Neck grafts and string length

September 2, 2011 at 05:24 AM ·

Not much information to have.  Baroque and, I would bet, transitional string lengths were all over the map.   SOME were shorter, some were not.  There is some evidence apparently that Stradivari used different string lengths for the same model (although I'm still mulling this one over).

Note that sometimes a violin will have a fake neck graft in order to make the violin appear older or more valuable.

In some cases the neck was just blocked out at the heel instead of grafted--see Del Gesu's 'Cannone' and Stradivari's 'Harrison'.

Although the neck was already evolving during the baroque, the 'transitional' period is roughly from 1750 to around 1800.  You can find essentially baroque necks from some makers and nearly modern necks from others in the latter part of this period.  The wholesale conversion of instruments to modern specs is generally said to have occurred in the vicinity of 1800. 

Whether some makers made both styles at the same time I can't say.  I'd bet that some did, but whether any of the better known makers of the late 18th c.  did I can't say.

September 2, 2011 at 01:51 PM ·

 I found the following while random googling:

"MANTEGAZZA, Pietro Giovanni, Milan. Vincenzo Lancetti states that "about 1800 the Brothers Mantegazza were restorers of instruments, and were often entrusted by French and Italian artistes to lengthen the necks of their Violins after the Paris fashion, an example which was followed by amateurs and professors all over North Italy." This extract shows that the short necks were dispensed with in Paris towards the close of the last century, and doubtless Viotti was the chief instigator with regard to the change. The family of Mantegazza, as Violin-makers, date back to about the middle of the eighteenth century. "

It doesn't  explain why instruments made in the 1840s might have grafts. Broken necks? Cosmetic surgery? 20 years ago I would have called or visited Jacques Francais and enjoyed the three hour seminar which ensued.  Curiouser and curiouser.

September 2, 2011 at 04:01 PM ·

 Could be a variety of reasons. A broken, worn or damaged neck. Necks which weren't made properly in the first place. A neck which had dimensions which didn't suit the player. A need to raise a sagged neck to a higher angle, when a simpler neck reset would have involved compromises of one kind or another, like removing wood from the original button, or ending up with an incorrect string length.

Neck replacement, grafted to the original scroll, had become so common and accepted, that often not much effort was put into saving the original necks.