VIII Working-Out the Thicknesses of the Belly and Back
The thickness of the breast in the back amounts to 4 m/m. at the spot where the sound-post stands and remains the same to a distance of 50 m/m. towards the bottom block, and 60 m/m. towards the upper block, while it decreases to 3 m/m. towards the middle rib. The cheeks must be 1 to 2 m/m. thick. I have assured myself by numberless measurements that Stradivarius often changed the thickness of the back; and has even gone so far as to make it 6 m/m., while the belly which he made from the soundest and most perfect wood, with very evenly disposed grain, measured always exactly 2¹⁄₂ m/m.