length
and thickness according to the width of the border, as the nut looks
best when the inner edge runs in a continuous line with that of the
purfling (diagram 13). In highly finished work and when the end of the
violin has a perceptible curve instead of being nearly straight, the
nut should be made to follow the course of the purfling, this will
require some care in the cutting and finishing of it. For this a piece
of almost any veneer cut to the exact flow or drawing of the line may
be used as a guide or template. The block from which the nut is to be
made having been cut quite level, the line can be traced with a fine
pointed pencil, or better, a fine pointed knife, and then shaped with
a sharp chisel. The block or nut can now be laid on the border, care
being taken that the tail pin comes immediately in a central position
in relation to it, and then with the sharp pointed knife a finely cut
line can be traced all round. The space now marked may be cleared away
down to the top of the end block with a clean, vertical wall on three
sides formed by the pine. If carefully done, the nut, at present only
a solid, squared block, will fit exactly, if too tight, a little shaving
off here and there of the pine will correct it. The nut, supposed to
be an exact fit, may be warmed and some fairly strong glue applied
(diagram 14). The raw surfaces of the pine and the exposed end block
are of course very absorbent and require an extra feed or two in order
that the final glueing of the nut and place of reception may have a
good holding. The nut, now squeezed into position, will not require
the clamp, but if time is no desideratum an application of that useful
tightener will ensure a firm hold, and moreover the superfluous glue
is forced out.
[Illustration: DIAGRAM 13.]
[Illustration: DIAGRAM 14.]
When the glue has had time to thoroughly dry and harden, the clamp may
be released, and a part at each end of the nut marked off for levelling
down to the surrounding forces by filing and glass-papering. The manner
and care with which this is done declares the excellence and
characteristics of the workman or firm by whom he is employed; almost
every repairer or house of reputation having their individualisms in
this respect, as also in that of the fingerboard nut (diagram 15). A
line having been ruled with precision along the upper central part with
the pencil or knife as before, a small gouge can be run along a hollow
which will face the bridge. To give this the best kind of finish a piece
of pine or soft poplar, such as is used for champagne wine cases, you
may look out for one about Christmas time, cut it to the shape of the
part to be finished thus (diagram 16), and with a piece of fine
glasspaper, slightly oiled, a few rubs backwards and forwards will be
necessary. The top of the back part can now be shaved gently down by
a small metal plane, a little filing will give the evenness and
rotundity required. The same treatment will be necessary for the under
part, which in good work is a continuation of the line of the edging
of the upper table. A section of the nut in its finished state will
be as in diagram 17.
[Illustration: DIAGRAM 15.]
[Illustration: DIAGRAM 16.]
[Illustration: DIAGRAM 17.]
The whole of the surfaces may now be finished with the finest emery
cloth and oil. This latter may be linseed, nut, poppy or castor oil
with turpentine, but do not use sweet or olive oil, it never dries,
but lurks about in the pores of the wood and turns rancid.
Before leaving this part of the instrument, it may be as well to take
a glance at the peg itself and its insertion at the centre underneath
the nut. This is in no respect an unimportant detail to be seen to in
the fitting up and regulation of a violin. In olden times the peg was
small, not half the size of those inserted in new violins of the present
day. The increase in the size seems to have been gradual and to
compensate for the hard wood of the peg pressing against the inner,
softer substance of the end block with the thin slice of maple used
for the ribs, both being insufficient to withstand the strain of the
tail-string. Consequently the peg is pulled upwards, sometimes
considerably out of position. This is especially likely to occur if
the hole has been bored too large or the peg is too thin or short. The
accurate fitting of these should have strict attention. Some modern
repairers, when they find that there are indications of a softer piece
of pine than usual having been used, enlarge the hole with a tool
specially made for the purpose, having two cutting edges, or with a
number of grooves having sharp ridges, others a rat-tailed file. The
latter is perhaps the best, as being less likely to split the fibres
of the soft pine. The tool is inserted, not directly in a line pointing
exactly midway between the upper and lower tables, but slightly upwards
or contrary to the tendency of the peg to accommodate itself to the
strain. When the parts under strain have settled down, the peg is seen
to be as near as possible horizontal with the length of the violin.
The best way, undoubtedly, is to make the peg an accurate but not too
tight fit, it should be sufficiently long to go right through the block.
In cases where the hole has been enlarged, badly directed or even made
ragged by a bad tool, it should be a stopped up very carefully with
a plug, neatly glued in, and a fresh hole bored. Sometimes this has
proved necessary from the carelessness of the original maker. The old
masters were not always exact with their mechanical fittings in
connection with the violin. The moderns, for obvious reasons, have paid
much attention to them. I remember coming across an Italian violin that
had changed hands frequently for the asserted reason of insufficient
tone. The maker having a renown for considerable power, it appeared
to me that the tone was possibly there, but that from some undiscovered
cause it was not properly emitted. On examination I found that the maker
had joined the ribs, not at the central part as usual, but too much
to the left, perhaps a pupil or assistant had bored the hole at the
junction. There were besides, some tinkerings by modern regulators
endeavouring to counteract the uneven strain over the instrument. The
right spot, or it may be called the axis of the instrument, having been
found, the peghole was neatly and permanently plugged, and a fresh one
bored, which allowed the strain to be better distributed. The result
was satisfactory and delightful; the tone of much power and purity had
free play in manifesting itself, and the violin was enabled to take
its rightful position among its brethren. A few words as to the right
spot for the peghole. This was treated by many of the old Italian
liutaros as a matter for mere guess work apparently, when there was
no join in the upper table, nor in the lower one, sometimes the lower
rib being continuous. The best spot, and therefore the right one, may
be fixed upon by finding the centre between the two inner edges of the
purfling on the upper table at the lower part, the same between that
of the upper, and drawing a faint line through the points with a piece
of soft white chalk cut to a point, and guided by a flexible rule or
straight edge down to the nut. If this line does not touch at the centre
of the nut, then the latter is out of place, and it should be rectified.
The line should pass through the centre of the nut, and immediately
underneath this and midway between the edges of the upper and lower
table will be the spot for the centre of the peghole. The line thus
made will not always be found to agree with the centre joint of the
pine; many of the old Italian makers may have not, from lack of wood
of the right sort and in equal widths, been able to do otherwise. At
times it may have been carelessness. Some of their roughly made violins
have the joint line over a quarter of an inch from the centre,
occasionally it will be not only wider on one side than the other, but
the thread or grain will diverge instead of running parallel with the
centre line. The judiciousness of careful measurement for the centre,
instead of relying on the joint line, will therefore be obvious. There
is not much to be said in preference of one kind of hard wood over
another for the end peg, it being a matter of fancy as to appearance.
Ebony being black and very hard, should perhaps take the preference
in wear, and acquiring a polish from the gentle friction it is liable
to. The old Italian end pegs were mostly of cherrywood, with lines
neatly turned round a centre of ivory or bone.