Made in Edinburgh by Grant O’Brien in 1981
Details about
the case interior
Because the original of this
instrument in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan was a mother and child virginal,
the whole of the interior of the instrument is accessible for measurement: the part on the left in this photograph is
above the space normally occupied by the child instrument and can be accessed
simply by removing the child virginal. The section to the right on this photograph is accessible by
removing the keyboard. Hence it was
possible to measure and draw the position and dimensions of all of the internal
parts of the instrument.
The inactive part of the
soundboard at the top left is barred with two small soundbars. The large oak bar on the left, lap-jointed
at its lower left-hand end, is the wrestplank into which the tuning pins are placed
on its other surface. The edge of the
wrestplank nearer the player and the soundbar and the extension of the
nameboard brace more-or-less define the vibrating area of the soundboard around
the single sounding bridge.
On the right-hand side between
the keywell braces the lower jack guide and the hitchpin plank can be
seen. The lower jack guide is made of a
thin piece of soundboard wood covered on its top surface with soft-tanned
sheepskin and on its lower surface with parchment. The holes in the soundboard wood are undercut so that the jacks
touch only the soft sheepskin, and the parchment reinforces the whole
structure. The hitchplank above this is
made of cherry and serves both as a support and base for the hitchpins and also
as a foundation for the nut over which the strings pass on their way to the
hitchpins. The inactive soundboard area
seen
below the lower jack guide in the photograph above is stiffened with three soundbars. On the lower right-hand side the bottom
surface of the toolbox is visible.
The rose in the centre is held in place with glue on its upper surface and then secured and reinforced underneath with four strips of linen tape.
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