Deliberately kept small and shaped to the outer arching of the 4/4 violin. Available in unstained ebony, boxwood and rosewood; choose the wood in the variant.
- A shape in the old Markneukirchen tradition
- Screws and barrels in metal
- Barrels up to 27 mm for the 4/4 violin
Technical data
| Model | Jacob |
| Material | Unstained ebony, boxwood or rosewood |
| Fittings | Screws and barrels in metal |
| Instrument | Violin |
| Item number | ZK-292E-NAT |
Features
- Contact points lined with Portuguese cork
- Height means the distance between the top and the plate. It depends on neck length and shoulder rest: those who set the instrument high get by with a flat chin rest, those who carry it lower need more height
- Higher models are usually heavier. In our experience a heavier chin rest makes the sound a little warmer and darker; a light one leaves it more open
- The ebony we use is not subject to CITES requirements
Sound and physics
The chin rest sits on the lower bout of the violin and is clamped to the rib with a metal bracket. Its clamp grips over or beside the bottom block, the wooden block inside the body that holds the end pin and reinforces the rib at this point.
The resting chin creates a hold between shoulder and head, and the violin is carried almost entirely by this hold; the left hand supports it only slightly.
Acoustically, the chin rest adds a mass with its own damping to the edge of the body through a few contact points. It therefore mainly slows those natural vibrations of the body that move strongly at these contact points, and leaves free those that have a node (a point at rest) there.
The violin chin rests we have weighed come to between around 41 g and 80 g including screws, depending on model, wood and fittings. With closed screws the barrel sets the height above the rib; violin barrels come in 25, 27 and 29 mm, and most of our violin models take barrels up to 27 mm. With the Hill fitting, by contrast, the feet are firmly joined to the chin rest.
The Jacob is shaped to the outer arching of the 4/4 violin and deliberately kept small, in the old Markneukirchen tradition. It is 11.5 cm long and 4.6 cm wide. Its small build goes with short 25 mm barrels.
It fits with tailpieces of the usual size; with tailpieces of 113 to 115 mm, or Hill tailpieces with a higher projection, space becomes tight. The Jacob in unstained ebony is traceable back to the origin of the wood and the time of making.
Our experience
Before we recommend a model, our first question is whether the chin prefers to rest beside the tailpiece or centrally over it. Our experience when tightening: a chin rest only needs to sit firmly enough to hold securely, because the rib beside the bottom block is more delicate than the spot directly over the block. If the chin rest touches the tailpiece, we solve it through the angle of the screws or with a slightly longer barrel.
Frequently asked questions
What material belongs at the contact points?
Natural cork without coating, so that the chin rest does not slip and no metal touches the varnish; pressed cork is unsuitable because it crumbles over time.
These texts hold decades of experience and a great deal of heart. They are protected by copyright, C.A. Götz jr. GmbH. Please ask us before any use. Thank you for your appreciation.
