to a want of
confidence in glue by these old masters, notwithstanding the evidence
we have of their using the finest quality only. In separating the neck
from the body, it will obviously be wise to act in a very cautious manner,
or the saw may come suddenly upon the nails or screw, and there will
be a grating of teeth, and perhaps upsetting of the temper of the
performer. It will therefore be a consideration for the repairer
whether the instrument has been previously opened, or is in that very
rare condition, as the maker left it. Economy of time and labour always
more or less being a desideratum, in the supposed instance before us,
that of an untouched old master, our repairer having had experience
with many Italian violins of different degrees of merit, first proceeds
by removing the old fingerboard. This being short and less massive than
the modern kind, presents but little difficulty. The cushion filled
with sawdust or sand, is now called into requisition. Placing the
violin on its back and tilting it up so that the button and the back
of the scroll press equally on the yielding surface, it is held in
position with some degree of firmness, the fingers of the right hand
being placed underneath the wide end of the fingerboard, a sudden pull
upward causes the fingerboard in most instances to part with a snap.
Should it refuse to do so, other means must be resorted to. The
fingerboard may be one of the old inlaid kind, or veneered pine, and
worth keeping as a curiosity, in which case the saw must be applied
to any part of the neck for removing wood that will not be required
again, piece-meal, until the board is free, when it can be further
cleared at leisure.

Our repairer, not finding in the fingerboard under his hands any
particular merit, it being besides worn into ruts near the nut by
performers of the early schools, who used but little more than the first
position, moreover, coming away with ease, proceeds to the sawing
process. The presence of nails or screw he believes to be fairly certain,
therefore instead of sawing down close and even as possible with the
ribs, the saw line is made at an angle downward and outward toward the
head, or say at an angle of some forty-five degrees, beginning at about
a quarter of an inch away from the borders of the upper table. The cut
thus made would be free from any nail or screw, unless of extraordinary
dimensions. (Diag. 35.)

[Illustration: DIAGRAM 35.]

In the case of a