Maker & Restorer of Violins, Violas, Cellos & Double Basses.

              It is rare for violins to be altered in size,  reduced or enlarged, a little more common for violas, especially early instruments. Cellos, again particularly earlier instruments not uncommonly had their top bouts reduced not only to make their bodies shorter but more importantly to reduce unmanageably long string lengths, I have also known 5 v’cellos that have been increased in size. As for double basses these are commonly and sometimes more radically altered than any of the other orchestral string instruments. Alterations can take the form of v’cello shaped instruments of otherwise normal size having their top bouts modified to resemble the classic bass form and to make a more manageable instrument to play.     Shortening the top bout to reduce string length is fairly common (there is one in the Restoration Section), this could be as little as a small alteration confined to the top block area to a full reshaping of the entire top bout and in one case that I have seen included the top corners and a small part of the ‘Cs’ as well. Reducing the bottom bout is less common than top bout alterations. Less common than any of the above are those instruments that have been reduced in width. Then there are the enlargement works that can take place almost anywhere on an instrument. Probably every combination and permutation has been employed by a luthier at one time or another!  This is the historical context to this particular job. 

             In the autumn of 2005 Tony Houska of the Contrabass Shoppe brought to me a rather unusual bass by Thomas Kennedy 1819. As can be seen in the photo right the front of this instrument was cello shaped. It had a disproportionately long neck, even so it still only managed a string length of 37”(94 cm) or putting it another way about 4” (10 cm) too short! This string length made the instrument virtually un saleable. The Contrabass Shoppe was at a loss to know what to do with such an instrument, I suggested that it would be quite a straight forward matter to extend the front and the back by an adequate amount not only to increase the string length into the realm of the normal but to also change its appearance to something approaching the classic double bass form. As the width of the instrument was relatively normal this approach could result in achieving quite a reasonable instrument both functionally and aesthetically. This scheme was agreed; the estimate calculated and subsequently approved. Before any alterations could be executed the damage and more significantly the existing awful repairs had to be tackled. In reality there was more work involved with the repair and restoration aspect than the alterations.

               As can be seen from the  photo  right the inside of the front had received a considerable amount of bad repair work to the bottom bout, top left hand flank extending to lower ‘f’ hole, lower right and left hand wings. The chalk marks indicate cracks where I had remove old internal repairs, opened up cracks (if they didn't fall apart by themselves), wash out and re glued, there are more still to do in this photo! It can be seen by the ‘shadows’ where the old studs and other repairs have previously been. 

          Once all of the original part of the front had been glued back together the bigger issues of the later flank and wing pieces could be tackled. As previously stated these were bad repairs which nether reflected the outline, style of arching or purfling. The photo above shows the larger of the 2 bottom wings being glued to the front, the smaller having previously been fitted. The 2 earlier repair wings that are being replaced can be seen on the far side of the front.

       The photo below shows the more complicated top flank piece being glued, note how thick this needs to be in order to accommodate the arching. When the glue dried the outline was cut, the arching rough carved and the edge thinned out to its final overall thickness. Once this was achieved the purfling grove was cut and the purfling fitted and glued in. At this stage the arching could be definitively finished off.

       Below left shows the front with the new wings and flank pieces from the outside. The next stage was to repair the damaged area, fill in the neck joint at the top of the front and to extend the front as required. The photo below right shows the completed internal repairs to front, note sound post patch, bass bar, half edging and studs.

     Whilst the repairs and alterations were progressing to the front work progressed to the ribs . Once the front had been extended and its final shape had been achieved it was then possible to make a pattern for the required modification of the existing top ribs, the photo below shows this pattern and how it is used in the set up. The repaired ‘c’ and bottom ribs are temporarily attached to the pattern bass board as was the new top block. The original top ribs had been un glued from the top corner blocks as the ribs  required re bending. The battens across the corner blocks are placed in order to maintain dimensional stability. After the original top ribs had been re bent and glued to the corner blocks and top block these ribs were lengthened.

     From my point of view as a repairer and restorer the back required little work other than the alterations, the photo below right shows the work and that to the top ribs. The  photo above  shows the assembled body ‘in the white’. After the repairs to the head were made a neck graft with a new finger board was fitted completing the instrument to the varnish stage. With the varnish works completed a new set of Baker model machine heads were re machined and fitted with brass plates and the rest of the fit up was performed. The photos below left shows the instrument finished in July 2006. It looked and sounded considerably better than in its previous form.

back to top