How they made it - what was materials engineering of violin soundboards by Stradivari and Guarneri?

Antonio Stradivari acted like an alchemist.

For the pristine sound, beyond the fine craftsmanship, was the chemicals Antonio Stradivari (1644 -1737) and others used to treat their instruments due to a worm infestation at the time.

To the wood of the masters underwent an aggressive chemical treatment, and this had a direct role in creating the great sound of the Stradivari and the Guarneri.

Renowned violin maker Stradivari and others treated their instruments with various chemicals that produced their unique sound, and several of these chemicals have been identified for the first time, is confirmed by the new research in Texas A&M University.

An international team led by Hwan-Ching Tai, professor of chemistry at National Taiwan University, has published the article in Angewandte Chemie, the leading journal of chemistry in Germany.

The presence of these chemicals points to collaboration between the violin makers and the local drugstores at the time. 

Both Stradivari and as well Giuseppe Guarneri (1686 - 1745) would have wanted to treat their violins to prevent worms from eating away the wood because distroying worm infestations were very widespread at that time.

Researchers findings were verified in a review by the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific organization.

The current findings of the research team show that borax, zinc, copper and alum – along with lime water – were used to treat the wood used in the instruments.

Borax has a long history as a preservative, going back to the ancient Egyptians, who used it in mummification and later as an insecticide.