Customer Reviews

Violin Making: A Guide for the Amateur

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Being a true amateur - I have begun building a violin making this book - having never even touched a violin - it will be an interesting experience. My rating of the book - is that it is quite good, so far. It would benefit from some actual pictures to go with the dialog - as it would be nice to see an actual picture of what you are trying to build rather than a rough sketch. The book is dependent on rough illustrations to guide the amateur. The templates are very good but you do need to 'smooth' some of the templates to match the final violin shape. Not all the components are there, for example the tail piece for securing the strings is not mentioned at all, as is the Bow, so I assume these items need to be purchases separately. Before you start it is best to read the book right through - otherwise some of the steps given earlier on in the book make no sense - in this regard it would be helpful to give a hint as to why "you must do it this way" - anyway overall it is a very good book.

This book is directed, not to the amateur violin-builder who admires and aspires to emulate the fine craft of violin-making on a modest scale, but rather to the 'amateur' in the sense of someone who is less interested in immersing themselves in the craft and more interested in building a fiddle at all, somehow.

If you are the type of person who is affected by concern about how to do something 'right' (i.e. following some variant of traditional or professional practice) than this is the wrong book for you and you should invest in Johnson/Courtnall if you can at all afford to (really, never was money better-spent), otherwise Strobel and/or Buchanan are better choices.

On the other hand, if you just want to get a fiddle built with as little fuss as possible, and without minding taking some shortcuts here and there, then this little book will certainly encourage you on that journey. The approach in this book requires fewer tools and less acquisition of new skills, and goes out of its way to ensure the reader is not daunted by any high-fallutin' ideas of high craft, just go to it and get it done.

This book offers a step-by-step explanation of violin making on a basic level but the drawings are not to be trusted: on the mold plan the right lower block cut-out is one-eighth inch lower than the left. I discovered this after making the mold and noticing that something just didn't look right.
I believe this book gives a rough outline of the violin making process for someone who has absolutely no knowledge, but if you can afford it, the Johnson/Courtnall book is the most thorough available. Harry Wake's book is good for someone interested in using power tools but for the traditional (hand tools) method Johnson/Courtnall is the best.

Quite a few years ago, after the thought was presented to me by a woodworking friend, it took me a year to build up the courage to decide to build a violin. As we tend to do when ignorant and inexperienced, I sought an inexpensive book on making violins. Since I was intimidated from the beginning on this attempt, I thought this book might be a good way to start. As I progressed through the book and collaterally researched the subject in other media, I began to realize that much valuable information was missing, especially regarding critical dimensional measurements, corner formation, etc. I finally realized that I needed a better book to guide me. I purchased the Johnson & Courtnall book to actually finish the violin and correct previous dimensional errors. That said, if you follow this book to the end and really are not particular about the current standards for violin building and just want to build one, I guess this book would be OK for you. It does present cheaper and less difficult(inferior) procedures and approaches to construction and tools that might save you some time and money. The question is, why go through the difficulty of building a violin if you are not going to create an instrument that represents your best knowledge and effort? I do hope you decide to build a violin! It is a huge joy!

I bought this book about 3 months ago and have nearly completed my first violin. It is not the best looking instrument I have ever seen but the construction details and plans in the book, if followed to the letter, will allow one to produce a very solid feeling instument. The hand drawings in the book are very appealing and I think give the instructions an "old time feeling", almost as if you were reading the very notes from Mr. Strad himself. Most of the construction techniques are the same as they were back in the 15th and 16th century. There are certain procedures where using power tools is very tempting, but I felt as though that would be cheating myself and the author out of the building process that the best instruments are still being built by.

The templates in the back of the book are very nicely done and if reproduced accuratley will allow one to build a real violin. Allthough I have many years experience in wood working, anyone with basic skills working with hand tools should be able to produce an instrument from this book.

If nothing else, it does teach and explain in very easy terms how a violin is made. I highly recomend this book for anyone with the desire to produce a violin like it has been done for centuries.

This was a very useful book for the beginning violin luthier with simple instructions and line drawings.

since I would not now what it takes to be a professional. But as I started with out a clue, using Foxfire book which gives some dimensions but no specifics, this book diagrams and describes how to build the forms to tuning...gives tracable drawings in the back for all the pieces.