Set-up of the Violin

All Violins, Violas Cellos and Double Basses need some special attention to make them properly playable. They are different to phones, computers or fridges which can be sold right out of the box. If a bowed stringed instrument is not set-up properly it is considered unplayable and has the status of a toy violin. Very often people say to me: ” But it is only for a beginner”. My answer to that is always that it is hard enough to learn the violin and specially the beginners, our children need any help and support to produce a beautiful tone. When you press a key on a piano you will usually hear a beautiful tone which as well has the right pitch. This is something which is not given for the violin player. They have to produce the beautiful tone manually with their bow in the right hand and find the right pitch with their left hand. This is a very hard thing to do. 

Deluxe Ilja Grawert Setup

Table of Contents

  1. Tuning Pegs…refit or new
  2. Fingerboard…plane & shape
  3. Nut…adjust & refile grooves
  4. Bridge…’Ilja Grawert’ bridge
  5. Sound Post…soul of the violin–refit or new & adjust
  6. Strings…new high quality strings
  7. Tailpiece, Chin-rest & Bow
  8. Assemble & tonal adjustments
  9. Final checks, test play & adjust


“Looking back on 42 years of experience in serving professional and beginning musicians, I cannot stress enough that it is essential to play a well set-up instrument. Even though it is very beautiful to play a very valuable instrument, the quality of the instrument is often not as crucial as the quality of the set-up ( obviously within boundaries). A well set-up cheaper instrument will serve you better than an expensive one with a bad set-up. I have seen many kids as well as many adult beginners give up because they or their parents/spouse thought that they were not gifted at the instrument. Very often these beginning musicians didn’t stand a chance because their instruments were unplayable. A so called “professional” set-up is not always good enough ( Any person earning money assembling instruments can call it a professional setup whether or not they know what they are doing…and you won’t believe, but it happens more often than you would expect)
That is why I developed the very special “Deluxe Ilja Grawert Setup”. Whenever you see “Deluxe Ilja Grawert Setup” you will know all the work has been done either in my Brisbane/The Gap workshop or the Whitsundays/North Queensland workshop. Because we are in full control of the set-up we can guarantee the highest level of playability and tonal quality, following our workshop motto ‘Italian tradition…German Precision. Every violin needs work on the pegs, nut, fingerboard, bridge, sound post, tailpiece,bow and the strings always have to be upgraded for better sound. In my workshop every instrument gets anywhere between 1.5 hours to 10 hours of set-up work done before they are offered for sale”

[ Ilja Grawert 2001 ]

Refit or new pegs

The tuning pegs need to be refitted or replaced. To understand the process involved I will show you some photos. First the pegs have to be tested whether they fit or not. usually they do not fit to the holes in the peg box. The holes in the peg box need to be reamed to create a certain taper and make the properly round.

Reaming the tuning peg holes in the workshop of Ilja Grawert & son master violin maker and luthier in Brisbane Australia The Gap and North Queensland
Reaming the tuning peg holes

Now the real peg fitting can start. The tool we use to fit the pegs is called a peg fitter and looks a bit like a pencil sharpener with three different sized much less tapered cutting holes. These holes have the same taper as the reamer and have a very sharp blade each, much sharper than the bade of a pencil sharpener. A well fitting tuning peg fits all the way around in the matching holes on both sides of the peg box.

After all four pegs have been fitted they have to be shortened so the ends are not sticking out of the peg box. we cut the ends of either with a hand saw or some times using a band saw. After they have been shortened the pegs ends need to be rounded first with a file and than with sandpaper (grades:180, 280, 400,600 and 800) after that we polish the pegs with some polishing paste to make them nice and shiny.

We drill the holes in the pegs for the strings usually with a drill stand. The edges of the holes in the pegs have to be softened with a round file to insure that the strings are not breaking on sharp edges.

After the pegs are fitting perfectly the need to be peg pasted in order to make them turn smooth and still hold the strings in tune. We use different methods for professional players than we do for beginners.

For beginners it is essential that the peg holds the string in tune no matter what happens. They are a little bit harder to tune but do not require as much skill as the professional method. I use the Hill peg paste for them. For the  professional player I use three different types of paste. First I use a commercial peg paste which is too dry from too much graphite. It makes the pegs stick. I loosen them with a very special 100 year old Sunlight soap which I luckily found in Cologne on a flea market in 1988 (It is much better than newer soap because it does not moisten the pegs) then I leave the pegs sitting for a while before I finally fine adjust then with a soft white Pelikan chalk from Germany.

Planing & Shaping of the Fingerboard

Every instruments finger board needs work done to it. A well adjusted finger board can make your playing so much easier than you ever imagined, while a poorly adjusted one will make it harder to play than necessary. I firmly believe that even a beginning student deserves an easy to play instrument. I talk to a lot of players every day who do not know about the importance of a well adjusted fingerboard and are playing on a poor one not knowing it can be better. If you own a bowed stringed instrument and you experience any of the following difficulties you should come and get you instrument checked.

1. finding it hard to press strings down
2. having shoulder, arm, hand and neck pains
3. having difficulties playing high up on the middle strings or in thumb. positions
4. finding it hard to separate strings
5. have a buzz or noise on a certain tone
6. difficulties to play in tune
7. strings breaking often


You might need to have your finger board adjusted.

planing and shaping the fingerboard in the workshop of Ilja Grawert & son master violin maker and luthier in Brisbane Australia The Gap and North Queensland
planing and shaping the fingerboard

The fingerboard needs to have a very particular curve across the strings and has to be very slightly hollow along the strings. Most fingerboards are either too hollow or too round length wise or are wobbly and usually the curve across is too flat. The only way this can be corrected properly is with a plane to give it the right shape, constant checking of the finger board curve is very important to get to the right result. after everything is right I work then with a scraper to make it smooth and to polish  it we use sandpaper and oil or a polishing agent.

Fingerboard Planing in the workshop of Ilja Grawert & Son Master violin maker and luthier in Brisbane Australia The Gap and North Queensland

Adjust nut

The nut is very important for the longevity of the strings as well as most crucial for the comfort of the player and the sound the open strings produce. With varying  neck widths I will have to adjust the string spacing for everything to work well. Someone with bigger hands, broader fingers has different needs than someone with finer and longer fingers. Some players have extremely short little fingers or very small hands to which I have to pay special attention to make the nut in a way the instrument is easy playable for them.

First I have to file the nut to the right string height over the fingerboard so it is comfortable to play but does not buzz on the fingerboard. After this I round it off towards the back so it can lead the strings smoothly towards the corresponding tuning peg.

With a compass/divider I determine the position of the four grooves for the strings, mark and file the grooves so they are supporting the player, not breaking the strings and creating a buzzfree beautiful and not twangy sound. Sanding the nut, so it looks beautiful and shiny as well as putting graphite in the grooves with a 6b pencil. 

New “Ilja Grawert” Bridge

The bridges on new instruments always need to be replaced or at least have to have extensive adjustments done to them.
A bridge is not only there to be beautiful and hold the strings up, it is supposed to be a piece of sound art. With a bridge I can adjust the sound in many ways, not only the choice of wood but also the way I cut the bridge will have a big impact on the sound quality of the finished instrument. Every instrument has to be looked at as an individual, like we do with humans. What is good for one instrument must not necessarily be good for another. By adjusting the way I work perfectly to every instrument I can make sure to have the best possible end result in tone and playability.

Cutting a new bridge involves many steps. After checking the instrument to find the right matching piece of wood we start fitting the bridge feet to the surface of the round top plate. They have to fit perfectly. The way to see if they are fitting is by placing them only by their own weight on the top plate and then looking at them in a very flat angle so you will see the reflection of a gap on the varnish of the top plate. Following this procedure you make sure the bridge fits perfectly. Fitting the bridge is done with a very sharp carving knife

After the feet are fitting I need to determine the height and curve of the bridge. This is done with a template.
I will then cut the bridge down to the right height.

Now the real sound work is starting. Every step from now on is very important for the beautiful sound of your instrument: I have to mark the bridge thickness on top of the bridge and start working on rounding the chest first with a knife and then with a fine file, to finish it of with sandpaper.

After the chest is done the bridge needs to be shaped for beauty and for optimum acoustics for this one particular instrument. Every cut with my knife is well thought through to achieve the best result.

“Every cut I do on a new bridge has an influence on the quality, beauty and character of the sound. The mastery lays in the knowledge where to apply the next cut and the experience to execute it in  a very precise way.”

Ilja Grawert 2024

When I am happy with the end result of the bridge
I will put it aside until it is time to assemble the instrument.

Refit & adjust or new sound post

The Sound Post – Soul of the Violin

A sound post is a small piece of dowel made of well-aged European Spruce. Despite its rather insignificant appearance, a sound post is the soul of a bowed stringed instrument like the violin. Its exact location is critical to a tenth of a millimetre to ensure perfect sound transmission.

Location:
The sound post stands inside the violin connecting the top-plate and back-plate and is located slightly below the right hand bridge foot. It is standing up only under tension, not glued to the inner surfaces of the plates. It therefore has to  stand under the correct tension; too loose and it will fall over, too tight and it will damage the plates. Its end-grain surfaces have to fit perfectly to the inner surfaces of the plates of the violin.

The sound post has to be at a certain spot behind the right hand foot which is different in every violin but follows a strict set of rules depending on the build, shape and density of the plates.
If the sound post is moved only a tenth of a millimetre away from that place the whole violin will not sound as beautiful any more.

It takes years and years of experience to be  able to put the sound post in the right place, fitting to the inner surfaces, under the right tension at the right spot.
Many inexperienced people have tried to move it themselves or fit new one without the right tools and knowledge and have destroyed the inner surfaces of their valuable and irreplaceable Master violins.

Fitting the sound post:
With a special tool I measure the inner distance between top and back and roughly cut a piece of already prepared spruce dowel to the right length.
The end-grain surfaces I cut with a very sharp carving knife to an angle similar to the arching of the plates.

Then I stick the sound post to the special tool called a sound post setter and carefully insert it into the violin through the f-hole and stand it up in roughly the correct position.

I then look through the little end-pin hole and check how well it is fitting.

In order to be able to see the other side of the sound post I use a little dentist mirror.
This whole procedure is repeated until the sound post fits perfectly in the right spot under the right tension.

After that it can still be moved around to fine tune the instrument.

If the sound post is in the right spot in relation to the violin and to the position of the bridge, the violin will have a beautiful, even, carrying sound and the strings will speak easily when played with the bow.

The soundpost truly gives the violin’s sound its soul.

Tailpiece 

The tailpiece needs to be joined with the tailgut so it sits stable around the button and at the right distance to the saddle in support of good sound. The tailpiece has to be chosen and prepared. There are different kinds of tailpieces available. A modern composite tailpiece with four inbuilt fine tuners and a wooden tailpieces with either one or four fine tuners which are individually installed . The fine tuners have to be lubricated before use.

Usually the tailpieces with the inbuilt fine tuners are preferred by students and performers if more modern music in environments where the tuning is not as stable. Only one fine tuner on the high string is usually preferred by professional musicians.

Strings

Strings need to be mounted on the instrument in a professional manner to ensure them not getting damaged. They will stretch over the first few days and some need shorter or longer playing in times.

High quality strings are usually made in Germany or other countries of Europe.  Different brands of high quality strings have very different sound and playing quality and can vary greatly in tone, responsiveness and feel under the  fingers. The current price range of high quality strings is from $110-350 for Violin, viola a third more and cello & double bass $300 -$800.  

Chin-rest 

On Instrument outfits for students usually the chin-rest which is already on the instrument stays, often for budget reasons. On those instruments I ensure it sits in the right place and is mounted rightly. 

The Chin-rest is important for the posture and the comfort of the player. In combination with the shoulder rest done right for your shoulder, neck and chin shapes it will make playing the violin much easier and free of tension. Chin-rests come in all different sizes and shapes.

Bow

  • Check stick and tip for cracks and imperfections and straightness 
  • Check hair length and evenness 
  • Lubricate screw and eyelit 
  • Rosin bow 

Assembly of the instrument 

After the sound post is fitted and the tailgut joined to the tailpiece it is now time to assemble the instrument. Usually I start with the bottom or deepest string being put on then the highest to hold the tailpiece in place. Then I place the bridge roughly in the right position and put the middle two strings on.

Before I fully tune up the instrument I make sure the tailpiece sits right and the bridge is now place in its final position. I tune the strings to nearly the right pitch and adjust the sound post to a predetermined position which will still be adjusted later in the final checks.

Final Check 

After I have done all this work to ensure the instrument is in its best possible condition I’ll do all the final checks making sure the instrument is in the best possible condition. This is usually the time when I test play the instrument and hear how happy I am with the sound, if it is even over all four strings, speaks easily, speaks well to the lightest touch of the bow and surely if it is of a good, beautiful and carrying sound. This adjustment sometimes goes over a few days as the instrument and the strings settle as the days go by.

  • Check tuning pegs again 
  • Check nut again 
  • Check fingerboard again 
  • Check bridge position & height 
  • Check strings 
  • Testplay again with belonging bow  and sound adjust 
  • Check case  (only with outfit)
  • Check bow again (only with outfit)
  • Ensure the Chinrest sits tight