AV Honěk high quality wood

Secret of perfect sound

High quality wood ages for decades
AV Honěk high quality wood
Secret of perfect sound
High quality wood ages for decades
A. V. Honěk
Picture by Prokop Soucek, 2000

Everything starts on the drawing board. Alois Honěk has dedicated decades to the study of original sources and practical experimentation. He began researching the secrets of the perfect instrument at the age of fifteen, when he was asked to translate an old Latin script. The confusion of numbers and letters did not make much sense to anyone at the time, so he was allowed to make his own copy. Only after decades of study and construction of many tools did he come to his own model - the ideal shape of the instrument. The foundations of this theory were found in a publication by Antonio Bagatella from 1786.

The size of the violin is derived from the Czech Elbow a medieval measure, which is still located at the New Town Hall in Prague
The size of the violin is derived from the Czech Elbow a medieval measure, which is still located at the New Town Hall in Prague
The size of the violin is derived from the Czech Elbow a medieval measure, which is still located at the New Town Hall in Prague
The size of the violin is derived from the Czech Elbow a medieval measure, which is still located at the New Town Hall in Prague

An important finding of the research is the similarity of the size of the violin 59.14 cm with the size of the so-called Czech Elbow, an old Czech length unit.

Geometrický nákres
Thanks to the rediscovery of the already forgotten secret of the design, violins, violas, cellos and double basses reach such an admired quality.

It is the consistent and excellent quality that distinguishes AVH instruments from today's competitors. However, structurally accurate instrument production is not a complete novelty. Similarly precise templates can be seen in the Stradivari Museum in Cremona. The lower plates are made of maple wood originating in Slovakia and Bosnia. The spruce for the top plate comes from Šumava and its quality is equal to the alpine spruce used by the Cremon masters. Used wood first ages for more than a quarter of a century.