Tales from the Luthier's shop

I've done a lot of different jobs, but I've always looked fondly on the time I spent getting into the luthier's business.

My eyes opened wide like a kid in a candy store. I wanted to touch everything and know everything simultaneously. Master reigned in my enthusiasm so I didn't get my grimy hands all over his well-organized tools. (Also, so I wouldn't hurt myself on sharp objects or hazardous materials.)

Using a bass for a trashcan is like owning an iPad with a cover, just so you can store your “forever stamps” between the cover and the iPad. It doesn’t make sense, no matter how many people do it.

I try not to laugh. I worked/studied under two different masters. This one was serious. The other one would have said it as a joke.

Not all masters are at the same level.

Saw this on my first trip to the Violin Making School of America. It was posted on the outside of the door to the varnish room. It was also my introduction to the stages of grief.

When you work with wood and make instruments from the ground up, you become very familiar with them. You learn how to handle them. You know what they can take and what they can't take.

However, as a practice, you always have to pretend like the instrument is made of delicate glass and will break easily whenever the musician/owner/player of it is around because they have a parent/child relationship with it and will consider your treatment of it abuse. Like a parent with a surgeon. They don't want to see the blood and guts, even if you know what you're doing.

The violin felt like cheese the first time I set a sound post. I thought the violin would be scarred beyond recognition by the time I was done.

However, no scratches were left. It feels and sounds vicious, but it's just noisy wood-working. You are smacking a piece of wood with a piece of metal. What sound did you expect it to make?

When a soundpost is being set, a small metal tool is stuck into the instrument, through an f-hole on the front. Then, after placing the soundpost, you knock it into the exact position by hitting it. A little knock-knock to the left, knock-knock to the right.

If you do this harshly, you irreversably damage the instrument by smashing the metal tool against the wooden edges of the f-hole. F-holes have two notches in them purposefully, you wouldn’t want to create a third or fourth notch on one. That would be like returning a dog with one less leg. Not acceptable.

I wished he were kidding.

I was too lazy to do this myself, so I ended up paying Master to do it for me. We were doing reconstruction/repair on my own instrument. He was being paid and I was getting good experience.

However, I was still the beginner and wasn't used to hard work, dedication, or hours of monotonous work.

Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/herribizia/15316097725/
Creative Commons license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Wiki page on luthiers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luthier
Violin Making School of America: http://www.vmsa.net/
Mural on side of school: http://artistsofutah.org/15bytes/12oct/images/50.jpg

Workshop of the uber-nice Canadian luthier: http://www.hamstringsmusic.com/Workshop.htm
Book they sent me: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Strobel%20series%20for%20violin%20makers
I think it was book four from this series. It’s in storage with most of my books, so I’m not sure which one from the series it was.

Photos taken from a Google Image search for “soundpost.”
http://kamimotostrings.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/doube_bass_soundpost.jpg
http://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/music/people/graphics/soundpost1.gif
http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=21672&d=0
http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/200/c/c/workshop__luthier_by_kentzler-d4104au.jpg

A few more photos to whet your appetite.

This is the view of the inside of a double bass. Here, you can see some of the basic parts of the instrument. Soundpost is the stick-thing to the right. The ceiling is the face plate. The floor is the back plate. The sides are the "ribs." There are extra pieces of wood where ever a joint is, this is for reinforcement. There is a strip of wood glued to the "ceiling." It's the bass bar. That helps distribute sound from the bridge to the top and bottom of the instrument. Just like the sound post helps distribute sound from the front to the back of the instrument.

Cross section of the violin family. Bridge is uppermost. Next layer is the faceplate. The back plate is last. In between are the sound post (right) and the bass bar (left).

Top view of the violin family. Shows the position of the f-holes, bridge, sound post, and bass bar.

Workshop with a double-bass in the foreground. He's on the operating table. The bridge is done. It has no strings. The tailpiece is off, etc. Lamp for scale. No food allowed in the workshop. (Wooden/metal bananas are ok.)