Customer Reviews

Violin Making: A Practical Guide

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

 

 

I think that if a book cannot stand on its own, the reader deserves to be provided with that information. If a book cannot be deciphered by a novice, then the novice deserves that information up front, perhaps included in the title of the book. This book is so thoroughly filled, page after page, with undefined terms and assumptions of existing knowledge, that if you don't already know what it intends to teach you, you may as well give up on learning from it. It will certainly not teach a beginner to make a violin! I got through medical school, yet I can't read this book - I lacked the hidden prerequisites. This book needs a title like "Violin-making for people who know how to make violins." I was very disappointed.

Consider these instructions: "The top of the fingerboard should line up with the tail of the scroll, or the top of the hen's tail on cellos. Allow the width of the nut above this point and draw a line across square to the sides of the block." Nut? What nut? And silly me, I didn't even know that cellos had hens tails! Or this, from a section on rib structure: "The linings may be made from a similar wood to the blocks and a strip of wood can be planed, as the ribs were, to the correct thickness." I wish I knew what the correct thickness was, but since I didn't know that violins had linings, or what a lining is - and I certainly didn't find out here - I will likely have a beast of a time figuring it out.

If you don't know the component parts of a violin, inside and out, and if you don't have a pretty good idea of how to make a violin, I suggest you avoid this book. However, the color pictures are excellent; the descriptions of the maker's weight in stones, rather than pounds, is very charming, but I'm afraid the charm will come as a surprise to the author, who may not yet suspect that many of us have come to use pounds or even kilograms to measure our weight or mass.

I think I am familiar with ignorance, since I have so much of it, especially on this topic, but I had hoped and expected the book would help correct that, rather than simply emphasize its degree. The author looks like a very nice lady, however, and I doubt that she did this just to make her readers feel stupid, although that will be the effect on many, especially those who haven't learned that starting out not knowing anything is the usual situation.

If you've read some of the Strobel books and feel a bit puzzled or lost, this book may help you some, especially if you are a beginner. The photographs are plentiful and in color. There is some confusing language and glossing-over of points that may be mundane and obvious to an experienced luthier but are baffling yet critical to a beginner, just as in the Strobel books. So, my search continues for more complete and exhaustively illustrated books describing the violin-making process for a complete beginner.

The author juliet Barker has spent more than 50 years as a violin maker. Her book is an excellent introduction to violin making using inexpensive , and available tools. I particularly like her english low tech approach to viiolin construction , as this can help aspiring luthiers to build hand tool skills, before moving on to larger power tools. I was highly amused at one remark about the sound of a rasp being too noisy for quiet work like violin making, she might be horrified at the plethora of industrial sized power tools in my shop.She also gently takes the reader step by step through the various processes of violin making. Cutting a scroll, back and top archings, and carving, varnishing, set ups, sound post setting,, a brief history on violin making. I particularly liked the section , on using alternative woods. Something not seen too often in violin books . Most authors chose maple and spruce, but there are a anumber of alternative woods that have been successfully used. I also liked the chapter on exploring other small instruments ,viola/s, violins and hardanger fiddles. This is an excellent informative book, that will help aspiring luthiers. I would recommend this book be read with roy courtnall/s book on violin making.

This book is full of color pictures that show how the tools are used, by a well respected teacher of the craft. It is not designed to be a stand alone manual to make a violin. The book is well written and is a great addition to a violin makers library or someone interested in how a violin is made. I highly recommend this book, it is well worth the price.

I bought this book because of the title, expecting full-well to find the measured drawings of both the templets and fixtures nessary for making a violin. What I got doesn't even come close, all I see is a person showing their skills in the art of violin making without so much as telling me how to get there. If I were already making violins and saw this book I wouldn't buy it. So for those who are looking for a place to start, this book is useless.
It isn't worth the paper it's printed on. The measurements must be a secret that only those few chosen ones possess. As far as learning these secrets, I'll just keep looking, hoping that I don't end up with a library of useless books like this one. As Dory says "Just keep swiming"

Being new to violin building but having experience building guitars and mandolin I found this book is just what I needed. Though this book may not dive into scientific data like some more advanced building books do It does have all the info needed to build a violin. Along with some great text it has some great photographs to go along with the details. I enjoy this book immensely.

I have not finished the book at this time but it won't be long. When I first purchased this book I thought that it was from a person in the north east part of the U.S.. To my surprise I found out differently. It is well worth the cost for the information that you will recieve. The book is small but it is a practical guide which leaves out much useless information which a maker may not need. I hope that anyone buying this book enjoys it as much as I have already and finds it useful.

no one violin building book can stand alone but this one does a good job of trying,it was written by a person who has been building high quality instruments for 40 years so it will at least put you on the right track on where you should direct your efforts on accuireing tools and that in itself will save you a ton of money not buying what you dont need,there are many color photos to help with some of the language barriers as some of the european words used are different than ours,i do believe though that anyone with good woodworking skills could use this as a stand alone book,but would still reccomend it to a novice as a companion to other violin building books to have a more thorough understanding before attempting to build,wood is high for a decent peice,as the supply for decent wood is severly declineing,i would reccomend that if you are serious about building in the future to buy the wood u need now and put it up,it will only skyrocket in the years to come ,best wishes to you as my fist violin is drying now !

This was a wonderfully informative book, but is a little too technical for beginners. It is great for the photographs though.

This is a super book having some of the finest color prints of violin making I've seen to date. Highly recommended for the violin enthusiast.

Jim