A Violin Shop

A VIOLIN SHOP By D. W. Parratt Charles F. Coles is a married man. He has two children, and yet we call him a "Utah boy." He was born in Salt Lake City about forty years ago and has lived in our capital city ever since. For twenty years he has worked as salesman in a large depart- ment store, but finds this is not enough to keep his busy mind and hands occupied. He says we have too many men in our state who work only eight hours a day and loaf the remainder. During these idle hours their minds become "the devil's workshop," and in con- sequence their time is worse than wasted. This, however, is not the case with Mr. Coles. His hours of recreation are largely spent in the snug little shop built in the corner of his own home. It is our pleasure to accept an invitation to visit his place. We soon locate it at 1206 Laird Avenue, Salt Lake City, and Mrs. Coles answers the door and smilingly bids us welcome. She directs us through the cottage to the little room in the southwest corner. Here we find Mr. Coles busily engaged testing the sounding qualities of an unvarnished violin upon which he is now working. He lays the instrument aside and kindly places himself at our service. This is our first experience in a shop of this sort, so we have many questions to ask. We learn that Mr. Coles has been making

9 78 IMPROVEMENT ERA violins for a number of years and has supplied some of our foremost musicians with his instruments. He first became interested by visiting a neighbor violin maker. This man was from Sweden, and was a willing instructor to the inquisitive lad. He greatly encouraged young Coles and explained many of the problems of the delicate job. Coles pressed into the work and gradually acquired a working set of tools and a few books of instruction. He soon learned, however, that books and tools were not enough. Besides these, it cost hours of patient practice and piles of wasted material before satisfactory results were obtained. "There is no ex- cellency without labor," and "the price of perfection is steadfast toil." We see a few pieces of rough, sawed wood, piled on the shelf under the work-bench, and wonder what they are for. Each piece is about sixteen inches long and eight inches wide. It is nigh one and one-half inches thick on one edge and thins out to about half that thickness on the other. And we notice a saw has been run partly through it, cutting the piece almost into flat halves. We see some of these pieces are of maple and some are of spruce, and learn that they are stock material for the fronts and backs of violins. They are cut to these sizes and down the centers, so as to allow for the very best season- ing possible. Mr. Coles explains that these pieces, both maple and spruce, were imported by him from distant Italy. He says it is quite impossible to purchase woods properly seasoned and of necessary quality in our country, and, therefore, the need of shipping from abroad. While talking of this, our host shows us a piece of Utah spruce. He explains that it is from a short log taken from the old Church Historian's Office, Salt Lake City, at the time the place was under- going some repairs, a few years ago. The log bore the name of George A. Smith, and proved to contain fine material for violins. In fact, Mr. Coles says he made three splendid instruments from it. One of these is now the cherished property of Professor James West, in- structor of music in the Bingham High School. Mr. Coles finishes sawing one of the stock pieces of spruce into halves. He then opens them like he would a book and places the thick edges together. He explains that by glueing the halves together in this position, he secures a built-up violin front with the seam down the center and the grain of one-half just like that of the other. After being thus glued, the rough piece is surfaced, marked for out- line, and sawed to shape. Then with gauge and chisel it is carved to thickness with the concave and convex surfaces being only about one-eighth of an inch apart. The two "S"-like holes are cut near the center, and then with a sharp, delicate gauge, a narrow groove is cut all round the front, parallel to the outer edge. Into this groove very thin strips of ebony and white wood purfling are carefully fitted and glued, making the ornamental inlaid border, so commonly seen on

A VIOLIN SHOP 979 violins. Mr. Coles explains that after the glue is thoroughly dry, the front receives its final chisel-dressing and is then carefully rubbed with fine sandpaper. It is now ready for the base bar. The base bar is made of the very choicest spruce. It is some ten or eleven inches long, and is glued lengthwise to the under side of the front, just inside of one of the "S"-shapd holes. It is about five-eighths of an inch wide in the middle and tapers towards the ends and is nigh on a quarter of an inch thick. Its main purpose is to strengthen against the downward pressure of the bridge, but must be so shaped and reduced as not to interfere with the vibrations of the front. This, our informant tells us, can be determined only by testing and experimenting in every case, because no two pieces of wood are exactly alike. They respond differently to sound vibration. Our attention is now turned to the making of the back. We learn this is made in exactly the same way as is the front, except that mapit is used in place of the spruce. Maple is not as good for resounding as is spruce, but is tough and gives strength to receive the stress made by the tightened strings. The maple used for this purpose must be of the choicest kind, offering the greatest possible resonance. The back, of course, is not provided with a base bar or "S" holes, but has the decoration of inlaid purfling. Thin strips of high-grade maple are used for the sides. These permit of bending and also provide strength. We are interested in the bending and wonder how it is done. Mr. Coles readily shows us a home-made device used for this purpose. It is made of a wooden box about a foot long, half as wide, and four inches high. To the top is tacked an arched piece of galvanized iron, resembling the cover of a toy sheep-wagon. An iron pipe runs through the box near its top and projects some four inches beyond one end. A movable alcohol lamp is placed either below the pipe or under the iron cover. In making short bends the maple strip is dipped into water and then pressed slowly down over the heated pipe. The steam thus generated goes through the wood and allows it to bend without much danger of breaking. For longer bends the wet maple strips are pressed over the heated iron cover. After being bent, the strips are placed into wooden molds, clamp- ed in place and allowed to dry. This gives them the exact shape desired. Before they are removed, small corner strips of spruce are carefully fitted and securely glued to the inside where the strips meet, and when these are dried the molds are separated and the thin walls of the violin removed. We examine one or two necks that are ready to be glued to violin bodies. We readily see they are of maple and finely carved. Mr. Coles offers the explanation that while these were hand carved by himself, most of the necks he uses are purchased ready made. By so

980 IMPROVEMENT ERA doing, we learn, he can save considerable time so as to give that much more to the proper attuning of the violin bodies. When these various parts are ready, they are glued together. Only colorless glue, especially prepared for this sort of work, is used. It comes in dry form and is manufactured in Chicago. First the back is glued to the sides and clamped in position till dry. Then the top is glued and clamped. After this the neck is glued to the body, and then the fingerboard is secured to the neck. Mr. Coles informs us the next step is making the sounding post. This is cylindrical in shape and made of the very best spruce. It is The Violin Maker at Work in His Shop usually about one-fourth inch in diameter and long enough to reach from the front to the back of the violin. It is put in through one of the "S" -holes and placed under one base of the bridge so as to carry the stringload through to the tough back of the violin. We have already seen that the base bar carries the load of the other bridge base, and now it is clear that the great pressure on the bridge due to tight- ening the violin strings is equally divided between front and back. In addition to giving strength, the sound post plays an important part in transmitting the vibrations from the front to the back, thereby setting both pieces of wood in resounding motion. The exact size, like that of the base bar can be determined only by testing and retesting after the strings are tightened. When the sound post is pushed into position,

A VIOLIN SHOP 981 the devise for holding the lower ends of the strings is attached to the body and the keys are pushed into their holes. The bridge is then properly placed, and all is ready for the strings. The strings are tightened slowly and carefully to test for weak places in material or construction. Finally, rosin is applied and the bow drawn. Mr. Coles says this is always an exciting experience, for in it is determined, to a marked extent, the success of the work. Usually the strings have to be undone and the front removed in order to make changes in the sound post or base bar. He says it is not at all unusual for him to thus take down and put together a half dozen times before he is satisfied with volume and quality of sound. When the final assembly is made our workman cleans his in- strument ready for varnish. In this he uses sandpaper of different grades, but makes the finishing rub with No. 0000. Only oil var- nish of best grade is applied to the finished wood. From three to fifteen days are allowed for drying each coat, and from four to ten coats are given to every instrument. Upon inquiry, we learn that shellac, or other common wood fillers, cannot be used; because, in drying they make the wood rigid and thus prevent the necessary vibra- tion to give resonance and volume to the modest sounds produced by the quivering violin strings. Mr. Coles shows a number of violins brought in for repairs and explains that considerable of his spare time is given to this kind of work. He says, this, together with making new violins, keeps him pretty well "out of mischief." He is able to sell all he can make and has quite an extended range of customers. He shows us a list of people using his instruments, and we note it includes musicians as far east as Boston, and as far west as San Francisco. He also shows us a blue ribbon won at the Utah State Fair. This indicates he won first place in violin displays, and bears evidence of superior workman- ship. We certainly have had a profitable visit with Mr. Coles and extend hearty thanks for his time and instruction. We leave the place wishing that every boy and girl in Utah might follow Mr. Coles' example. Get onto a good "hobby horse," and ride it hard during leisure hours when not otherwise engaged in profitable work. Salt Lake City, Utah MUSIC "There is in souls a sympathy with sounds, And as the mind is pitched, the ear is pleased With melting airs or martial, brisk or grave. Some chord in unison, with what we hear Is touched within us, and the heart replies." Cowper's Task-