Drawing the absolute best sound from your instrument is the goal of every musician. A proper set-up can make the difference.

WHAT IS A SET-UP?
The expression setup refers to the final adjustments made to the instrument before it's ready to play. These adjustments are extremely important as poorly setup violins are very difficult to play and tune, while properly setup violins will bring out the instrument's beautiful tone and be much easier to maintain. It involves the bridge, the soundpost, but also the pegs, the strings, the tailpiece and the button.

BRIDGE AND SOUNDPOST
To setting up properly an instrument it's extremely important to analyze the sound properties and the general features of the instrument in order to make decisions such as thickness, carving style, grain alignment and the resonance of a bridge, before even focus on the positioning. That's why is very important that the luthier understand the needs of the musicians.

STRINGS
Choosing the right strings is often challenging and sometimes requires years of tests.
Modern violin strings are composed of a string core wrapped with wound metal. The core can be made of gut, steel or synthetic polymers (nylon). The wounding is made with different metals such as aluminium, silver, tungsten. The match between those materials, the difference of tension and thickness gives different results.
Which one is the best string?
The general thinking is the more expensive the better but is not that simple. Some strings highlight warm tones, some other the high frequency, etc. so the final choose is related to the goal that musician want to achieve and how each string react at the instruments.
How often do I have to change the strings?
A general rule of thumb for string replacement is that if you play over an hour each day, then you may replace your strings every 6-12 months. Anyway strings can react to environment condition such as humidity, get rusted or loose tension and resonance. So it's important that every musicians learn to hear when the string start to loose performance.

REGULAR SOUND ASJUSTMENT
Getting the optimum quality sounds from your instrument requires corrections from time to time. Strijkinstrumentenshop.nl can provide regular sound adjustments to your instrument, whereby the help and assistance of our experienced luthier is crucial.

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