One of the mysterious steps in violin making is setting the bass bar. Removing the back of the cello, instead of the top, will limit the sides warping out of shape before you put it back together. Violins storage platform combines ease of deployment, reliability, and unsurpassed performance. Despite their solid appearance that guarantees rigidity are very light. Cell with hole in back this cello fell over and landed on its back. Sound post cracks or bass bar cracks usually need to have the top removed and patched. These two bass bars have never been fitted to the top plate but worked out of the solid timbers when the instruments were made. The baroque cello and its performance claremont colleges. In the process of removing the top to repair the damage i thought that the bass bar was not up to the crucial role it plays and that the violin sound would be dramatically improved by a better one so in this photo the new bar is fit and glued but not shaped yet. For me at least bass bar fitting is not one of the most exciting episodes in making a violin. Put the bass bar back in place and move it about 2 mm up and down, as in fig. Fiber is black, pear wood is somewhat reddish, and maple is white or stained black.
I suspected that the bass bar was possibly cracked or unglued. Bass bar repairs are not common but happen mostly due to the bass bar coming unglued at either end. Page 1 violin 6000 series memory array installation guide for release v6. Its somewhat difficult to give prices without seeing the instrument. Jan 17, 2015 violin bass bar fitting how to trimming violin rib corners video. Zaret has developed a new design for the bass bar which allows precise and effective adjustment to achieve the most desirable qualities of sound in all instruments. Violin top crack repair fixing a short crack on a violin top.
One bass barbasically under bass foot of your bridge, and a soundpost under the treble foot actually just behind the treble foot about 12 the dia. Usually i can glue ribs back onto the ribs and sometimes repair a broken block without taking the instrument apart. I had to steam the top loose from the crack around to the lower bass side corner block to get the crack to close properly, but i did not have to take the top completely off. May 11, 2009 this process is repeated and gradually more and more of the bar is chalked. Rehair bow replace silver winding on bow replace leather grip replace ivory tip. It was in a soft case and when it landed it must have hit the buckle on the back which forced all of the pressure to one spot and punched a hole straight through the curly maple back.
I discovered this when looking for a violin bass and went. We replaced nearly all of our legacy disk array architectures with violins solution. The usual repair consists of removing the old bass bar, gluing the crack, fitting a new bass bar, cleating the crack, fitting t. I can appreciate the ops concern with the tuners likelihood of breaking, they are more akin to guitar tuners than bass tuners and the buttons can slip on the shaft or break. The bridge, the soundpost and the bass bar for violin.
Usually,we use epacket delivery from chinaabout 720 business days ship to the usa, canada, france, australia, russia, uk. It helps transmit low frequency vibrations from the string to the body of the instrument. Violin, viola, cello and bass bass bar cracks bass bar cracks can distort the shape of the instruments top because of the strain of the bass bar. I started with a piece of englemann spruce, 270mm long, 5. Today violin maker derek roberts makes the bass bar and fits it to the inside of the front plate. Bass bar crack repair the pegbox maestronet forums. In a string instrument, the bass bar is a brace running from the foot of the neck to a position under the bridge, which bears much of the tension of the strings. Also all factors that can not be changed after the top is glued on. This process is repeated and gradually more and more of the bar is chalked.
As shown in the photos above, we have an example of a crack that runs about 2 inches above the left fhole of a viola. The bass bar crack apparently began as a bassside saddle crack, and then followed the outboard face of the bass bar forward. When an instruments top is no longer has the correct arch then. Bass bar, an oblong piece of wood, fixed lengthwise inside the belly of the various instruments belonging to the violin tribe, running in the same direction with the strings, below the lowest string, and acting as a beam or girder to strengthen the belly against the pressure of the left foot of the bridge, as the soundpost does against that.
One of the bridge feet is over the bass bar and the other one is near the soundpost. After hide glue was applied it will most likely be blue forever. Finally when the whole bar is marked and therefore in good contact you breathe a sigh of relief, open a can and heat up the glue. The bass bar function is to reinforcing the belly of the violin beneath the line of the largest g string, directly under the foot of the bridge. When perfectly fitted, the bar is glued into place with violin making glue, usually perpendicular to the predominant contact surface as the curvature changes throughout the length of the bass bar. Unfortunately, i have had the displeasure of seeing a bass bar on a double bass that had been fit with blue chalk. Hidden inside the top, the bass bar is one of the elegantly sculpted parts of the violin. I prefer to preheat the bass bar and top plate to about 100 degrees f. One day, from curiosity i mapped out how a normal bar, which has a sweeping, scooped look on the contoured violin top, would look if it were on a flat top rather than an arched one, by mapping the heights on a flat line, and was i surprised.
When repaired properly with a sound post patch, the instrument can continue to be a reliable tool beyond your lifetime and perhaps even improve its tone. In this case the top plate has to be removed and the bass bar reglued. The bridge is set on the top of the violin, between the ff holes. Bonta suggests that between 1610 and 1680, the violone was a large cello. Placing the bass bar over the crack is sometimes also a good.
Get the guaranteed lowest prices, largest selection and free shipping on most brass repair tools at musicians friend. Fine restoration and sales of instruments in the violin family. The proper way would be to remove the entire top by separating it from its ribs, apply animal glue to the crack joint, and secure the crack further from opening in the future by means of studs or cleats beneath the crack. The bass bar tension is the only intentionally introduced modification of the instrument. It strengthens the front plate and helps transmit low frequency vibrations from the string to the body of the instrument. Bass bar cracks can distort the shape of the instruments top because of the strain of the bass bar. Every string instrument has a bass bar, the wood piece inside that enhances the quality of sound and impacts the volume. Split a piece of spruce 350 x 20 x 8 mm, ideally the same spruce you used for the top plate plane down the sides so that they run perfectly parallel to each other and the thickness if the bar is about 6 mm for a flatter arch or 5. Setting the bass bar in fiona one of the mysterious steps in violin making is setting the bass bar. Expanding our data centers is a massive, massive expense, so violins ability to deliver the fastest available performance in a. Now draw a line between these two new points i pencil in a line using a flexible metal ruler as a guide. When this happens, the violin can start buzzing at certain notes and also sound a bit flat.
The usual repair consists of removing the old bass bar, gluing the crack, fitting a. Saddle cracks are normally caused because the ebony saddle has been fit too tight. For inspecting hollow bodies and positions that are difficult to access. Removing the back of the cello, instead of the top, will limit the sides warping out. Violin and viola same 3 pieces, cello 7 pieces, bass 10 pieces. Starting with an oversize bar, the luthier carefully removes wood from the bar and retests until he reaches the point where removing wood no longer improves the chladni pattern shapes. I had to steam the top loose from the crack around to the lower bassside corner block to get the crack to close properly, but i did not have to take the top completely off. Bass violins were usually somewhat larger than the modern cello, but tuned to the same nominal pitches or sometimes one step lower. According to the a dictionary of music and musicians by. With a light on the inside and a small mirror, i could tell by looking through the end pin hole and the f hole that about a quarter of the. The bridge, the soundpost and the bass bar for violin family. At the lower end of the bass bar toward the end pin mark this measurement plus 0.
Repairing an instrument with a sound post crack triangle. At the upper end of the bass bar toward the neck, mark this measurement minus 0. There should be a very small space on both sides of the saddle so that when the top contracts or the saddle expands slightly there is a little extra room. Im also well aware, and have done, the standard repair for a bass bar crack. With a light on the inside and a small mirror, i could tell by looking through the end pin hole and the f hole that about a quarter of the bass bar near the endpin had come unglued. In the members of the violin family in the members of the viola da gamba family in some archtop guitars and in many other string instruments. Violin bass bar fitting how to trimming violin rib corners video. Sound post cracks are very common in the long life of a violin family instrument. I recognize that a bass bar crack is a serious crack, and will devalue an instrument. Bass violin is the modern term for various 16th and 17thcentury bass instruments of the violin i.
Effect of bass bar tension on modal parameters of a violins. The bass bar crack apparently began as a bass side saddle crack, and then followed the outboard face of the bass bar forward. The bass bar tuning process attempts to return the patterns to a shape close to the shape prior to adding the bar. Crack repair cheek patch install new endbutton bush peg holes reglue top reset neck neck graft soundpost patch button patch replace corners simple and compound replace edges fit new bass bar bow repairs for violin, viola and cello. All of the attention paid to this bass is as a result of paul mccartney of the beatles using it as his main bass throughout his career. The soundpost and the bass bar are made in resonance spruce. Dalton potter explains the function of the bass bar in sound production for string instruments. At the ends it is often a either a dryness crack, like a saddle crack, extending upward, or due to the weakness of the top just adjacent to the bar, which is inherent to the violin design, but can be exacerbated by a thin top, weird, arching, or ill fitting of the bar. Located in historic mystic, ct, one mile off exit 89 on i95, upton bass string instrument co. The bass bar is a reinforcing strut which is fixed inside the front of the violin and lies under the line of the g string. Remove the bass bar, take a piece of white chalk and rub it on the plate, where the bass bar is supposed to be glued in. Dalton potter, violin make and owner of the potter violin company, discusses the issue of one vs. A full cast for violin, viola and cello is the best way to go.
Because it is a hollowbody archtop with a short scale, it sounds quite a bit different than a conventional longscale solidbody bass guitar. The bass bar serves to prop up the arching as well as tune the plate and put it in balance. There is much discussion about the bar tension, placement, and thickness. Experimental modal analysis on a violin with three different tensions of a bass bar is performed. The baroque cello and its performance 83 the lowest instruments. Pursuant to an order of the bankruptcy court dated january 16, 2018 docket no.
Its all a tricky business, and takes practice and good judgement. As they say never let a good catastrophe go to waste. Violin memory 6000 series installation manual pdf download. Mar 26, 2010 one bass bar basically under bass foot of your bridge, and a soundpost under the treble foot actually just behind the treble foot about 12 the dia. Broken end block this is a violin that was made by my customers father, so there is a lot of sentimental value. It very easy to use, it will be the best solution for the luthier. New violin bass bar clamp luthier tools, violin making. Occasionally these types of cracks can be glued from the outside but most likely you will need to remove the top. Jan 22, 20 dalton potter explains the function of the bass bar in sound production for string instruments. Effect of bass bar tension on modal parameters of a violin. The bridge is made exclusively in field maple and has a characteristic shape and size for each member of the violin family. Mar 06, 2017 bass bar repairs are not common but happen mostly due to the bass bar coming unglued at either end.
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