J-G

An attempt is made here to classify and characterise the different kinds of E-strings. This may be useful information for some, though not everyone will agree with the pros and cons given: https://store.fisherviolins.com/Guide_To_Violin_E_Strings_a/298.htm

Augustine nylon guitar strings were on the market from about 1948. They were endorsed by Segovia, and almost overnight no guitarist was using gut strings. The plain (unwound) nylon strings had taken longer to develop than the wound basses. But so far as I know no synthetic E-string has ever been been available for violin, so that synthetic-core sets still use a plain steel E, or a metal-on-metal wound string.

I see this in Paolo's discussion of C. N. Bazin (link below): Workers hired by C.N. Bazin in 1901 BRIQUEL Victor, CARDOT Charles, DUMONT Auguste, FETIQUE Victor Francois, GILLET Georges, JOLY Charles Louis, MORIZOT Louis, PIERNOT Charles Emile, REMY Camille, REMY Emile, SCHWARTZ Paul, TOUSSAINT Auguste. Workers hired by C.N. Bazin in 1906 BAZIN Louis, BRIQUEL J. Victor, BROUILLER Victor, CARDOT Charles, DUMONT Auguste, DUMONT Leonis, GILLET Georges, HENRY Alexandre, HUSSON Artur J., LOTTE Francois, LOTTE Rene Emile, MALINE Sigisbert, MORIZOT Louis, PIERNOT Charles Emile, REMY Camille, REMY Georges, SCHWARTZ Paul. http://www.atelierdarcheterie.com/blog_eng/Articoli/charlesnicolasbazinthefou.html

The LA Phil has a few nice instruments, it seems. Found this in a note on Martin Chalifour published in 2012: In 2010 he began playing on the Ex Earl of Plymouth Ex Kreisler Stradivarius (1711) one of three Strad instruments owned by the LA Philharmonic.

He had Isaac Stern as a guest on the TV show once or twice. Here they are together. Sounds like Benny played Kreisler's Caprice Viennois (1:11).

Pretty sure that was You are the Sunshine of my Life.

The spacing of the inlaid dots doesn't look right for 'markers'. On fretted instruments the dots mark the space behind frets 3, 5, 7, 9 (or 10) and 12. So minor 3rd, fourth, fifth, etc. Can you tell what notes you'd get on this fiddle by fingering at the dots? I'm guessing it'd sound dreadful.

Thanks for that information, Andres. The publisher's description doesn't tell what bows the book presents, though the cover design does suggest pre-modern ones. So this resource won't cover the same ground as the books the OP asked about. Still, looks worthwhile.

Since the topic of bow books and detailed images has come up, I'll ask if anyone here is familiar with the Holfter book displaying bows held in various Vienna collections. Looks interesting, but I've never heard it referred to anywhere. Here's the description from the Holfter site: R. Hopfner: Streichbogen. Katalog. Sammlung alter Musikinstrumente und Sammlungen der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien. Hardback. 257pp and an added appendix with 21 large-scale, fold-out diagrams and drawings.Featuring b/w photographs and detailed descriptions of 119 bows from all musical eras, curently to be found in Vienna collections. For each bow there is a corresponding diagram giving exact measurements of the bow’s diameter at every point. Text in German only.

Here in Canada I get this message: We're sorry, but this video is not available.

Some of us may remember the "little old lady from Pasadena" who was identified as the previous owner of hundreds of used cars.

Wikipedia tells us Bottessini played on a Testore bass that had been converted from four to three strings. Can you tell from the video what the tuning was? I'm thinking probably fifths, and that many other players did the same thing in the 19th century.

Actually "left-handed" is gaucher, with silent r, though maybe not every violin maker knew that in the old days. There's no word gauché in my 1400-page French dictionary.

For (currently) 216 more posts concerning this violin, check out the OP's other thread on the French forum: http://www.forum.le-violon.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=13258&sid=11baf7b35ac93b2c66b5a8899b5e18fa