scordatura

It has a certificate of authenticity.

I am curious of the going price(s) or range of Cappa violins. Let's assume it is in good condition and no major issues (original scroll, etc.) It is not an early one with the ribs set into the back. Circa 1680-1690. It has been authenticated by an appraisal from a prominent shop.

My personal approach is to bring the strings down about a whole step for long term storage. Watch gains in humidity because the pegs will swell and become stuck.

Very nice cello. Can we see the front?

When I took his class he said to put orange shellac French polish on necks. Is that the secret formula?

I saw Josef Gingold do that. He detuned his violin randomly and then demonstrated playing it in tune. This was when he was being videotaped some years ago at Indiana. That part of it did not survive the editing. You can find some of the recordings of that session on YouTube.

This is my feeling. The repair in itself is not difficult. I have done it before on lesser bows with a little CA for security. It seems like it is a matter of opinion.

I have a bow that the screw has come out of the button (screw end). I know that it is customary to put burrs on the tang. Does anybody use some type of glue in addition to burrs when doing this repair? If so what type? I am wary of making it too permanent.

What are your favorite Viola string choices? One of the common choices used to be Jargar A and D and Dominant G and C. Curious about other setups.

What are your favorite Viola string choices? One of the common choices used to be Jargar A and Dominant D G and C. Curious about other setups.

Pre varnish sound impressions?

I have started using an ear plug in my left ear. The problem is that in an ensemble I feel that I should be hearing more from my left ear. The good thing other than perhaps preserving my hearing is hearing less direct sound. Keep in mind that according to the inverse square law, it can be shown that for each doubling of distance from a point source, the sound pressure level decreases by approximately 6 dB. I would add to the above comments to avoid sitting next to a piccolo. It is like having a knitting needle stuck in your ear drum.

I knew that bringing up commission rates might ruffle some feathers. Can't hurt to ask. I'm sure I'm not the only one to think about this.

What do you think is a good commission rate? One would think that for more expensive instruments and bows, that the 20% rate would go down a bit. What about the 50-100k range?

Thanks for that. I did not know about the NYC office.

I will say that if I wanted someone to write a certificate for an important bow, Isaac Salchow would be one of the few in the US that I would seek out. I noticed that he wrote a certificate for the Tourte that is for sale at Tarisio on Wednesday (yesterday). Paul Childs also recently wrote a certificate for the same bow.

Classic French maker. Pricey. I’m not publicly going more than that. Sorry.

Of course it is international. But walk in customers creates a local (ish) context. What percentage of your bow sales are international vs when someone is in town? I’m sure that depends on the value of the item. The bigger the price tag the smaller number of people that can purchase it. Therefore travel and or shipping is probably necessary once you have worked your way through local clients. That is not to say Stefan and Julian don’t visit other localities if the circumstances dictate. Another factor is I like the ability to physically transport when possible.

Thinking of selling a fine French bow in New York city. Opinions on which shop to choose? Pm if you want to be stealthy. Isaac Salchow and Yung Chin are bow specialists. Salchow only works three days a week from 10 to 4, which seems pretty limited for a full time business.

Hi Mike. Was your paper ever published by the VSA?

Yeah. The art of label making is a matter of personal taste. Like the art of antiquing an instrument. Could be some photo contrast manipulation. Care to display your labels?

These labels look fantastic. Wonder where he gets his paper? https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg7S4RjowDm/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

That viola is very impressive.

Yes.