I've had a chance now to get pretty deep into the book in question, between rehearsals and performances.
While the bulk of this thread is anecdotal, the information in Traeger's book is not. We must be careful to distinguish thoughtful hypotheses, or logical speculation if you prefer, from hard scientific data. Hard science requires that you throw out any idea that doesn't fit repeatable observations. For those of you with a background in science what I'm referring to is the difference between Aristotle and Galileo. Aristotle reasoned. Galileo tested. In many cases Galileo caused accepted Aristotelean ideas to be thrown out because it could be repeatably illustrated in practice that they were just plain wrong.
As regards the soundpost, some careful experimental observation has been done. Quite a bit of it by guys like Nick and Arnold. They measure with experience, their ears, and practice. Whether or not they want to admit it, they are doing (albeit undocumented) practical science. Also quite a bit of the same has been done by Traeger and Hutchins, who took it a step further and use finer objective measuring tools, and known physical relationships. At the risk of being chirping little birds among eagles, many of us have indulged in some not so well-reasoned as well as some perhaps well-reasoned speculation. What is important to note about the difference of approach is that Traeger came to his luthiery as an engineer first. That brings with it a conceptual understanding of what hard science has to offer that music and practical luthier craft do not always. It is necessary that Traeger puts his craft into a scientific context. He is no more a tinkerer than Charles Goodyear, or Nicholas Copernicus.
I will not list my own credentials as a "scientist", except to say that my among my teachers were men of the Manhattan Project and the inventor of Teflon, and the rest were not unlike them. Still, Kodachrome was invented by a pianist and a violinist, not a chemist or optical physicist. But you have to be color blind and tone deaf not to see the obvious link between wave physics, materials science, and luthiery. With all due respect to the variation of natural materials, wood has been subjected to scientific analysis quite carefully. By species, annual growth ring count, specific gravity, and many other parameters, it is as responsive to scientific investigation as anything else if one employs the scientific method carefully. As to consistency, Hauser built most of his guitar tops all from the same tree. While predictability was not "certain" it was far more likely.
Often in Traeger's book he refers to one or another "German scientific paper..." Is it any wonder that the bulk of the best made musical instruments for many years have come from that country? Do we really believe german luthiers dismiss these findings as "bubber-meiser"? If we choose to disregard the relationships Traeger has brought to light, it still would not surprise me to see mode matching processes as a standard part of factory musical instrument manufacture in China, Germany, Romania, or even Indiana. As far as soundpost impedance goes, it appears that the Kay company may have known something about it for many years. It is typical of companies to obscure "proprietary" scientific practices. We credit Gibson with humbucking pick-ups (and they have the patent), but the first side by side single coils that "reduced noise" were used on the Precision Bass made by Leo Fender. Fender never said a word about it. They just put them on there that way. They explained it as a "tone" thing. Hmmm. And Fender was neither luthier nor musician, he was well, go figure.....
In preparation for my own entry into bass luthiery, the first "make a bass" book I read was by Harry S. Wake, an amateur cellist, who
after retiring from engineering, made over 100 instruments of the violin family and founded the Southern California Association of Violin Makers. The second series of books that I am still reading were written by Henry A. Strobel, a
successful electronics engineer, among other things. The plans for the first bass I plan to build were drawn by one George Borun, who was among other things
a chemical engineer, whose basses are played in major symphony orchestras.
Is there a pattern of repeatable observations in modern American violin family luthiery beginning to finally emerge?
