GIANNA VIOLINS VARNISH
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Stephen Perry, Luthier, Gianna Violins
Preface
One of the indicators of the quality of a new violin is the kind and quality of finish used. Old violins, which I take to be before
the initiation of widespread mass production in the late 18th C, were universally varnished with oil-based varnish of some
type. The exact type and the treatment underneath the varnish is of great and entertaining debate. Regardless, two salient
points rise from the chaos. First, all but a few old violins bear almost no original varnish, instead carrying numerous
overcoats of all kinds of gook. Even relatively new violins may bear many layers. For example, a violin restored here had
polyurethane on top, then some kind of alcohol-soluble varnish in at least 2 different layers, and finally insoluble dark varnish
of some kind, probably an iron-stained oil varnish. Thus the finish seen on both modern (19th C and more recent) violins
and old violins is often not original. Second, most old violins were polished and polished and polished over the years,
making a high gloss. New violins tend to imitate this high gloss. The few old violins available in very nice condition with parts
of the original surface preserved (we’ve seen a few of these) show substantial texture. The old Cremonese varnishes were
quite soft, wore fairly rapidly, are now vanishingly thin, and exhibited quite remarkable texture of the varnish and the wood.
Brush hairs, bugs, and other fine debris is not at all uncommon. The varnish appears to have settled onto the wood in a fine
layer following leveling. This suggests an extended curing time, where the varnish is leveled after its initial drying, but
continued to polymerize and diminish in volume over time, settling onto the wood surface to reveal texture. Standards of the
time did not require uniform coloration or a gloss polish. Violins tended to be appreciated as objects of wood for use, rather
than as mummified relics preserved in thick layers of hard shiny glop.
Today’s players tend to ask for authenticity but expect shiny. This is a contradiction. Young players and pop performers
have use for easily cleaned, durable, shiny coatings. Other players might consider more authentic thin varnishes exhibiting
texture. Thin coatings let the violin work better as a musical instrument. Coatings wear. No big deal. Regular touchup is
much better than mummification.
Today’s players also seek to play vintage or vintage looking instruments, even though all the vintage violins started as new
violins. The concept of what a vintage instrument looks like tends to follow the fast antiqued look of the late 19th C rather
than an understanding of what real 18th C instruments look like at this time. Regardless, modern makers often cater to the
desire for old looking instruments through shading, aging, or other antiquing including dings and fake cracks.
Our Ground Coat
One of the keys to a violin’s sound and the durability of its coatings is the treatment of the wood surface prior to varnishing.
This ground coat is more likely of greater importance to sound than the varnish itself and is the subject of great debate. Old
coatings appear to have included mineral preparations of varying kinds, thinned varnish, and organic glues and gums. We
typically use a traditional ground composed of gum arabic, honey, and egg white called “vernice bianca.” This first wood
treatment forms a strong layer right at the surface and prevents varnish from soaking into the wood. This ground coat
seems to give a positive acoustic effect as well.
Our Varnish
A varnish is a liquid that dries to a transparent film over a solid surface. A bewildering range of substances have been used
as varnishes. We use oil varnish. Natural tree resins are fused and then dissolved into hot linseed oil, forming a new
composition. Additives may modify the characteristics and brushing solvents such as turpentine or kerosine are added. The
varnish dries through oxidation and polymerization. These finishes do not generally do not dissolve in turpentine, although
modern paint-removal solvents seem to happily destroy fine old finishes. We use a softener in our oil varnish to keep it from
becoming brittle. This softener tends to continue the polymerization and thinning of the varnish for a period of weeks or
months after varnishing, letting the varnish sink onto the surface of the wood, revealing its intricate texture.
Equally as important as the varnish is the surface preparation and the application technique. We start with a very nicely
leveled ground surface. The varnish is heated in a double boiler and a brushing medium is added only if absolutely
required. The hot varnish spreads well, but quickly sets up. By the time four or five coats are on, the surface looks deep
and thick. The surface merely requires light buffing with oil and fine Tripoli compound. We avoid extensive sanding and
leveling of thick, hard varnishes.
Coloring
Each kind of color in a varnish works by absorbing, reflecting, or refracting light. Dyes selectively absorb color from light
passing through the medium. Earthy pigments absorb all light but that of the color they exhibit. Transparent particles may
both refract and selectively absorb light. Pigments are particulates, allowing light to pass between the particles.
Light does lots of complex things. Some is reflected directly from the varnish surface. Some passes through the varnish
layers, each layer or level of the varnish reflecting some light back to the surface. These internal reflections can give quite
striking effects. Some hits pigment particles and part of the spectrum is reflected. Some will actually reach the ground and
the wood. Where the ground is transparent on the wood – which takes place when the refractive index of the lowest varnish
or ground layer matches that of the wood – light enters the wood, is complexly reflected, and passes back up into the
varnish. Complexly layered varnishes over transparent grounds and colored with a variety of pigments, including transparent
refractive pigments, seem to give the most interesting colors.
Pigments used in violin varnishing are the same as used for artist’s colors. Many pigments are earth materials ground up
and used direct or treated. For example, burning some kinds of early material gives a nice dark brown. Thus burnt umber
arises as a pigment and as a name for the associated color. Transparent varnish pigments have included ground up jewels,
if some writers are to be believed, ground colored class, and an important class of pigments called lakes. Lakes are formed
when a dye is captured in precipitated crystals. The crystals both refract and color the light hitting them, spraying colored
light into and out of the varnish in a complex manner.
An elegant application method offering great control is referred to as “glazing” in the violin world. Essentially glazing is the
application of medium and transparent color over a dried coating to impart a color. Because there is no mixture of the two
layers, the optical effect is quite different from that of a dyed uniformly colored coating. Think of laying a sheet of colored
transparent plastic over another. Small amounts of opaque pigment tone down the underlying color and add an appearance
of solidity to a surface. Glazing with transparent colors offers great control of the color through manipulation with brush or by
hand. Subtle gradations in color can be achieved. Glazed finishes can be quite complex and rather interesting.
We use pigments from a variety of makers. For The Tennessee Fiddle™ and The Appalachian™, we use a variety of
madder lakes and transparent oxide colors, along with earth colors for toning. The Rose™ uses combinations of fine
Kremer pigments including Gubbio red, Cinquasia brown gold and Cinquasia red gold, truly beautiful pigments. The raw
pigment or tube color is placed on a textured marble slab. Linseed oil or other glazing medium is poured onto the pigment.
Then a muller — a flat-bottomed piece of glass shaped like an upside down mushroom — is worked to disperse and blend
the color. Usually small amounts of complementary or supplementary colors are used to adjust the tone.
The glaze is applied by brush and hand, wiped to a near-uniform thickness, then smoothed onto the surface with fingers and
palm. Careful use of the hand gives great control, allowing uniform color or graded shading. Finally the glaze is partially
removed to highlight the violin. Overlying coats of varnish seal in the glaze. Generally glaze coats are separated by layers
of varnish. The Tennessee Fiddle™ has only two glaze coats. The Rose™ has at least four, and may have more if
additional color will benefit the look. Each violin ends up with a unique color mix and is truly a work of art.
Preface
One of the indicators of the quality of a new violin is the kind and quality of finish used. Old violins, which I take to be before
the initiation of widespread mass production in the late 18th C, were universally varnished with oil-based varnish of some
type. The exact type and the treatment underneath the varnish is of great and entertaining debate. Regardless, two salient
points rise from the chaos. First, all but a few old violins bear almost no original varnish, instead carrying numerous
overcoats of all kinds of gook. Even relatively new violins may bear many layers. For example, a violin restored here had
polyurethane on top, then some kind of alcohol-soluble varnish in at least 2 different layers, and finally insoluble dark varnish
of some kind, probably an iron-stained oil varnish. Thus the finish seen on both modern (19th C and more recent) violins
and old violins is often not original. Second, most old violins were polished and polished and polished over the years,
making a high gloss. New violins tend to imitate this high gloss. The few old violins available in very nice condition with parts
of the original surface preserved (we’ve seen a few of these) show substantial texture. The old Cremonese varnishes were
quite soft, wore fairly rapidly, are now vanishingly thin, and exhibited quite remarkable texture of the varnish and the wood.
Brush hairs, bugs, and other fine debris is not at all uncommon. The varnish appears to have settled onto the wood in a fine
layer following leveling. This suggests an extended curing time, where the varnish is leveled after its initial drying, but
continued to polymerize and diminish in volume over time, settling onto the wood surface to reveal texture. Standards of the
time did not require uniform coloration or a gloss polish. Violins tended to be appreciated as objects of wood for use, rather
than as mummified relics preserved in thick layers of hard shiny glop.
Today’s players tend to ask for authenticity but expect shiny. This is a contradiction. Young players and pop performers
have use for easily cleaned, durable, shiny coatings. Other players might consider more authentic thin varnishes exhibiting
texture. Thin coatings let the violin work better as a musical instrument. Coatings wear. No big deal. Regular touchup is
much better than mummification.
Today’s players also seek to play vintage or vintage looking instruments, even though all the vintage violins started as new
violins. The concept of what a vintage instrument looks like tends to follow the fast antiqued look of the late 19th C rather
than an understanding of what real 18th C instruments look like at this time. Regardless, modern makers often cater to the
desire for old looking instruments through shading, aging, or other antiquing including dings and fake cracks.
Our Ground Coat
One of the keys to a violin’s sound and the durability of its coatings is the treatment of the wood surface prior to varnishing.
This ground coat is more likely of greater importance to sound than the varnish itself and is the subject of great debate. Old
coatings appear to have included mineral preparations of varying kinds, thinned varnish, and organic glues and gums. We
typically use a traditional ground composed of gum arabic, honey, and egg white called “vernice bianca.” This first wood
treatment forms a strong layer right at the surface and prevents varnish from soaking into the wood. This ground coat
seems to give a positive acoustic effect as well.
Our Varnish
A varnish is a liquid that dries to a transparent film over a solid surface. A bewildering range of substances have been used
as varnishes. We use oil varnish. Natural tree resins are fused and then dissolved into hot linseed oil, forming a new
composition. Additives may modify the characteristics and brushing solvents such as turpentine or kerosine are added. The
varnish dries through oxidation and polymerization. These finishes do not generally do not dissolve in turpentine, although
modern paint-removal solvents seem to happily destroy fine old finishes. We use a softener in our oil varnish to keep it from
becoming brittle. This softener tends to continue the polymerization and thinning of the varnish for a period of weeks or
months after varnishing, letting the varnish sink onto the surface of the wood, revealing its intricate texture.
Equally as important as the varnish is the surface preparation and the application technique. We start with a very nicely
leveled ground surface. The varnish is heated in a double boiler and a brushing medium is added only if absolutely
required. The hot varnish spreads well, but quickly sets up. By the time four or five coats are on, the surface looks deep
and thick. The surface merely requires light buffing with oil and fine Tripoli compound. We avoid extensive sanding and
leveling of thick, hard varnishes.
Coloring
Each kind of color in a varnish works by absorbing, reflecting, or refracting light. Dyes selectively absorb color from light
passing through the medium. Earthy pigments absorb all light but that of the color they exhibit. Transparent particles may
both refract and selectively absorb light. Pigments are particulates, allowing light to pass between the particles.
Light does lots of complex things. Some is reflected directly from the varnish surface. Some passes through the varnish
layers, each layer or level of the varnish reflecting some light back to the surface. These internal reflections can give quite
striking effects. Some hits pigment particles and part of the spectrum is reflected. Some will actually reach the ground and
the wood. Where the ground is transparent on the wood – which takes place when the refractive index of the lowest varnish
or ground layer matches that of the wood – light enters the wood, is complexly reflected, and passes back up into the
varnish. Complexly layered varnishes over transparent grounds and colored with a variety of pigments, including transparent
refractive pigments, seem to give the most interesting colors.
Pigments used in violin varnishing are the same as used for artist’s colors. Many pigments are earth materials ground up
and used direct or treated. For example, burning some kinds of early material gives a nice dark brown. Thus burnt umber
arises as a pigment and as a name for the associated color. Transparent varnish pigments have included ground up jewels,
if some writers are to be believed, ground colored class, and an important class of pigments called lakes. Lakes are formed
when a dye is captured in precipitated crystals. The crystals both refract and color the light hitting them, spraying colored
light into and out of the varnish in a complex manner.
An elegant application method offering great control is referred to as “glazing” in the violin world. Essentially glazing is the
application of medium and transparent color over a dried coating to impart a color. Because there is no mixture of the two
layers, the optical effect is quite different from that of a dyed uniformly colored coating. Think of laying a sheet of colored
transparent plastic over another. Small amounts of opaque pigment tone down the underlying color and add an appearance
of solidity to a surface. Glazing with transparent colors offers great control of the color through manipulation with brush or by
hand. Subtle gradations in color can be achieved. Glazed finishes can be quite complex and rather interesting.
We use pigments from a variety of makers. For The Tennessee Fiddle™ and The Appalachian™, we use a variety of
madder lakes and transparent oxide colors, along with earth colors for toning. The Rose™ uses combinations of fine
Kremer pigments including Gubbio red, Cinquasia brown gold and Cinquasia red gold, truly beautiful pigments. The raw
pigment or tube color is placed on a textured marble slab. Linseed oil or other glazing medium is poured onto the pigment.
Then a muller — a flat-bottomed piece of glass shaped like an upside down mushroom — is worked to disperse and blend
the color. Usually small amounts of complementary or supplementary colors are used to adjust the tone.
The glaze is applied by brush and hand, wiped to a near-uniform thickness, then smoothed onto the surface with fingers and
palm. Careful use of the hand gives great control, allowing uniform color or graded shading. Finally the glaze is partially
removed to highlight the violin. Overlying coats of varnish seal in the glaze. Generally glaze coats are separated by layers
of varnish. The Tennessee Fiddle™ has only two glaze coats. The Rose™ has at least four, and may have more if
additional color will benefit the look. Each violin ends up with a unique color mix and is truly a work of art.
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