At 02:30 AM 7/1/2007, you wrote:
>I've read differing opinions of whether the ends of a lute belly's bracing
>bars should be glued to the ribs (thereby adding support and helping to
>define the shape of the bowl) or not glued as such (leaving the belly more
>free to vibrate). My experience and intuition don't add up to enough to
>guess either way. And I suspect that the historical record is muddied by
>the fact that bellies have been removed and reglued so many times, such that
>what we see is merely the most recent revision and not necessarily "the way
>it was done".
Michael,
All of the original bars that I have seen have had the ends glued
to the ribs, for what ever this type of anecdotal evidence is worth. I
know that is tempting to think of the sound box ad a mechanical system, and
therefore to think of a hinging action as a desirable feature, but I am not
sure that fronts really work that way. There is also a practical
consideration which is, that when the bars are not support at the ends,
they will tend to come away from the front at the ends. I have reglued
lots and lots of bars because of this natural action and can vouch for
it. Having the bars glued to the ribs tends to reduce the effect. Some
instruments with straight sides, like vihuelas and guitars had actual
supports glued onto the ribs just under the bar ends for support. Lately,
I have been working on the restoration of an antique Mexican Guitarrone
which has some interesting features relative to the historical
vihuela. The front has only two small bars on either side of the sound
hole, just as in the vihuelas we know. The upper bar was supported at the
ends with small strips of wood glued to the ribs but, for some reason, the
lower bar was not. Consequently, the lower bar had come loose from the
front at the ends and the upper one had not. These are simply observations
and not intended to be scientific conclusions.
Regards,
Dan Larson
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