Brad Dorsey

See? I told you he wasn’t a bow maker.

I think that’s right. There is a certain appeal to the idea that this wonderful collection would be preserved for the American people. But how many of those people would care? And of those who did care, how many would go to see it? I’m sure I never would have seen it.

I have seen, and had, Eugen Roth bows, too. Was he a real person? Well, it’s pretty hard to prove that someone never existed, but I’m pretty sure he was not a bow maker.

I see straight-on views of the top and back and a side view of the scroll. They seem pretty decent to me. What pictures do you see?

It is a genuine violin, but it is not a genuine Schweitzer. It could play well even though it is not a real Schweitzer, but it is not worth getting it repaired.

The word "firewood" comes to mind.

I was taught to shave all the pegs to their collars in the largest hole of the Dick four-hole shaver for small violins them ream the holes to the desired peg extension. The idea is to start off with the holes a little on the small side, since they will gradually wear bigger.

Joe, I think it’s amazing to have someone here who has a direct connection with Jackson-Guldan. What else can you tell us?

I committed the neophyte mistake of going by the label. This violin has a Jackson-Guldan label in it, identifiable as such by the word "Model" at the top. These labels were also printed “Jackson-Guldan Violin Company, Columbus, Ohio” at the bottom, but this was cut off of some labels, as it was in the label shown above. I always wondered why, and I have figured out why as a result of this thread: They imported some violins from Schonbach and stuck the same labels in them, but with the bottoms cut off due to import labeling regulations, since these violins weren't made in the USA. If you look at the label in the pictures above, you will see that there is an ample margin at the top but no margin at the bottom, and the bottom is cut off out-of-parallel with the script. I have seen so many of these labels in cheap violins that I figured out many years ago that a label that says "Model" at the top is a Jackson-Guldan label. Today I realized that the ones with the bottoms cut off are in imported violins. You've got to get out and do more slumming. Unfortunately, it seems that I see violins this bad too often, so I have developed some niche expertise in them. I remember showing David Bromberg a J-G about 30 years ago, thinking that since it was American-made he might be interested in it. I was astounded when he declared it a J-G after looking at it for about a quarter of a second at arm's length, but now I can do the same. Some people are good at identifying Strads and Del Gesus; I can identify Jackson-Guldans and Medio Finos.

Your question has got me thinking. I’m quite sure that Jackson-Guldan made a lot of violins, because I see many, bearing their labels, that are of a dreadful type that I haven’t seen coming from anywhere else. But I may have made the foolish error of assuming that they made any instrument that bears their label, as this one does. As I said, this one is better that most Jackson-Guldans that I see. So if this one smells of Schonbach to you, it seems likely that J-G sourced some instruments from there. And this would explain something about the labels that I have wondered about. Some labels are printed “Jackson-Guldan Violin Company, Columbus, Ohio” at the bottom, and other labels, like the one in this violin, have had the bottom cut off, which would be because the violins that they inhabit were not made in Ohio.

It's not. This violin was made by the Jackson-Guldan Violin Company of Columbus, Ohio. According to the Wenberg book, it operated from about 1920 to 1960, and in the early 1920s it was producing 36,000 instruments a year. Many of them were distributed by Mongomery Ward and Targ & Dinner. I have seen a lot of these violins. This one looks better than most.

Theodor Kreutzer is not listed in the Henley or Jalovec books, so it is almost certainly a trade name -- not a real maker. "Theodor Kreutzer" violins were offered for sale in a 1929 catalog published by the Grossman Music Company of Cleveland, Ohio. It listed Stainer, Stradivarius and Guarnerius models priced from $35 to $86,

Don't lose the piece. It's much harder to fit, shape and varnish a new piece than it is to reglue the one that fell off. I sold him a bow many years ago. I hope I didn't get scammed.

From the "Glossary of terms" in a Skinner musical instrument auction catalog: "School of XXX: In our judgment [this is] the work of a follower executed in the style of the named maker or area stated." Other people may use the term “school” differently.

Yes. From your pictures, I can see that this is an absolutely typical “Schweitzer” violin. I have seen dozens of them.