SPRing 2023
A custom cello bridge
David's cello
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This spring an interesting cello set up job came into my workshop. David Goldesgeyme asked me to cut a bridge for his new cello, the second that he had made himself. He intended the cello to have a warm dark tone, for playing chamber music. Therefore he modelled it on a beautiful wide Giuseppe Guarneri Filius Andreae cello.
Because of the wide the layout of the f holes and bassbar and the shape of the arching, ideally we would need a bridge with its feet quite widely spread, wider than most standard available bridge blanks. So the solution was to design a bridge from scratch. 
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Since the cello of its own had already many aspects that would make it sound dark, ie the wide f-hole and bassbar positioning, the arching shape and the one piece willow back, I thought a French bridge which generally produces a dark sound would make the cello potentially too dark to play well, so a Belgian model might be the way to go. Because of the wide leg spread we required, it would probably also acquire some characteristics more belonging to a French bridge, so it would not suddenly make the cello sound bright, which would not be what David was looking for in his cello. It would end up more like a combination. Here is what came out in this process:
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David's cello ready to play. Thank you David, for the photographs.