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Here we visually check our progress.

(yes violin making wood really is that white in its natural state).

The violin is an acoustical instrument and all parts contribute to the sound. In order to get excellent tone it is necessary to tune the neck and fingerboard acoustically. Here I am using a previously tuned violin for a tap tone reference.

The difference between a violin before and after being accurately acoustically regulated can be as much as: Before: "The sound is rather boring and uninteresting" to... After: "I would pay money to hear that violin being played in concert"

Small amounts of wood are scraped or sanded from various parts of the fingerboard and the neck under surfaces until the tap tones match and are consistant from the nut to the end of the fingerboard on both sides, and the tap tones along the underside of the neck are consistant also. The side tap tone goal is D4 and the under neck tap tone goal is E4, although the important thing is that the tone is the same along each side and matching. (The tailpiece will be tuned to this same frequency....most important for superior playing performance.)