Here are 2 beautiful Italian violas that figure prominently in the Philadelphia Orchestra. These instruments are played by very sensitive,fussy players who know immediately when they have lost power and clarity due to openings. Changes in climate/humidity/ locale all conspire to expand and contract the top & back plates…..which in combination with the glue being made to let go if need be to relieve dangerous stress…is a recipe for needing to find and glue often small subtle openings. This is even more difficult on older instruments.
I’ve developed a number of subtle methods to find the subtle openings ….the large ones are easy to find….but with these players the openings never get very large because they have me checking/gluing at the slightest variation in sound. Many problems with instruments are often thought to be more dramatic in nature….but really are solved by a very thorough search and careful gluing.
