Why play an instrument 'in the white'?

This question has been asked of me many times as it is something few makers seem to do. For me it came from when all my violins were made on commission as it gives the player an opportunity for slight adjustments, to the neck or the bass bar for example. However, I quickly realised that listening to a player play the unvarnished instrument also tells me much more. The sound produced at this stage determines whether a varnish should be hard or soft (in simple terms, shellac hard, silicates in the treatment very hard, oils generally soft) or what type of ground it should be over and becomes a way to steer the direction of the instrument and enhance the sound to achieve what is required by the musician. I feel that so many benefits come from this process that now I also have all my stock instruments played ‘in the white’ too. Fortunately I have the expertise of Jonathan Sparey to help with the playing side of things and tomorrow Jonathan is playing a newly completed violin, The Stretton. He played this in the white a while ago and we’ve done quite a few interesting things to it since then, so tomorrow is the day we hear all that we’ve achieved!