Most of the bridge blanks that I have seen are flat on the bottom between the feet. With a sharp knife I make this a gently curve, although I haven’t tried to match the curve to the curve of the violin top. But, then again, I didn’t attend a violin making school. I managed to learn little by little mostly through trial and error.
In general, I think that it is a good idea to have a violin bridge as thin as possible without sacrificing its strength too much in the process. Reducing wood from the wing holes also helps to reduce the mass, making the bridge more responsive to fine vibrations from the strings. The set of the neck on the violin pretty much determines how high the bridge needs to be for the proper string height from the fingerboard. I think that the loudest violins are ones that support a taller bridge. With regard to the photo of the violin bridge submitted by Lorenzo, if I was doing that bridge, I would have the bridge thinner at the top. It looks a little clunky to me, but, like I implied before, there are many ways of doing things.
I use to work for a violin maker and learned a lot by talking to some of the best violin shops here in the NW [u]David Kerr[/u], Portland, and a couple others in Seattle.
Re the thickness of the bridge at the top of the arch that Doug was talking about, it’s suppose to vary according to the thickness of the strings…G string=thicker wood, etc. BTW, that sleeve on the E string hanging over the bridge is a no-no too! The string should be free to vibrate from the very edge of the bridge. The most important thickness-to-tone is the overall thickness of the bridge. Many people get the entire bridge too thin, esp at the feet (plus feet too thin flatwise), and wonder why the violin sounds hollow. The soundpost thickness is also critical to the tone…as is the way the ends of the post fit the back and top. The post has to be custom fit to a certain distance from the right foot of the bridge too or else it will sound too bright or too dark. If the post is too large around or too small, a pro will just hand your violin back to you and say it needs to be set up right before he can comment on the tone.
My first job at the violin shop was regraduating violin tops and making new bass bars. But, some of the most expensive violins I’ve ever seen were not made perfect by any means (and we wouldn’t dare mess with them). They had the handmade feel to them. For example, the concert master of the symphony had an old handmade Italian violin. If you set the violin on edge, it would rock sideways back and forth because the top and back were not glued to the ribs as if bound perfectly in a jig. The scroll and F holes were not perfect either, but artistically beautiful…as only handmade can be.
Some wood is just dead–either/or both tops and backs. That’s why you hear so much about the “tapping” test for tone during the scraping process. There’s something like 20-25 things on a violin that all have to be perfect to get the perfect tone. One weak link…and the whole violin sounds all the worse.
I use one of the solid metal (chromed) quite heavy mutes an on my fiddle. It gets a bit of rosin sticking to it so you have to wash it every now and again. See, our house is a bit open plan and when the little woman’s watching tv or asleep there’s only ever one door between me and her, and that one not always shut. I can play ANY TIME, day or night, with the mute on and not bother her. I don’t wake her up and I don’t spoil her tv watching! (That’s why I gave up the uilleann pipes, folks!)
So that’s what I use, however, I believe they now do the same in rubber - that might be better and safer to use round a pristine polished top of a treasured violin! My fiddle carries a few scars so a fumbled metal mute isn’t the end of the world. (Plus I don’t have a thing about rubber )
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