Construction and modal analysis of op. 4

Construction and f-hole positions according to the Cremonese School

On many historical celli, the corner joints lie on a circle around the centre (Z) of the axis of symmetry.  The inner distance between the upper f-hole eyes should be between 90-92 mm, but in any case should be the width of the bridge feet. The notches lie on a line through the intersections of two circles, the centres of which are at the top and bottom edges of the f-holes. The centre line of the notches is 400 mm from the top edge. The top edges of the lower f-hole eyes should lie below a line through the lower corner junctions (Hargrave, 1987; King, 2004; Lardon, 2020).

Modal analysis of the top and back (tap-tones recorded with Audacity© 2.4.2)

References

Hargrave R. Antonio Stradivari „Servais“ 1701. 1987 https://www.roger-hargrave.de/PDF/Artikel/Strad/Artikel_1987_12_Stradivari_Antonio_Servais_PDF.pdf

King AT. The Cremonese system for positioning the f-holes. 2004 https://www.fiddleheadstrings.com/microsoft%20word%20-%20for%20the%20strad%20part%201%208%20sept.pdf

Lardon M.  Cello 1673 von Jakob Stainer. 2020 https://pedrazzini-lardon.ch/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Stainer-Website-PDF-2604.pdf

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01.2026