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My Viola Played by Joel Link at an Amelia Island Chamber Festival concert

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Viola Primrose: Joel Link first violinist for the Dover Quartet #doverquartet was teaching the resident students at the Amelia Island Chamber Festival spring Institute this past week. For the final concert he needed a viola, and he did not want to carry his violin and viola on the flight. So, Joe Marasco the Festival executive director asked if I had a viola Joel could play for the week. So, the one of the violas I've made on Amelia Island was played by Joel at the final Amelia Island Chamber Festival concert of the season. How cool is that! #violin #viola #violinmaker #luthier #orchestra #fernandinabeach #ameliaisland #brunswickga #staugustine #stmarys #jacksonville #jaxsymphony #unfmusic #jumusic #luthier #violinist #florida #northflorida #Georgia #luthier #firstcoast

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Jameson goes home with his person!

Jameson a 15 1/2 inch 5-string viola was delivered to his person this weekend in Chicago. Here is the initial response from Leigh McCue: “Picked up my 5-string ”Jameson” made by the wonderfully talented William Howery. First thoughts: handles high fast Irish jigs with a lovely response and sound that’s a bit more gentle on the ears than my traditional violin, particularly for the intonation-challenged like me. And Will’s term “chocolatey” is spot on for the low C string. Tonight’s playlist included some Ashokan Farewell and Amazing Grace in an attempt to get my ear dialed in to the viola sizing, a Carolan’s Welcome/Planxty Hewlett/Si Bheag Si Mhor trio I’m currently fixated on, and ended with some Fields of Gold to get a sense of that C string. ❤️❤️❤️ this fiddle. Thanks Will!”

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turning in the tapers for the pegs

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Fiddle Jameson: While turning the taper for the pegs I thought a poem on turning was in order: And how appropriate for our world today!! Turning to One Another There is no power greater than a community discovering what it cares about. Ask: “What’s possible?” not “What’s wrong?” Keep asking. Notice what you care about. Assume that many others share your dreams. Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters. Talk to people you know. Talk to people you don’t know. Talk to people you never talk to. Be intrigued by the differences you hear. Expect to be surprised. Treasure curiosity more than certainty. Invite in everybody who cares to work on what’s possible. Acknowledge that everyone is an expert about something. Know that creative solutions come from new connections. Remember, you don’t fear people whose story you know. Real listening always brings people closer together. Trust that meaningful conversations can change your world. Rely on human goodness. Stay together. Margaret Wheatley #violin #viola #fiddle #5stringfiddle#violinJameson #fiddlejamesen #violinmaker #luthier #cnc #cncviolinmaker#orchestra #fernandinabeach #ameliaisland#brunswickga #staugustine #stmarys#jacksonville #jaxsymphony #unfmusic#jumusic #luthier #whatsonmybench#violinist #symphony #florida #northflorida#Georgia #luthier #whatsonmybench#chambermusic #5string #firstcoast #acoustics

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Jameson: Body Glued

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Fiddle Jameson: Acoustics, what sound features make a good sounding violin?

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Fiddle Jameson: Acoustics, what sound features make a good sounding violin? Ask three violin makers and get four opinions… Actually thanks to some great work done by Carleen Hutchins, Joseph Curtin and the Oberlin acoustics workshop luthiers we have a fairly good idea of What acoustically represents a “good” sounding violin. The video shows Chladni sound patterns forming as a signal generator excites the plates at ascending frequencies. You can also identify the frequencies where these patterns occur with a spectrum analyzer, looking for peak energy for specific frequencies. We use the frequencies to calculate the plate stiffness and impedance. Calculating the stiffness is better than twisting the plate and hearing a crack when you press too hard… done that a few times, Ouch Impedance determines how much bow pressure a violinist needs on a string to start and maintain a tone. Too much pressure and the instrument is hard to play having limited dynamics. Too little pressure and the tone is mushy having little projection. Like Goldie Locks in the fairy tale we are looking for the acoustics that are just right:-). We take lots of measurements and compare the results over and over and over. #violin #viola #fiddle #5stringfiddle #violinJameson #fiddlejamesen #violinmaker #luthier #cnc #cncviolinmaker #orchestra #fernandinabeach #ameliaisland #brunswickga #staugustine #stmarys #jacksonville #jaxsymphony #unfmusic #jumusic #luthier #whatsonmybench #violinist #symphony #florida #northflorida #Georgia #luthier #whatsonmybench #chambermusic #5string #firstcoast #acoustics

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Fiddle Jameson: Graduation

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Fiddle Jameson: Graduation, roughing out the inside of the plates. The thickness of the plates will range from 2.2 to 4.5 mm. I use my beam calipers, fashioned after one used by Stradivarius, to score the thickness lines in the plates. Then I use a gauge to remove the lines. When the thickness gets within 1 mm of final I switch to finger planes. If I switch to finger planes too soon my fingers tell me about their sore spots when the day is done. When I’m within .5 mm of my target thickness I switch to smaller finger planes and scrapers. This is the first 5-string model so I don’t have the final plate 3d scans. On my next version of this model I’ll use the CNC machine to speed up the process to within 3mm. That being said, the final finger planing and scraping must be done by hand, because this is when I test the resonate frequencies which determine the instruments ultimate voice. #violin #viola #fiddle #5stringfiddle #violinJameson #fiddlejamesen #violinmaker #luthier #cnc #cncviolinmaker #orchestra #fernandinabeach #ameliaisland #brunswickga #staugustine #stmarys #jacksonville #jaxsymphony #unfmusic #jumusic #luthier #whatsonmybench #violinist #symphony #florida #northflorida #Georgia #luthier #whatsonmybench #chambermusic #5string #firstcoast

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Fiddle Jameson: The purfling corners are all glued in, the arching or the outside curvature of the plates is almost finished all except the finalizing of the edges.

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Fiddle Jameson: The purfling corners are all glued in, the arching or the outside curvature of the plates is almost finished all except the finalizing of the edges. The final shaping of the edges will occur after everything else is done on the plates. There’s a fair amount of dinging and danging on the edges during the graduation process, sound holes, bass bar and finally glue up and leaving a little extra wood at this time is a good idea. Now I’m working on the graduation, which is carving the thickness of the plates. The graduation phase is probably the most important aspect of the instruments sound. It determines the resonance of the plates; how they will vibrate when a violinist draws a bow on the strings. #violin #viola #fiddle #5stringfiddle #violinJameson #fiddlejamesen #violinmaker #luthier #cnc #cncviolinmaker #orchestra #fernandinabeach #ameliaisland #brunswickga #staugustine #stmarys #jacksonville #jaxsymphony #unfmusic #jumusic #luthier #whatsonmybench #violinist #symphony #florida #northflorida #Georgia #luthier #whatsonmybench #chambermusic #5string #firstcoast

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Fiddle Jameson: Setting and gluing the purfling.

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Fiddle Jameson: Setting and gluing the purfling. With the grooves cut, I bend the purfling with a hot bending iron, then dry fit all the purfling corners on the top and bottom plates. Once everything is set I glue the purfling into the grooves. The hot hide glue causes the grooves to swell a bit more narrow and the purfling to get just a bit longer than the dry fitting, so there is always some last minute adjustments before the glue cools and sets. Wood, such a dynamic material… #violin #viola #fiddle #5stringfiddle #violinJameson #fiddlejamesen #violinmaker #luthier #cnc #cncviolinmaker #orchestra #fernandinabeach #ameliaisland #brunswickga #staugustine #stmarys #jacksonville #jaxsymphony #unfmusic #jumusic #luthier #whatsonmybench #violinist #symphony #florida #northflorida #Georgia #luthier #whatsonmybench #chambermusic #5string #firstcoast

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Fiddle Jameson: Cutting and trimming the purfling groove

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Fiddle Jameson: Cutting and trimming the purfling groove. Once the edge margins are smooth and finished, no bumps etc, that edge is used to guide the process of cutting the purfling groove. I set my CNC machine with a 1.4 mm bit 2mm off the table, and positioned the router forward from a guide pin. Once I’ve tested the dimensions on some scrap wood, I put the plate next to the guide pin and give the command for the router to go to 2mm. Once the router is lowered I carefully guide the plate edge around the guide pin. The router is only used for the long curves, once I get into the corners I retract the router and leave that work to be done by hand. The corners are finished off with the traditional, marker, knife, and purfling cleaning tool. . . #violin #viola #fiddle #5stringfiddle #violinJameson #fiddlejamesen #violinmaker #luthier #cnc #cncviolinmaker #orchestra #fernandinabeach #ameliaisland #brunswickga #staugustine #stmarys #jacksonville #jaxsymphony #unfmusic #jumusic #luthier #whatsonmybench #violinist #symphony #florida #northflorida #Georgia #luthier #whatsonmybench #chambermusic #5string #firstcoast

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Fiddle Jameson: Trimming the margins.

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Fiddle Jameson: Trimming the margins. Once the ledge for the top and bottom plates is a uniform 4.3 mm then the top and bottom plates are “tacked” glued to the blocks. The rib out line is then used to trim the plate edge margins to 2.5mm. I use the CNC machine to “rough” out the margins. By fastening a guide pin on the CNC table and then positioning the router bit about 5mm from the edge I can move the instrument body against the guide pin to get a uniform edge margin. Once the edge is consistent, I can move the CNC router 1/2 to a 1/10 of a mm towards the body to sneak up on my final measurements. As with the ledge, I bring the CNC within .3 to .5 mm and then finish by hand for those final 1/10ths. . . #violin #viola #fiddle #5stringfiddle #violinJameson #fiddlejamesen #violinmaker #luthier #cnc #cncviolinmaker #orchestra #fernandinabeach #ameliaisland #brunswickga #staugustine #stmarys #jacksonville #jaxsymphony #unfmusic #jumusic #luthier #whatsonmybench #violinist #symphony #florida #northflorida #Georgia #luthier #whatsonmybench #chambermusic #5string #firstcoast

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