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Wednesday 5th
I just can’t seem to get enthused about this violin I’ve been commissioned to make. I’m still not sure if I should be using a controlled lack of control, or if I’m just meant to be totally out of control. The problem is that producing a ‘Guarneri del Gesu’ and making an exact copy seem to be two completely different activities. I suppose that’s why most makers say their work was ‘inspired’ by Guarneri… that’s sufficiently vague and a lot safer.
Anyway, I’ve now done the rough arching (and the rough scroll and the rough rib structure). Now it’s time to tackle the rough purfling. Obviously my usual method of carefully shaping the purfling with the bending iron won’t be required. In fact, I’ve been thinking I might even try putting it in the refrigerator so that it gets nice and brittle. That should give me those interesting angular kinks when it bends.
I used to think that violin makers only bothered to do good workmanship so they could impress other violin makers. But now it seems that it’s actually even more impressive to be careless! (But of course one has to be authentically careless).
Friday 7th
What a disastrous day!… I had a bad accident and broke two ribs!! I was vigorously scraping the linings at one end of the bench and my rib structure fell off the other end! Both top ribs cracked. I was quite upset and thought I’d have to replace them but Toby said not to worry… he advised me just to glue them up, and carry on. He said it would add some realism to the antiquing effect - I suppose he’s right.
Thankfully Jack called in after rehearsal to take me to the pub. While he was here I noticed him having a close look at my work, but he didn’t say anything much. But later at the Spotted Dog he mentioned that it may be time for me to visit the optometrist and get some stronger lenses in my glasses.
Thursday 13th
This instrument is driving me to drink… well, to drink more anyway. You just have to throw everything you’ve been taught out the window. Now I have to decide what to do with the thicknessing. The back is one of the few that hasn’t been reworked and it’s a massive 6.5mm! … I don’t dare make it that thick. But the belly has probably been thinned out, so it’s more standard. Who knows what Guarneri’s original intentions were?
And I’ve just been looking again at the f-holes. They are quite different… do I make up two separate templates and copy them, or will I just hack something out? And should I really make them that long? What will that do to the sound? I’ll need to have a whisky and think about it.
Thursday 20th
Beth Hurley called in today – she finally has the Pedrazzini back after all the restoration work, so she’s returning my violin that I’d loaned her (although I noticed she seemed quite sorry to be giving it back… said she’d become very fond of it). Boris also came with her to look at the progress on the violin – he was very happy with the way it was going. Particularly pleased about the kinks in the purfling.
He asked me if I was gaining any meaningful insights into the ‘remarkable mind of an absolute genius’. I didn’t quite know how to reply… luckily Toby stepped in and said: “Oh yes, Stanley is certainly starting to realise why violin makers find it so hard to follow in del Gesu’s footsteps.” Boris then said to me: “Well, don’t worry… it’s good to have some ideal to work towards, even if it is a standard of excellence you can never achieve.”
Friday 21st
A couple of Toby’s violin-making friends came in today and were looking at my work. One of them pointed out that I’d chosen the wrong gouge to carve the fluting at the corners – apparently I should have used a flatter gouge and done it with two quick, impatient sweeps. And the other one told me it would have been better if I’d left some obvious saw and rasp marks on the head. I explained to them that I wasn’t really aiming to make an exact copy… my work was just ‘inspired by Guarneri’.