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OT Stradivarius

Ultradog MN

Ultradog MN

Well-known Member
Location
Twin Cities
My wife works in a violin shop where they sell, buy, rent and repair stringed instruments. Mostly violins but also cellos, basses and violas.
They have a couple of very good luthiers (person who fixes stringed instruments) there who are known regionally - if not nationally - for their fine work.
So on Wednesday she comes home all aflutter because they had had a Stradivarius in the shop.
A tiny recurring crack had to have a new layer of wax applied to keep it from growing.
It is owned by some investor and played by a professor at the U of M.
It is an early one - pre 1700 so not as valuable as some of the later ones. But still worth about $1 million plus.
I guess it would be like someone bringing their ULDX into a shop somewhere for a set of points and plugs.
I asked her if they used JB Weld on the crack but she just rolled her eyes at me.
Stradivarius
 
So why does a Stradivarius sound like a Stradivarius? The last I heard it was because of the climate that was around when the wood was growing that was made into the Stradivarius. Or is the Stradivarius more hype than anything else?
 
Makes one nervous just to touch something that valuble, doesn't it?

Years ago someone brought in an old muzzleloader that had a charge of powder and ball in it and wanted it unloaded and cleaned. Then the gent mentioned it was manufactured by a well known Revolutionary War era gunsmith and was quite valuble. Yikes! A little research backed up his claim. Employed the help of a close friend who has some knowlegde about guns of the era and we did get it safely unloaded without putting any blemishes on the museum piece. Turns out the thing had TWO charges of powder and ball stuffed down the barrel. It was very stessful handling such a valuble piece.
 
That would indicate a previous "climate change" lol. The story I heard was that the wood was kept submerged in water for years. I heard it when some people were pulling logs off the bottom of Lake Superior that had sunk over 100 years ago when they still floated the logs to market. Apparently some sank and stayed on the bottom. They were preserved because of the cold water temps of the lake.
 
When I was 12 years old, my grandfather gave me a violin that he'd purchased in St. Louis in the late 1880's.

There's a tag inside that says "Antonio Stradivarius, Anno 1720".

Expert opinions are that it's a copy of the real thing. If it did happen to be the real thing, 1720 was after Stradivarius' peak. Right now the sound post is loose and rolling around inside. I should have the sound post reset and pursue it's value again.
 
The difference between a violin and a fiddle.

At an auction a violin is being sold.

If you are the buyer, its a fiddle.
 
We have a number of antique clocks. About ten years ago, my wife took one to a fellow who works on clocks part time to have it cleaned and tuned.

He called a couple of hours later and asked if we knew what that clock was worth. A price guide back then showed it at $30,000. The upshot was, the guy didn't even want to keep it in his house overnight.
 
UD- I would make a trip in to the shop just to be able to it. No need to touch it. Just to see it.
 
Actually, the difference between a fiddle and a violin is the height of the bridge. The fiddle has a lower bridge to allow faster finger movement. Less far to depress allowing faster movement such as bluegrass.
 

Pretty cool. I saw one in Evansville backstage a couple years ago. Still, only worth what someone will pay for it. If you think about it, every hand made dulcimer and accordion are just as rare... just the collectors of such have different pocketbooks. :)

Kind of like thoroughbreds. Quarter horses are usually "better" horses... but the collectors of each have different pocketbooks.
 
I like what Traditional Farmer said . You give that Stratavarious to Tex Logan and he'll show 'em how to play it right.
 
(quoted from post at 03:53:11 10/09/14) My wife works in a violin shop where they sell, buy, rent and repair stringed instruments. Mostly violins but also cellos, basses and violas.
They have a couple of very good luthiers (person who fixes stringed instruments) there who are known regionally - if not nationally - for their fine work.
So on Wednesday she comes home all aflutter because they had had a Stradivarius in the shop.
A tiny recurring crack had to have a new layer of wax applied to keep it from growing.
It is owned by some investor and played by a professor at the U of M.
It is an early one - pre 1700 so not as valuable as some of the later ones. But still worth about $1 million plus.
I guess it would be like someone bringing their ULDX into a shop somewhere for a set of points and plugs.
I asked her if they used JB Weld on the crack but she just rolled her eyes at me.
Stradivarius
Click to expand...

tell the truth...if not your wife, then somebody in that shop played it for a second.............I woulda.

nevermind...I know you can't answer in a public forum.
a once in several lifetimes chance only comes around once.
 
Oh oh . I don't know that name but I will go on youtube and see if I can watch him play. Love finding out about new music. Thanks
 
Edwin Rousch that wrote 'Orange Blossom Special' could show those old violiners how to fiddle. They said that Eddwin was a few bricks shy of a load, but he could have the violin smoking.
Doug Kewshaw would have been a good partner to Mr. Stradivarius, their style is similar.
 
I don't think bridge height indicates anything. It does however riase the strings making it harder to play and changes the sound of the strings to a certain extent. There is no difference. Exactly the same instrument. The only thing is wether you play country/western/bluegrass or if you play orchastra. Really good violinists can move thier fingers every bit as fast as a bluegrass player or even faster.
 
Highly likely a copy. From the 1880's though, it probly really is a higher quality instrument than what you can exspect to buy new in todays world. That alone makes it hold some value.
 
Glad she got to experience that. As a fiddle player myself I have never seen a real strad. Nor probly ever will. I did happen to run across someone who had a fiddle/violin that was made in 1812. It had been signed by about 10 or 15 big name people. Like Bill Monroe, Allison Crouse, Charlie Danniels, Mark O'Conner, and so on. All of whom not only signed it, they all played a song on it at the time of the signing. I was fortunate enough to be allowed to play a couple songs on it and is something I will remember for the rest of my life. The owner by the way had personally gotten all the audigrafs and demanded that they play it.
 
got a Strad I'd like to sell. One of the copies made about 130 yrs ago. Looks like I'm never gonna get around to learning to play it.
 
I play and am self taught. Its not as hard as most people make it out to be. You do need to have some cordination and an ear for music. Anyone can play, but those two things are likely to determine what skill level you reach. All it takes is some time regularly devoted to it, and I would advise some lessons. I wish I would of taken a few. Would of helped me learn faster, and maybe wouldn't of picked up some bad habits. If you have an intrest to play, I encourage you to take the time.
 
Don't know if I would call them fakes. I think reproduction copies would be better terminology. There are only so many real ones out there. Most all of which it is known where they are at. Finding a long lost one is basicly impossible because of most of them being accounted for. Everybody and their dog has made reproductions since that era. About all of them have the Antonious Stradivarius on the label inside. The bigger problem is people seeing the label of a reproduction and instantly thinking it is an authentic one because they know nothing about violins.
 
That's pretty neat. I remember when I was in HS there was a guy that came to our school that was supposed to have a Strad. I believe his name was Rubinov? He played pretty well but not my style of music. My Grandad was a fiddle player and would have given Charlie Daniels a run for his money. The 8th of January was his favorite. He collected and repaired fiddles. He made a couple of attempts at making fiddles but never got the sound he was looking for.

I still have most of his collection:


 
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