Violin Making, Second Edition Revised and Expanded: An Illustrated Guide for the Amateur (Fox Chapel Publishing)

Violin Making, Second Edition is an excellent book for those looking for detail, step by step instructions to build a violin. It even provides templates drawings where you can trace and create your own template of the material of your choosing. Greaty buy!

I enjoyed this book on fiddle building. I like the hand drawn illustrations, and the photographs of some of the completed fiddles. I also enjoyed the go for it and don't be afaid to screw up attitude - just do it! Just start, and jump each hurdle as it comes ... The method of building was also somewhat unique, though perhaps a bit rough in certain regards, for a modern bench made fiddle (he used glued laminations in a mold for the bent ribs, and only touched on bending using a bending iron, etc). But keep in mind, I have played quite a few rough fiddles, and some of them sound great! Also, the book was fun to read, and you can tell that Bruce Ossman has a great personality, and loves to explore/create/travel and basically distract himself with pleasurable pursuits ... Definately worth the $20 or so I spent on it! If you are already a pro builder, and looking for some new theories, you probably wouldn't get much more than a laugh out of this book (though I found the hand drawn illustrations very cool!)- and you've probably already read this book a long time ago anyway. If you want to build a fiddle, perhaps as a retirement hobby, this is a great book.

If you are new to instrument building,this book will be handy in getting you started building a violin. If you are somewhat experienced in building other instruments you will find that it is missing some of the more intricate measurements and techniques you know exist. The finishing process is pretty much nonexistent.

I've been looking at a number of books on violin making and I have to say that I'm glad I chose this one. The price was very reasonable, and the information and diagrams inside are very clear and easy to understand. While one reviewer stated that he uses a non-traditional method of making the sides of the violin by using laminations, the book does cover heat bending the sides with a bending iron. However unless a person is building a lot of them or hollow body guitars I doubt you're going to have a bending iron. So by putting in information on how to do it using laminated sides the author opens up the possibility to more beginners. I'm sure as a person advances in their violin making they'll want to refer to other books but for a beginner I think this book does a good job of laying out the information and steps in an easy to understand way.

The book honestly is great. I love that the author was very honest about what truly makes a good violin. You get a lot of luthiers who consider themselves Stradivarius' next of kin and hold a pompous sacredness for materials that rivals that of the man himself. When in actuality science and blind sound tests have shown that the quality of a violin's sound comes from so many unknown variables that the best thing a luthier can do is assemble decent materials and concentrate on good construction techniques.Mr. Ossman does a great job of introducing amateur luthiers into the world of violin making.The only complaint I have is that the full size templates look to be hand drawn. I was doing some of my cutting on a CNC machine and was hoping for crisper patterns to work from. Although I'm sure his sketches are accurate, the seemingly wiggly lines made me uneasy.

Very good book. Tons of illustrations. I'm currently building a guitar and thought it would be fun to give this a try. It has multiple pictures on every page of the book illustrating what it is talking about. You almost don't even need to read the book. The day I got it I tumbed through it and it makes building a violin look pretty easy. One of the other reviews said the the templates we hand drawn and they didn't feel comfortable using them. The templates are hand drawn, but they are actually pretty good. They don't bother me at all. The back of the book has some links for where to buy materials. All of them are out of date, but I think I can find the stuff eat enough.

This book is great for understanding the basic construction of a violin and illustrates easy to follow steps on how to build it, BUT the book has very limited information. A days worth of reasearch on the web and more detailed info than the book has, can be found. Has alsmost no information on the varnishing of the violin. The illustrations are hand drawn, which is a great style, but so are the included templates, making them hard to use. Also all the info and patterns are only for a full size 4/4/ violin. Yes, this book is lacking a lot of info, but if you have no idea on how a violin is build, and are too lazy to do research, this is a beautiful, together well-put book.

I plan to use the book as a guide for building a violin.

A bit sketchy. Some of the processes were not fully explained and could lead to different interpretations in the finished violin. Some were just plain no nos. Screwing on the neck from the inside ?? A good book for basic procedure but get something better if you are going to build a decent violin yourself

This is the updated version and a great reference

It gives the information needed to make a violin that works as a musical instrument.Packed with excellent figures and a beautifull new color photo gallery.From the table of contents:A preview of the building process,gallery,background and structure,preparation of materials,step by step construction of the violin,full size patterns and templates.

This has been a valuable book to help understand how to put together a violin. The plans are a great resource and I am working towards following through the guide to building my first violin.

Bought as a gift. Very nice book, well illustrated and nice quality paper. Instructions appear clear and it has templates at the back. Husband very pleased with it.