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Good tonewood makes great violins!
Have you ever wondered what your violin is made of? Violins are made up of several types of wood - which we call tonewoods. But do you know your maple from your spruce? Or are you starting to make violins and need advice? Makers should search out the best tonewood they can. If you going to spend many hours making a violin youwant it to have the best chance of being a beautiful instrument and of sounding good. Well read on below. It's a subject that we are passionate about! It most likely has a maple back, possibly a spruce front and an ebony key board. The ribs, back and neck are also traditionally made from maple. Not just any old maple though. Look at the back of your violin or the violins in your local shop. You will often see ripples in the tonewood. These beautiful markings are known as figuring or flames. But you can also find beautiful birds eye, or quilted maple. They all have distinctive markings. You will also notice that some violin backs are one piece and some two piece. Findng good tonewood for a one piece backis a bit more unusual and so more expensive.
For those of you out there that want to know more about maple and to see some more photos of different types - ah yes - and you know you do....
click here Next you need a front for the violin. This is usually made of spruce. Again not just any spruce though (although we do know of someone who made a violin from an old bit of pine floorboard!). What you are looking for is well seasoned wood with a good ring to it. It will often be closely grained. Becuase of this, good supllies of spruce are found in colder climates - where the trees grow slowly... There is a lot of mystique in the art of finding and selecting tonewood. Famous makers such as Stradivari kept their sources secret. The bass bar and corner blocks are usually made of spruce too. For more on spruce follow this link Ebony Ebony is the lovely black wood that fingerboards, pegs, nut and chinrests are often made or part made of. Other woods are used too but not usually for the fingerboard! There is a huge amount of skill in cutting wood for the various violin family members. If you are a maker
you will want to read more,
follow this link to our ebony page. Return from tonewood to violin making Go to Ebony Go to Maple Return to Home page
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We love Scottish "maple" - which is actually known as sycamore in the UK. But great maple is available inmany parts of the world. 
