Second, the soundpost was cut too high, causing stress on the top plate.

Third, who knows? Kids can do amazing things to instruments.

Most cracks can be fixed internally using small cleats, but the area around the location of the soundpost needs extra support. This area gets a large circular cleat, with the grain always running perpendicular to the grain of the top plate. This is tricky, because we are adding bulk, which will inevitably change the tone of the instrument. After the cleat is applied I get it as thin as possible to avoid too much alteration of the sound.

The violin has survived it’s surgery. It’s going to spend the night with some serious clamps, and tomorrow it will be ready for setting up.

Things are just beginning to calm down around here, and I suspect I’ll be back to blogging about repairs soon.

Extended office hours this week:
Monday 12-7
Tuesday 12-7
Wednesday 1-7
Thursday 12-6
Friday 12-7
Saturday 12-5

The resonator is placed exactly where the wolf is originating – there’s a real place where you can feel the soundwaves hitting each other on the face of the cello. It’s almost always a couple inches below the F hole on the left side. The top of the cello vibrates when you play it, but this spot vibrates much more roughly.

The experts at Jay Rury violins helped me figure this one out. Jay and Duncan felt around the top of the cello until they found the spot.

As best as I can describe it, this small piece of hardware works like a shock absorber, keeping these competing tones from warring with one another.

We placed the resonator to the outside with a gum to make sure it was working, and after a few weeks I permanently affixed the piece to the inside of the top. I’m so appreciative to Jay and Duncan for sharing their skills with me. My customer is happy!

This is an extreme example of how pressure and time wear out a cello bridge. Once straight and upright, this bridge has eventually bowed to the pull of the strings. This fellow has served his time, and is ready for retirement.

I’m currently applying a thin penetrating glue. Then we’ll see if we can find any more unwanted noises.

The top of a violin (and the bottom some, as well) works like a speaker diaphragm when it is played. One of the challenges of making a great violin is carving the interior so it provides a good tone in the low, medium, and high registers.

From the video, you can imagine the different stresses applied to the violin body when it moves through the octaves.

Wolf Tones

While sometimes wolf tones appear on violins & violas, they are usually not as apparent as on cellos. Even very fine cellos have wolf tones. They are the result of two harmonic frequencies competing with one another, and one frequency must be dampened to eliminate the wolf.

I’ve been reading up on other options, as the wolf tone eliminator I’m using isn’t quite dampening the tone enough. The problem can stem from the way a soundpost is set in relation to the bridge, a tailpiece that is too heavy, a cello top that is carved too thin, or strings that have too high of a tension. So basically this means I get to take the cello apart and put it back together again several times over.

UPDATE: Happy to say I’ve knocked out the wolf tone, and I’ll sleep a lot better tonight. A lighter tailpiece and a better fit of the soundpost took care of the problem.

Pernambuco wood is the standard for good, high quality bows, and many student bows are made from Brazilwood. Whats the difference? Pernambuco is from the core and base of the Brazilwood tree; it’s greater rigidity allows the player better control.

Unfortunately this is a slow growing tree that is only found in Brazil; the worldwide demand for brazilwood placed it on the international endangered species list, and the trade of brazilwood is likely to be banned in the near future.

While they aren’t perfect imitators, carbon fiber bows have done a decent job meeting the demands of a discerning player, and are growing in popularity.

Musicians are also fortunate to have the International Pernambuco Conservation Initiative helping out. This society is involved in conservation measures and replanting programs, so future generations of musicians may have the opportunity to have a pernambuco bow of their own.