Talk:Violin making and maintenance

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[edit] Varnish

Varnish gets one short sentence in the current rev. of the article, and deliberately so. While "many will agree" (see me weasel out of that one?) that a thick, durable varnish has undesirable acoustic effects, the Cremonese masters of the 17th century aren't talking, and living masters are typically vague on the subject when asked.

Some will say that varnish's acoustic benefit is enormously exaggerated in violin legend, since there are Stradivarius violins extant with not a scrap of original varnish left, and they still sound like Strads. No direct experience, merely repeating what I've read from someone I believe to be a credible source in this matter. Such sources maintain that wood choice, shape (i.e. arching), system of graduation thickness, and age have more effect than varnish, so long as the coating is not so thick as to bind the sound of instrument.

There is a bit more that could be written here on varnish as applied to violins. I hope someone comes along who knows enough to write it. Just plain Bill 22:56, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia is not an instruction manual

As you may already know, WP is not an instruction manual. I'm thinking about rewriting this article. Comments? Frosty 12:22, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

The Making section is hardly a how-to manual, but more of a skimpy overview of the process. The Maintenance section, however, is full of "shoulds." Be bold!

__ Just plain Bill 00:25, 24 June 2006 (UTC)