Saturday, March 10, 2012

Unusual Soundpost

I got several more vintage violins in over the past few weeks, and I found something I've never seen before in one of them.  It is a patent pending violin soundpost manufactured by The Violinist's Supply in Portland, OR.  There is no date on the soundpost, but one side is marked:

Manufactured By
The Violinist's Supply
254 W. Lombard St.
Trade Mark Portland, Oregon

The opposite side is stamped:

ARTIST'S
Master Sound Post
Pat. Pending

It is quite unusual because normally soundpost posts are just straight "sticks," so to speak.  This one has a hollow platform that the soundpost is fitted and probably glued into.  Anyway, for the curious, here are the pictures:

2 comments:

Paul B said...

What was the purpose of a soundpost like that? Was it supposed to enhance the instruments sound in some way?

Chris Talley said...

I'm sure the maker thought it would enhance the sound. Maybe they thought with more mass it would amplify or improve the bass. I'm just guessing, though.