miles
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Posts posted by miles
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You go, Glenn! High Five!
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Richf, done. I don't think the PM works as of now. The "new topic" doesn't even work on my computer.
Michael, one reason for the seller not to rate you after you promptly pay for the bid is, in my experience, the chance for them to leave retaliating negative feedback. I currently received a negative feedback because of that. I paid the bid within 2 days after the end of the auction at the invoiced amount (bid + S/H). 11 days later emailed the seller, but no response. 35 days later got a response from the seller stating that I owed her $12 for shipping (because she only charged me $6.+). Since she had not shipped the item (e.e 35 days after payment), she would like to know whether I still wanted the item.
I fumed as you can expect. So I immedately left a neg on her. After some arguement from her (including the fact that she never took my payment out from HER paypal account), she left me a negative feedback stating that I failed to follow her shipping instruction. Heck, a buyer needs to follow shipping instruction???? Am I supposed to ship the item? I emailed eBay a few times regarding the seller's asking extra to no avail.
Another feedback related experience: I keep receiving email from a particular seller asking me to leave a feedback to receive a gift by lottery drawing. They also emailed me to inform me who the winners was...
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It is a charming looking violin. Like Johnathan, I also like the purfling (that's the thing, which caught my fancy right away) and also how the grains narrow as they approach the center. To my layman's eyes, the violin looks like it is THAT old. Very nice and I think I will also be taken by it.
Johnathan, how does one tell what kind of strings have been put on the violin?
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Neil,
I don't know about #2 (never had any contact, and I don't like private bidding either). But #3, totally agreed. Jesse is my hero. Please count me in as a support.
#1 IMHO is well put. As Michael Darnton put it, without further evidence we are unable to approve or disapprove the existance of ZSM. Thus, unless we prove that Bill Townsend made up his old master, it is fair to give the benefit of doubt to his case. Having said, labeled belief or opinion are always entitled and refreshing in this case.
Jay - "I said what I thought, apparantly you don't feel anyone has the right to do so, if it contradicts you."
I don't think it is a fair statement. Auctions by premierviolin and Jesse (sorry to put them together, I know they are in different category) are just examples of people who are willing pay far more than $200.00. Thus, your discipline doesn't always apply to other people, not to me at least. My point is I am not the only one and thus my spending money on expensive cello (on eBay it is expensive) shouldn't be viewed as odd. That's all.
Guys, we are adults on a free forum. There are no winners or losers here. I don't think I am a zealot of ZSM or Andrew and I am not religious. And I don't think violinbeginner will think he is one as well although I didn't ask him (so I might be wrong in his case). All everyone has been doing is: You say something, I either agree or disagree. Then we challenge. Like kids playing, eventually "so what" is going to come out. Kids have fun doing that, let's also enjoy it!
Glenn,
That sounds great. How about you teach me how to haggle, and I do the deed? I think I don't think I can make it in September since it takes some time to get a loan (I am still rehabbing). But I think November might be a better bet. Will November too cold in Beijin? Sorry I have never been to China or HK and absolutely have no idea.
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No problem, pal.
In reality, my personality is more like a guy than a gal and one of my colleagues simply called me "gentleman".
The correction is just to keep things straight on the board so I hope no one will think I am "Andrew".
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Thank you for setting the fundamental straight. Only one minor correction: I am a "SHE", not a "HE". That's why I am not Mr. Wong or Mr. Zhang.
You are right. In Andrew's case, I am trying to make a point with my recent experience (in late July this year) versus mamawelder's experience 3 years ago.
You are right again. In order to have valid support to the claim that "ZSM doesn't exist", one should have information from Bill Townsend/Amati or even LA times since poor jouralism practice was also suggested (and it might well be. We just cannot determine.)
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Wow! The one you bought looks interesting. Are the f-holes are leveled? Sorry, I am working on a construction and leveling is what's in my head most of the time. I remember a while back someone was selling a violin called "picaso" and it sounded darn good. But I don't know whether it has the same issues with the f-hole position as Jay keenly pointed out.
Can the tin violins be played? How do they sound? Are they for sale?
Cool!
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Jay,
Here's another highly-sought-after violin seller:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Fine-Moder...WQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
His customers really need to adjust their logic given the fact that there IS a negative feedback stating "Fake Italian label, German (?) Strad copy label still crumpled inside body!", but people are still willing to pay over $1,000.00 for his violins! Even better, see the selling conditions taken directly from their auction:
2. All property is sold "as is". There is no return or refund policy. Neither Premiere Violins, nor any consignor makes any guarantees of any kind or nature with respect to the property unless specifically stated in the auction description. All of our items are represented by their incredibly detailed and clear photos - you will receive exactly what you see in the auction photos, and nothing more. If you would like to request additional photos of any aspect of any item listed, please feel free to email and we will have them taken for you right away.
3. We do our very best to fairly and accurately describe our items. Our incredibly detailed photos are available to help you decide if you wish to bid on this item. Any condition statement is given as a courtesy to a client, is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Premiere Violins shall have no responsibility for any error or omission. The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the item is in perfect condition.
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> And the best part about Jesse is we know where to find him
What if you were overseas?
Gee, my English is REALLY bad, I meant much more, not MUSH more....
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Jay,
I am not Andrew. So I am not responsible for Andrew or you. In your post, you stated I claimed to be a "she" and he's a "he"; so I thought by showing up to someone who might share your view and who lives in Chicago to testify that I was indeed a "she". I made that claim and I am backing it up. So who's going to meet Andrew, I don't know and I don't care to know as long as I can prove that I am a "SHE, NOT HE".
>You sure are passionate, to the point of being insulting about your quest to protect ZSM.
Have I said I was insulted?
>Buying a Cello unseen is risky, though you seem to have 0 fear of getting a box of junk even after being warned by a former purchaser. R
Not if I can return the item and not if other people paid more than what I paid. The risk you memtioned is just part of the nature of an online auction.
You are being emotional here. Buying (and selling for that matter) instruments on eBay is always a risky business. If you don't feel like spending more than $200.00 on an instrument, that's fine. Be my guest! Not to pick on Jesse, his instruments are highly sought after and often time sold for more than $1,000.00. Should we send these customers back to school to adjust their logic? Trust me, Jesse's violins looked worth mush more than what they sold for.
Having said that, it sounds like my willing to prove myself as a woman doesn't satisfy you any more?
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Jay,
(1) If you ARE paying out a great deal of money for instruments from Andrew why would you be on the side of "Show me proof that ZSM doesn't exist"?
Because I was not the one who questioned the existence of ZSM. That's why I asked for the ones who made the claim to prove. Isn't it logical? Indeed, I was questioning their reasoning, not the existance of ZSM. I didn't doubt and I wasn't convinced by the claims. That said, I don't know whether or not ZSM exists, but I give the benefit of doubt.
(2) Are the people who made the claim (i.e. ZSM doens't exist) buyers of Andrew/ZSM? According to your logic, no response entails the question to be true. Then we are certainly went to a different LOGIC school.
(3) miles believes that it is the purchasers responsibility to provide this proof and defends ZSM and Andrew as if she? were Andrew.
Readers please forgive me for self-repeating time and time again. I am not afraid of speaking my mind. So I questioned people's logic on what they claimed. Nikia just asked me why I was "grilling" mamawelder. Should I suspect nikia = mamawelder or an affiliate of hers?
(4) Based on this thread I would have to say that Miles was Andrew as well. I know she says it's impossible because she's a she and he's a he. But where's the proof? Who has met Andrew or Miles?
Holy smokes! I must say your logic really, really stinks if not sucks!!! Did you ask me for proof? Not trying to be rude, based upon what you said on this particular post, I don't need to or feel like respondng. Do it mean I MUST have to be Andrew because I fail to respond to you? Logic again.
Guess what, there are at least two people knew me before this ZSM/Amati thread is on. That's exactly what I was complaining: You guys too quick to draw the conculsion with no logical merits. I hate to be rude, but I really don't know how to put this.
Good news, Jay. I am in Chicago. If you trust Micahel Darnton and can get him to give me an appointment, I will be more than enough to bring myself and the certificate of authenticity to Michael, along with my window estimates as proof (remember in one of my posts, I mementioned I postponed Andrew's transactions becaue I need cash for window replacement? I will buy from him after I cash out?) I will certainly bring a camera with me to have photo with Michael Darnton as proof that I MEAN what I say and I have not problems stand by my words.
Now it is your responsibility to get an appoinment for me. The reason Michael was chosen becasue he supported the claim "ZSM doesn't exist". What do you say?
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How about $50,001.01 to increase your chances?
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I don't understand why are you giving a such hard time to "mamawelder"? Are you affiliate with Andrew? - Nickia
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Hi Nickia,
Nope. I am not affliated with Andrew in any way except for the fact that I bought a violin from him and bought a cello from him at a later time. So you say that I am a customer of Andrew's. That said, I had very good experience with Andrew's service and violin (I postphoned my cello transaction upon my request). So I felt that mamawelder was giving Andrew hard time. Isn't it ironic and funny? I spoke up for Andrew feeling he might be unfairly treated (given my first hand experience with him) and now you spoke up feeling mamawelder was not unfairly treated.
The reason for my "grilling' is this:
(1) mamawelder forgot to specify her experience happened about 3 years ago and she gave a link to a current auction at the time of her post. That is definitely misleading because I thought it happened recently and I worred about the quality of the cello I just bought from Andrew (not yet paid, but the transaction was promissed by me). If I didn't ask her questions, I would probably cancel the transaction based upon her post. btw. A bidrs eye cello costs over $3,000. If you were me, what you would you do after you read her very first post? Please go back to her posts to my qustions.
(2) She complained everything about that cello she bought was bad (Don't get me wrong, I respect her opinion about her purchase although I don't know anything about cello) and she requested a refund from Andrew. That makes perfect sense to me. But then from her post, I was under an impression that she altered the setup on the cello after she was "denied" a refund (i.e. Andrew did not give her a definitive answer on the refund) to mitigate her loss. Because I was a customer of a "pending transaction", Andrw emailed me to inform me that mamawelder failed to mention that she requested a refund after she had altered the cello. In addition to the email, Andrew also forwarded me a lot email from his customers to him. So to be fair with mamawelder, I asked your aforequoted question to provide more information. Don't you think it is reasonable for a seller to deny a refund if the item in question has/had been altered? If you were the seller, would you take it back not knowing what exactly happened to it?
mamawelder graciously answered my question stating that she changed the setup upon Andrew's suggestion. I can accept the explanation, but as you can see from her posts that she had good knowledge of cellos. If it is the case, she should know better that advice being advice, she is the one to make the final call. She decided to return the cello because of everything associated with it was wrong, she should have insisted upon return without "trying out" Andrew's suggestion/advice unless she obtained agreement from Andrew for a refund if things didn't work out as he said. That agreement was not mentioned by either party.
(3) In her response to James, she revealed that she sold the cello to a boy at a loss, but the boy was happy with his cello, which made that deal worthwhile. That sale had nothing to do with Andrew in my humble opinion. You set your own price for resale and you made the deal. In this case, mamawelder claimed to lose money on the deal ("claimed" to indicate I didn't have proof of that deal, NOT to imply I didn't believe her). However, what if she made a killing on this one and made a profit on the resale? Should Andrew share her profit or take some credit for it (since it was stated that Andrw suggested to have new setup or something like that)? To be frank with you, I often resell things I bought online. I made some profit and lost some money on transactions for resale. Should I blame the seller if I lost money on my resale for any reason? (Hey, Nickia, don't come back asking me for profit sharing if I resell any item I buy from you!)
As I said before, this is a free forum where people can say whatever they want. That is a good thing, but if what we say might potential cause negative effect to other people's livelihood or even just reputation, I think we need to proceed with caution and be responsible for what we say. Otherwise, we will hurt other people unknowingly. I don't believe that mamawelder tried to bash Andrew, but her anger seemed to get her better part. I do understand her feelings for I was shafted before not just once. But she doesn't give the whole picture, people will have hard time reasoning. I for one was worried about the quality of my cello (even though I don't play cello, however, if I need to resell, wouldn't it be a problem if everything assisociated with my cello is bad except for the beautiful back?)? Do you think it is fair to Andrew? Thus, if you put my questions in context, you might feel my questions less grilling.
Just a side note, my brain is very straightforward like a ocmputer, probably due to my professional illness, when I read or heard something, which doesn't make sense to me or illogical to me, I will not be able to comprehend. Being taught not be afraid of seapking up my mind, I certainly speak up my mind although it may get me in trouble. Having said that, I sincerely apologize to everyone I might have offened with my unpolished and unsophisticated questions. For the most part, I don't mean it; I only stand by my belief and speak up my mind. If I've got things wrong, I also apologize for that for I am not a super being and I do mess things up from time to time (although I hate that).
Anyway, the past posts were cited from the top of my head. Therefore, I might remember things wrongly. If that's case, please let me. No offense at all.
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Thanks a lot for the helpful tip, Israel. The only thing I think one shouldn't try is probably:
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you can even write down numbers underneath each note
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I did that from elementary school through high school, and that was the reason why I am still illiterate in musical language. My experience tells me that short cut doesn't work in the long run. I understand that your "short cut" advice should be avoid once one is comfortable with the reading the notes, but I never felt comfortable in reading the notes back then.
Now I going to use your advice and learn the "real" thing.
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60 minutes or so in the summer
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jmaj, Any particular reason why 60 mintues in the summer?
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Thank you very much for your feedback. I actually have the "Basic - 300" book. Then there is new problem for me: I am musical illiterate! I don't know how to read the scores any more.
My luthier friend showed me Chinese music in scores, which I could not even make any sense at all.
I bought the Jim??? Introduction to violin DVD, which seems to be very decent. Help: What book should I buy to learn how to read music before I can use the Basic book?
As always, thank you so much for all your help.
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yuen, what's the best way to make musical sound? I had been practining on open string, but the sound I made just doesn't sound like what I heard on CDs ("had been practice": I stopped due to the fear that I might form bad habbit until I found a teacher to supervise me.)
I don't know whether it is because my strings are solala or my right arm is "sub-par". Darn, I wish my violin would just sing on its own without frustrating me.
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Nope. I already knew I might have remembered wrongly (don't want to go check and lost what I already wrote) and acknowledged the fact (in a question format). So no offense at all.
However, journalists might take offense here though. :girn:
btw. what the difference between too think and too flat? If it is thick enough although it is too flat, can it still be done theoretically (of course, not counting the fees)?
Thanks in advance!
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Michale, I am with you on the Journalism side. But the case you pointed out about the shop owner you once worked for doesn't seem to apply here quite that snoggly:
The article never sent a crew to China to interview ZSM; on the other hand, they interviewed Bill Townsend. And it was Bill Townsend who revealed the whole story of ZSM.
I can understand the newspaper or even Bill Townsend himself might have misspelled Zhang as Ziang (I thin Zhang Shu Mei is prounced in Mandarin Chinese, where the sound Ziang doesn't even exist at all, maybe in dialect but definitely not in Mandarin Chinese).
That said, even though we know that the quality of Journalism business has gone down the drain in the arena of politics, it does NOT entail that it has to be untrustworthy in the area of "soft", non-charged topics. Having said that, there are still good newspaper or media for reliable information.
As I stated before, I don't know whether ZSM exists, but I would give it the benefit of doubt since you guys cannot provide definitive points besides how many violins he made (Don't forget I also mentioned that Andrew was not too diligent in revising his descriptions for any reason). I am also with violinbeginner that ZSM only makes "master" level violins (I have not followed other instruments, sorry), which would cost about $2,500.00. I know a lady violinist from Singapore, who bought Zhang's master violin and later bought whole bunch of Zhang workshop vilolins as well. I am sure that she could tell the difference between the master and apprentices's work.
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Eureka!
It just dwaned on me after reading the LA times article. In the article, it mentioned that ZSM was an old master, which is inline with what Andrew Wongs stated that Zhang was about some 70 years old man. I don't think people these days would call a some 50 yres old man an "old master". If it is true, then ZSM has to be born in about 1935. When the cultral revolution happened in China, he was about 20 yreas of age. That would warrant that he was in between old tradition and "new world (i.e. Red Communist Community). If you have watched the movie "Red Violin", then you would know having a violin might cause you a lot of trouble, real big trouble in China. That makes sense if a violinist or luthier would go underground. The period of horrifying experience might still be traumatizing him and as stereo has it Chinese don't like to be too vocal. As a result, Mr. Zhang always keeps his profile very low or even hides the fact he is a violinist/luthier just to keep out of "trouble". It is really sad, but that's life. I browsed through eBay's Chinese master luthiers' profile (if any) and found that most of them were born in the early 60's (except for Mr. Zhang). These younger generation masters will definitely have perspective on life since they will never had the "in between" agony and trauma or even a sense of loss.
Regarding the quality of Zhang's instruments being unconsistent, it doesn't come as surprise after my experience with my plumbers. My plumber (44 yrs old) works under his grand uncle, a some 80 years old gentleman. Although being some 80 yrs old, the old gentleman is still super active in his work: He works 7 days a week!!! I went to a plumbing supply store alone and mentioned the old gentleman, and the store showed my plumber with praises. In the beginning, the grand uncle set up the foundation for my 2 bathrooms and kitchen (total gut rehab on my new home) and he was done with his part of work. Later his 44 yrs old nephew plumber came and we had to redone work practically in all three rooms (2 BA and 1 Kitchen) for one reason or another (the old gentleman messed the hot/cold pipes position, i.e. right and left). Being in the plumbing business for over 60 yrs, shouldn't he know that the hot water is always on the left and cold right? Hey, guess what I caught that mistake and other minor issues. Applying my experience to Mr. Zhang's case, I am conveninced that he can be as active as, if not more so, a young guy. But then again, he might make a lot of "uncomprehensible" mistakes from time to time, at least to us they are uncomprehensible.
Finally, regarding Amati delisting event, I am suspecting that Mr. Zhang's unwilling to travel for whatever reason or even unwilling to be known might also play a major factor. I remember someone recommended a book for summer reading, which was about Bach meeting a king, who was not allowed to play flute when he was growing up. The excerpt I read was about the difficulty for the old to travel and how the travel might had a negative effect on his health. Admittely, these days traveling is not as bad as it used to be. But trust me, international flying is absoultely no fun, and it might even be daunting for a 70 yrs old man, who might not have flewn before. As a result, Mr. Zhang may not even want to participate in the restoration at all.
Well, amigos y amigas, this post represents my own wild thoughts only -- No email to me from Andrew or Amati Foundation. Aha, I feel ike writing a sci-fi novel.
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Dealers will by then routinely take scrapings of every violin in their inventories and keep the lab findings in a data-bank, to comply with F.D.A. regulations.
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Totally, Larry! If the dealers are negligent of the routines, we've got attorneys on the board, you see.
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Thanks a lot for bringing up this top. I had violin lessons for about 6 months 5 years ago and now I am trying to practice without "supervision".
I started with bowing and then didn't feel comfortable to go too far fear that I might form some kind of bad habit. So I stopped.
Now knowing what you guys went through, I think I'd better get myself a teacher again.
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Well said, Michael!
Just a note on the profile:
(1) I noticed that one has to turned on profile button to be visible.
(2) In addition to your discovery, you can see profile on the "home" page (i.e. click on the home button next to the logout button): at the bottom of the content of threads, there is a column showing
who is online. If the person's profile is set to visible, you can then see it through the link.
(3) If the person posted at all, you can also view his/her profile by clicking the "search icon" in between the "light" and "lock".
I have not tried anyone who has not posted yet since I would not know the person's existence at all. But I suspect that we can use the main search function to get the user ID and go from there assuming we know the user ID.
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Hi violinbeginner,
Brilliant! How did you upload the file? I have Norton Internet Security on my computer and it tends to disable a lot of stuff on the browser.
When I hit a lot of function buttons/links, my browser just doen't go anywhere.
I think the system registered my last post posted at 9:17 AM today, but somehow it got lost.
advice needed
in The Auction Scroll
Posted
Hi hanxiao,
If you don't wanna disppoint granny goose, here's something you can "afford" to do and might consider.
http://cgi.ebay.com/rare-and-u...8QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Happy bidding!