GeorgeH

Sometimes there are multiple similar holes leftover from geared tuners.

Here's your new marketing plan: "Honey, does this violin make me look fat?" "Of course not. But if you're worried, you can play a @zdalton13 violin. Guaranteed to make you look thinner."

I will likely die with my favorite violins and bows ("pry my cold dead finger off" and so forth). My heirs will reap the benefits of appreciation with no capital gains tax. Some strangers are going to get the chance to buy some remarkable curated violins.

It may have a French polish. Ask the luthier.

You're fortunate that it wasn't. Complete revarnishing destroys much of the value of the instrument. Looking at your "Before" pictures, it looks like he/she did a nice touch-up as needed, but not an entire revarnishing.

Try Simple Green.

No false allegations - it would appear quite the opposite.

The violins sold under this brand name were not antiqued, so all the wear is real. I think it is a violin that was "rode hard and put up wet" for most of its lifetime. It actually looks better in-person than it does in the pictures.

“When someone shows you who they are believe them; the first time.” ― Maya Angelou

@Bill Merkel and @Felefar It is very odd. I looked at it with a Jewelers Loupe, and there are no signs of abrasion. There is also significant natural wear on the ribs down to the bare wood where you'd expect it (see pictures). I don't think this was played by a high-position player. The neck had been planed down to give a narrow fingerboard and thin neck. I suspect it is a combination of natural wear and an aggressive rosin cleaning at some point with the strings and bridge removed. Or maybe somebody spilled their drink on it.

Exactly. Furthermore, I am really angry that wealthy powerful men have been getting away with sexually assaulting women and girls for way way too long. Victim blaming is not a defense. Good for St. John for speaking out. By doing so, she sets an example of courage for other girls to speak out, and hopefully makes would-be assailants think twice before committing assaults.

No signs of sanding. I looked closely for that. I really wonder if it has something to do with perspiration or alcohol. Maybe a string cleaning with alcohol gone wrong. The varnish is not water soluble - I checked that.

For the record, it was rape: "St. John said the abuse continued, about every other week, for about six months and culminated in Brodsky’s raping her. She was 14. She said after that she refused to let him touch her again, standing in the corner of the room when she played to put as much space between them as possible."

You really did not read the article, did you? Her story is corroborated by first-hand witnesses, including the person she reported it to at the time (and who dismissed it as "touchy feely"). But, yeah, go ahead and try to slut-shame the then-teenage victim ("was once notorious for posing semi-nude for the cover of her initial CD"). It is a tired old tactic. And you say, "imagine if Brodsky was your father; would you be of the same opinion still?" Perhaps you might try imagining if she were your daughter, and she had the courage to speak up about being sexually abused and nobody listened or cared.