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hope2bfiddler - Posted - 06/30/2007: 10:05:14
My fiddle is kinda harsh sounding. I met a fiddler with the same kind of fiddle-(old german strad copy) I noticed his tone was much more open and warm. I looked at his sound post and it was a lot different than mine. Mine sits right under the treble foot. His was placed about 1/4 inch back from the treble foot.
I was thinking of getting mine tinkered with but was afraid to in case it sounds worse or something gets damaged. Does anyone have any knowledge of how moving the sound post affects the tone/volume, etc.? 
oldtimer - Posted - 06/30/2007: 11:08:38
Your fiddle will very likely benefit from moving the sound post. The "standard" starting position is 1/2 the width of the sound post behind the bridge, which would be about 3/16". It is usually centered behind the right foot of the bridge. Starting from there, minor moves will alter the tone. Usually a little more to the right brings out bass....to the left, mellower highs. Any repairman can do it in five minutes, I do them all the time.
Other ways to mellow the fiddle include using a rnbber tourte mute in "rest" position. Symphony players do this a lot. Try sticking the rubber mute on the E string back next to fine tuner and wedge it onto the string so it stays. Then try it on the A string to see which is better. See a tourte mute here:
http://www.dov-music.com/proddetail.asp?prod=1027
Another thing that classical players do is drape a folded cloth napkin or handkerchief over the chinrest and touching the top and back of the fiddle. Ostinsably, they do this for comfort, but the cloth actually kills the harshness very noticeably. See here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itzhak_Perlman
There are lots of other ways that old-time fiddlers have mellowed their cheap fiddles. One way is to get some Blu-tac and stick a penny to the top or back of the fiddle. You can try different places and the Blu-tac won't hurt your fiddle. Just don'i press it down so hard that you break the fiddle top. Try a penny on the back near the area where the sound post rests. No one will see it. Try on the back near the edge where a chinrest would be if you had a chinrest on the RIGHT side. Try the top to the left of the tailpiece. Should make it sound bassier, but each fiddle is different.
stay tooned....
Glenn Godsey
"Time passes unhindered"
StringAmp - Posted - 06/30/2007: 11:14:45
Hi, hope2b
you should definitely have the soundpost adjusted. It is vital to have it right for an optimal sound.
It sits in tension only by being (very little) longer than the distance between the top and back plates
Both the position and the tightness of the fit matters very much to any violin.
The french call it the "soul " of the violin and they are not much wrong about this.
You may even need to have a new post fitted. Don´t do this yourself unless
The "normal" soundpost center position is about 5-6 mm from the treble bridge foot down towards the tailpiece , and about same distance from the F hole as the treble foot.
this can be all the difference you need to have a pleasant sound.
best, StringAmp.
the most accurate pickup is the string itself - plus StringAmp
'Shenandoah Valley Jams' 2 hrs
