finding optimum soundpost position

November 9, 2011 at 02:35 PM · for my own education, what is an upper or lower bout?

November 9, 2011 at 02:52 PM · The upper bout is what Joe Frazier dishes out.

November 9, 2011 at 03:02 PM · Link to Maestronet forum discussion

I find it extremely useful, but experienced luthiers will go by the tightness of the soundpost by feeling with their own hands through the soundpost setter.

November 10, 2011 at 11:58 PM · If your violin is worth more than a few hundred bucks, I advice you to leave soundpost adjustments to a good luthier. You have to learn soundpost setting on a few dozen cheapies before risking an instrument that you care for. The risk being that the soundpost will make indentations on the inside of the top (very common) and that you damage the edges of the f-holes (very common) The worst case would be a soundpost crack in the top or back. For your information though - there are mainly four important variables: the fit, the tension with which it's set, the distance from the centerline of the violin, and the distance from the bridge. The most common faults I've seen is poor fit, and the sounpost too far behind the bridge. When the soundpost is say, more than 3,5 mm behind the bridge, you often get a slow response and a dark, uneven, hollow sound in the fiddle. You'll also risk getting a "valley" in the top under and in front of the bridge. If it's too close to the bridge and/or too tightly set, you'll often get a restricted response and hard, narrow sound. Trying different distances from the centerline obviously involves making soundposts of different lengths. That goes for different tensions too, without changing the position of the post. It's important to know that there's not one exact position that's right. It depends on the instrument and what you're after. But the margins are very small and the post has to fit exactly at all times.

November 11, 2011 at 07:10 AM · Sorry I may have used the wronge term (bout)

The areas I was thinking of are the areas of the plates which are left or right of the centerline and above and below the sound holes. So there would be 4 of these areas on the plate. 2 on the bass side and 2 on the treble side. I didnt mean the sides.

He tapped on the trebble side of the back plate up high and down low.

So I assume then that NO, yall have not heard of this method of acoustic adjustment ..... ???

Tim

November 11, 2011 at 12:50 PM · Whether this works or not depends on the violin. If the pitches of those two areas are almost identical and can be moved to be identical, that will be better. Usually, however, they are quite a bit distant from each other and can't be superimposed, and that is OK, too.

November 11, 2011 at 01:59 PM · i want to point out one thing i read from that maestronet link in which a poster suggested to tap with "fingernail".

ummm,,,not sure about the nail part.

November 11, 2011 at 02:53 PM · I'm under an impression that the tension of the soundpost (along with the fit) is more important than the position, but I have not heard anyone discussing about the tap tones.

I don't think tap tones are reliable in this regard- how do you tap? Where you're going to tap? How precise of the spot you going to tap? And how consistent you can tap? Is matching all 4 spots essential? Or should they be individually evaluated? How do they related to the result? And most importantly, how do you MOVE the soundpost to achieve specific results?

Try to factor in the arching/graduation/plate stiffness etc on different violins.

@Al - check out the link I posted.

November 11, 2011 at 03:07 PM · casey, indeed earlier i was following your link and this is the line i was referring to,,,the second posting on that thread

"Tap the top above the F hole,next to the fingerboard,with your fingernail,"

i agree with you there are probably so many ways to execute this method.

November 11, 2011 at 03:59 PM · I've been setting my own soundpost positions for about 50 years. It started out of necessity, when my father's soundpost fell some 60 years ago and he managed to retrieve and re-set it (with string - I never did figure out how he did that - except in a dream once) - we lived 2 hours drive from our luthier - it seemed a matter of necessity - even on his Scarampella. I never figured out how Dad did that, but he brought an S-type soundpost setter immediately afterward. I still have that tool.

I don't see how a tap could be precise enough for soundpost positioning on some instruments. On some of my instruments the sound seems to be relatively insensitive to the soundpost position, but on some others, a difference of one millimeter can make a tremendous difference.

I owned one of my cellos for 45 years before I found it had a soundpost sweet spot that I finally located just last year - and now it just fell 2 days ago - after the endpin fitting broke and had to be replaced. I hope I can find the spot again.

My Fernando Solar violin is extremely sensitive to soundpost position - but at least I've know it has a sweet spot since the post first fell over 30 years ago.

Andy

November 11, 2011 at 05:51 PM · "So I assume then that NO, yall have not heard of this method of acoustic adjustment ..... ???"

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I've heard of it, have seen it demonstrated a few times, have tried it a number of times, and have yet to be impressed with the results, compared to other methods. In some instances, the violin got much worse than it was before.