Talk:Violin making and maintenance

message: 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)
replies: text: I just removed a sketchy reference to vernice bianca from the body of the article. Not all makers use it, I don't believe it is ever used as a top coat, and the varnishing of a violin is best viewed as a process with compatible parts or stages. Various makers use(d) different processes... __Just plain Bill (talk) 04:42, 17 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Varnish

message: I love the recent edit(s) on the sound post adjustment section but now the separate article needs a bit of a re-think. Should the very nice details in this main article be moved to the topic Sound post adjustment and reduce the details here then add a link to the separate article?
Alan Kroeger 18:57, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes. +ILike2BeAnonymous 19:52, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Alright sounds like a plan but I think I will wait for Bill to chime in since the recent alterations were his and I want to see what he thinks. I don't want him to think I make decisions for him ;) Alan Kroeger 20:14, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Fine with me. I had much the same question, tending to the exact same answer. If somebody gets there and does it before I get back to the home machine, so much less work I need to do. While I'm at it, I may move all the stuff in Sound post adjustment to Sound post, which is looking awfully stubby. Do we really need a separate article for its adjustment? What do you think? _Just plain Bill 00:55, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: No. +ILike2BeAnonymous 01:59, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

text:  Actually Bill maybe just add the link to sp adjustment to sp as a See Also would probably be good enough I added one to the Violin construction and mechanics topic yesterday Alan Kroeger 02:18, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

text: I added the link to sound post adjustment in the topic sound post Alan Kroeger 02:35, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: These should not be two separate articles. Could someone please combine them (that is, move the stuff on adjustment into the sound post article)? This only atomizes the topic and makes it harder to find information, not easier. +ILike2BeAnonymous 02:39, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Perhaps you missed it but the sound post article references sound posts in  instruments other then violins so there is a little bit more to this then I first realized. My topic should have been named Violin sound post adjustment not Sound post adjustment Alan Kroeger 02:45, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The violin SP adjustment stuff pretty much also applies to violas and cellos, & probably will be at least marginally interesting to folks looking for info on archtop guitars & such. It will be easy enough to let Sound post adjustment redirect to Sound post, and given the size of the sound post stub, the adjustment info is not likely to be lost on a huge page. I'll just go ahead and make the adjustment suggested by L2BA, and if you totally hate it we can work out something else. Stay tuned...  _Just plain Bill 04:27, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

text: Looks fine to me no big deal at least I got a chance to author an initial page once and it helped me get a better understanding of the wiki markup syntax so how does it look to you ILike2BeAnonymous? Alan Kroeger 10:50, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Separate Article or One big article

message: Removing the stub tag from the recently extended Sound post article, any objections? I posted the question here but also at the talk page for Talk:Sound post this article seems to be tracked and the discussion might be overlooked over there... Alan Kroeger 14:01, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Question about

message: This article could use a few more headings, for example:
* Wood choice
* Wood treatment and finishing (sealers, grounds, varnish coats, polishing, antiquing...)
* Choice of model, outline, arching...
* Methods of building: inner mold, outer mold, "on back" without a mold...
As soon as I can gather some stuff on varnishing I will put that one in, but it could take a while before that happens, so feel free to jump in... __Just plain Bill (talk) 04:42, 17 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Room for expansion here

message: The Bow (music)#Maintenance section says that "Careful owners always loosen the hair on a bow before putting it away." Is this practice common with the violin's strings too (loosening tension)? Either for long-term storage, or travel to different climates, or any other reason? I couldn't find mention anywhere.24.68.69.90 (talk) 19:54, 2 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: No, it is not a common practice. Generally the strings are always left at or very near full tension for two reasons: 1. reduced tension can cause the bridge and soundpost to fall down and 2. some types of strings cannot tolerate frequent changes in tension and will go false. Chickpeana (talk) 21:46, 4 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Loosen the strings? 

message: I am deleting the link to Dimitri Mustafia. I feel that that is self promotional and not appropriate. I question his even having a Wikipedia article himself.
I am also re-deleting the link to vernice bianca for the same reasons mentioned above in the #Varnish section. Chickpeana (talk) 21:46, 4 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Links deletion

message: This article sounds too much like a manual, especially in the "Making a violin" section. We need to reword this section to emphasize the importance of stating such facts in an encyclopedia. How anything is constructed should be restricted to importance, and notability only. Wiki has sister projects for manuals so most of this information is highly irrelevant here.
--Xavier (talk) 09:58, 4 November 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Article should be deleted