Fretful1 - Posted - 09/22/2024:  13:49:41

Dumb Question Of The Day: I don't know anything about fiddles except that I'm considering restoring one as a project. But, while contemplating this, a question occurred to me... Why do guitars have round sound holes and fiddles have f holes?
Please enlighten me. Thanks for any insight you can provide.

DougD - Posted - 09/22/2024:  13:56:04

Have you ever noticed that some guitars (some very good ones) also have f holes? If a violin had a round sound hole there would be no place for the bridge.

Fretful1 - Posted - 09/22/2024:  14:39:03

I was thinking a sound hole could be positioned between the bridge and the string attachment gizmo. While that seems possible, I wonder how a sound hole would affect the tone and volume of the instrument. What say you?

pmiller510 - Posted - 09/22/2024:  15:59:35

Knew there had to be somebody who tried it. haha

violinstocellos.wordpress.com/...und-hole/

The Violin Beautiful - Posted - 09/22/2024:  16:39:31

Given the way that a violin bridge rocks when it vibrates from side to side, placing the sound holes on either side of the bridge has advantages tonally. There have been many, many experiments with sound hole shape and placement over the centuries, and the result has been that makers have concluded that shape, size, and placement all have a significant impact on the general tone of the instrument.

Incidentally, there are some very old violins that have an extra sound hole beneath their fingerboards. It seems not to have a noticeable effect.

Fretful1 - Posted - 09/22/2024:  16:53:41

The article was interesting, although I have to admit I didn't understand all of it. It might be fun to install a sound hole in a "beater" instrument just to see what effect it has on tone and volume. Thanks everyone for your input!

gapbob - Posted - 09/23/2024:  20:30:49

I have thought about this and the f-holes seem to be cut in such a manner that there are no direct wood support connections to the sides, there is a arch of wood that goes under the fingerboard to the tailpiece that supports the bridge. Having a round hole would seem to have the opposite effect.

Edited by - gapbob on 09/23/2024 20:40:02