A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Ribs

RIBS (Fr. Éclisses; Germ. Zarge). The sides of stringed instruments of the violin type, connecting the back and the belly. They consist of six (sometimes only five) pieces of maple, and should be of the same texture as the back, and if possible cut out of the same piece. After being carefully planed to the right thickness, they are bent to the required shape, and then glued together on the mould by means of the corner and top and bottom blocks, the angles being feather-edged. The back, the linings and the belly are then added, and the body of the violin is then complete. The ribs ought to be slightly increased in depth at the broader end of the instrument, but many makers have neglected this rule. The flatter the model, the deeper the ribs require to be; hence the viol tribe, having perfectly flat backs and bellies of slight elevation, are very deep in the ribs. The oldest violins were often very deep in the ribs, but many of them have been since cut down. Carlo Bergonzi and his contemporaries had a fashion of making shallow ribs, and often cut down the ribs of older instruments, thereby injuring their tone beyond remedy. Instruments made of ill-chosen and unseasoned wood will crack and decay in the ribs sooner than in any other part: but in the best instruments the ribs will generally outlast both belly and back. Some old makers were in the habit of glueing a strip of linen inside the ribs.

[ E. J. P. ]