Bonmusica shoulder rest for violin. The sheathed metal bar is bent by hand into the shape of your own body; the upturned hook reaches over the shoulder.
- Height and tilt adjustable at the feet
- The Bonmusica is the choice for players who want a particularly secure hold in shifts. The shoulder hook keeps it in place.
- Players who value plenty of freedom at the shoulder will find a better partner in a rest without a shoulder hook, such as the KUN Original.
Technical data
| Instrument | violin |
| Model | Bonmusica |
| Bar | sheathed metal, shapeable |
Features
- For violin
- Sheathed metal bar, shapeable by hand
- Upturned hook over the shoulder
In practice
- As with all shapeable rests: out of the box it is not yet shaped to your body. You bend it to shape over days in small steps.
- Height first: when you place the instrument and lower your chin, the spine should stay straight and the head should not tilt. Better to start too low and raise it step by step.
- Then the tilt, and set each foot separately. The shoulder slopes away from the neck towards the arm; if one side sits in the air, only an edge is bearing.
- Chin rest and shoulder rest work together. With a long neck a higher chin rest can take over part of the height, so the shoulder rest need not be wound up to its limit.
- Rubber feet are wearing parts. Replaced in good time, they keep the rest secure on the rib and protect the varnish.
Versions
- 4/4, ZSR-B501
- 3/4, ZSR-B502
- 1/2, ZSR-B503
- 1/4, ZSR-B504
- 1/8, ZSR-B505
- 1/16, ZSR-B506
Sound and physics
The violin is clamped between shoulder and chin and held almost entirely by this clamping; the left hand gives only slight support. The shoulder rest forms the lower abutment of this clamp on the shoulder.
By lifting the vibrating back away from the body, the rest keeps its radiation backwards and downwards free of damping by the body. Its feet grip the edge of the lower bout; each of these small points of contact acts on the vibration of the back only locally (damping, that is, drawing energy from the vibration), and the more strongly the back vibrates at exactly that spot, the greater the effect.
At the edge the top and back overhang the ribs by around 3 mm, and the back is worked thicker there, around 3.3 mm, than in the adjoining area at 2.5 to 2.8 mm. The width of the rest is governed by the width of the lower bout, and on a 4/4 violin also by a rib height of 30 mm.
The Bonmusica's bar is a sheathed metal frame that can be shaped by hand to your own shoulder and collarbone. The contact surface thus follows the body, and the rest forms the lower abutment of the clamp between shoulder and chin.
For the violin there are six sizes from 4/4 to 1/16 (ZSR-B501 to ZSR-B506).
When another model suits you better
Players who prefer to play without a shoulder rest and want more hold at the chin are better served by a taller chin rest, on the 4/4 violin for example the Morawetz High with its 25 mm cup height.
Players who prefer a rest with a fixed shape and adjustable feet are in good company with the Kun Original.
Frequently asked questions
Does a shoulder rest change the sound of the violin?
The rest lifts the vibrating back away from the body and touches the instrument only with its feet at the edge of the lower bout. Each of these points of contact has a local damping effect, the stronger the more the back vibrates at exactly that spot.
How wide does a shoulder rest for a 3/4 violin need to be?
The lower bout of a 3/4 violin is around 195 mm wide. The rest is set so that both feet grip the rib securely at the edge of the lower bout.
