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Monday 6th
Bianca did some tests today on the spruce that Toby was planning to use for the front of his 'Ole Bull' Guarneri. She came to the conclusion that it really wasn't a very suitable piece at all, so he's decided to discard it and choose something else. I offered to take it off his hands if he had no further use for it.
In fact she ended up spending most of the morning telling him all about the acoustic principles that she applies in her violin making. At first I thought she must be speaking in Italian because I couldn't understand a word she was saying. Toby was nodding and trying to look interested but I could see his eyes were glazing over.
After she'd gone out for lunch Toby made himself a strong cup of black coffee. I took the opportunity to suggest that Bianca might perhaps be able to make herself useful and help me clear the backlog of St Marks' jobs that we have scattered all over the shop. However he informed me that she couldn't possibly do that sort of work... it seems that she's allergic to nail varnish! He's decided to ask her to fit the new bass bar in the William Forster instead (I was going to do that job later in the week!... I’d been looking forward to it!!)
Wednesday 8th
Jack's just returned from his overseas tour and came in today with a bottle of whisky for me – 25-year-old Macallan. Excellent... I was in need of some new supplies. (I’ve certainly had good reason to be getting through it lately).
I introduced him to Bianca (...and I must say, he seemed rather taken with her for some reason). When I managed to get his attention back, he told me that he'd mainly called in because his viola wasn't sounding the best. I checked the seams but they were all good – probably the soundpost needs some attention. He’s going to leave it here so I can look at it and fit a new post if necessary.
When Bianca found out it was a Sgarbi she asked if she could see it as well. She suggested that the bridge (my bridge!!) could also do with some acoustic tuning... apparently she wasn't all that keen on the shape of my kidneys. Jack thought this was highly amusing and he agreed that my kidneys had probably seen better days.
Thursday 9th
Fitted a new soundpost to Jack's viola – it was definitely too short so the tighter post should certainly help restore the sound.
Meanwhile Bianca spent the morning fiddling about with wires and microphones. Once she got everything set up, she sat there plinking Jack's bridge, pondering her computer screen, then removing a shaving here and there. Seemed to be a very slow procedure overall… mostly just plinking and pondering. I asked her what she was trying to achieve and she said that she was increasing the in-plane vibrating mode of the bridge resonance frequency by reducing the effective mass of the upper portion (well... that certainly clears up that question!).
I commented to her that it was amazing that Strad ever managed to produce anything at all without a laptop!
Friday 10th
Jack came in late this afternoon to collect his viola – he played it and was astounded at the improvement. Thought it was sounding better than ever. Bianca looked very pleased with herself and said, "So, it seems my bridge tuning was a big success then." Of course I had to point out that the new soundpost would have had a much greater effect on the sound than just taking a few microscopic shavings off the bridge.
Jack diplomatically suggested that it must have been due to our combined efforts. We were just about to head off to the Spotted Dog when he turned to Toby and Bianca and invited them both to join us! Luckily Bianca declined... she informed us that she doesn't drink alcohol and would prefer to go to the local café for some chamomile tea. Toby looked a little torn but he eventually decided to go with her. As they were leaving I told Bianca to make sure she explained that interesting bridge tuning technique to Toby... in detail!