Carving the neck on a viola da gamba

One of the last jobs to be tackled in the process of making the Baroque instrument

The first and most sustained contact a player has with a bowed stringed instrument is through the neck. It is true to say that the ergonomics of the neck play a major part in comfort and playability and, arguably, the decision to ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ an instrument can be subconsciously made from this first contact.

The physical development of musical instruments has shadowed that of musical composition and performance, and the shaping and angle of the neck have duly adapted to suit changing technical requirements. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, on both the violin and the viola da gamba, necks became thinner and less full in crosssection. Between 1600 and 1700 the shape of the gamba neck changed from a full, rounded and relatively thick shape to a slim, flat shape with an ‘almond’ cross-section. In 80 years it went from the fullness of John Rose to the slender shapes of Michel Collichon, a reflection of the shifting musical geography from the consort to the solo virtuoso player.

The neck is nailed on to the soundbox

1 By the time I get round to shaping the neck, the rest of the instrument has been fully assembled. I have nailed on the neck before closing the soundbox, and added the fingerboard last of all. The fingerboard is permanently attached at this stage, and I’ll be completing all the finishing, varnishing etc. with it in place. Now I can pare back the neck overlap so it is level with the fingerboard. (I use the fingerboard as a guide on which to rest the paring gouge for the final levelling cuts.) At the nut, I cut the concave curve with an appropriate gouge and continue through, following the line marking the end of the pegbox.

2 I mark the parameters for the neck profile, with the thickness drawn on both sides of the neck and a straight line drawn parallel to the joint. I will determine the final thickness of the neck as the work progresses, but this line provides a reasonable starting point.

Next, on the back of the instrument I draw a horizontal line from the extreme tip of the heel and bring it laterally to the sides of the neck (a). I use the neck template to create a profile curve connecting with the straight line. I make the curve at the pegbox end using the template in the same manner (b).

A curve is made at the pegbox end

Ready to pare away the excess wood

3 I bevel the edge to the marked profile line and pare away the excess wood in lateral strokes, working from both sides of the neck. As I progress I consider the overall combined thickness of the neck and fingerboard, and finalise any adjustments. I work the wood with progressively fine cutting tools until the profile is completed, while ensuring that the central area between the curves at the heel and pegbox is flat. This is now the final profile and will serve, with the veneer/fingerboard joint, as the main parameter for the finished shape of the neck.

Shaping the sides

4 When it comes to the shaping of the sides of t he neck, I begin at the heel, working in fluid upward strokes from the marked shape on the back until almost touching the neck/veneer joint on the fingerboard. I continue the curve of the upper bout into the neck at the heel. This continuation of the upper bout curve is more pronounced nearer the heel. At the soundboard it tends to flatten out and is less determined by, or continuous from, the upper bout curve. I will blend the visible ‘step’ on the fingerboard later in the process.

5 I then form the ‘leading edge’, starting a gain from the heel and using the angled lines (drawn on the back) as a guide, gouging first one side and then the other laterally. Again the gouge lines remain slightly shy of meeting at the point. The outer lines produce what could be described as ‘buttress’ lines which on this particular instrument continue into the fingerboard. In many cases, however, they remain shy of the fingerboard and firmly within the wood of the neck.

The neck takes shape

A gouge is used on either side

6 At the pegbox end, I use a knife to pare away the wood. I then shape the main body of the neck by first bevelling the corners along its length. These initial bevels are then themselves bevelled and so on until I have achieved the required general profile. The bevelled edges blend into the previously shaped heel/pegbox end. At this stage the final neck shape is visible in its ‘roughed-out’ appearance. The buttress is plainly visible on the right of this photo, very obviously entering the wood of the fingerboard.

The thin cross-section of a Collichon viol

7 The surprisingly slim shape is clearly visible in t his photo of the badly worm-eaten neck of a viol by Michel Collichon. The neck itself is only 9mm thick and, when seen in cross-section with the fingerboard in place, produces the distinct ‘almond’ shape mentioned in the introduction.

Shaping the fingerboard

8 The shape of the neck on a gamba is inextricably linked to that of the fingerboard and the two are worked simultaneously. The shaping of the neck at the heel, as already seen, continues upwards and the sides of the fingerboard must be reconciled at that meeting point. Starting from the end of the fingerboard, I chisel the sides at an increasing angle to the point where the heel shape enters the fingerboard, thus removing the ‘step’ produced in photo 4. The angle produced is visible when the fingerboard is viewed end-on and is typical of French and English makers of this period. The neck can now be finished using scrapers and abrasive materials.

9 Finally I cut a rather robust bevel on the side of the neck from the edge of the soundboard upwards into the fingerboard. I continue this bevel along the length of the underside of the fingerboard where it overhangs the soundboard. This bevelled line provides the ‘visible’ final shape of the profile and can give an impression of fragility or slimness to the fingerboard.

A bevelled edge gives a slim impression

10 The upper and lower curves meet at the point w here the veneer joins the finished neck (10a). Thus the shaping of the neck continues quite deeply into the fingerboard, particularly towards the heel. The soft shaping of the neck and the angular shaping of the heel are reconciled at the buttresses formed where the curve of the upper bouts meets the angle of heel (seen on the right of the photo). These buttresses form a happy interface between the neck and the upper fingerboard and are recognisable in the work of different makers. In some cases this buttress is more broadly shaped to allow for the addition of relief carving or inlay (10b).

The finished neck