Televet

I think there is an in-built romantic tendency to view artifacts from the past with in a light that is wholly unjustifiable and nowhere is this greater than with violins. We need to be pretty clear that there is no evidence of small pockets of 'high end makers' working outside the established 'division of labour' 'by the dozen' or whatever else you would like to call it, system in the Markneukirchen/Shonbach area. Just like most commodities, from coffee to diamonds, there is a spectrum of quality, and this is true of violins as it is of anything else. Just because a violin was made by a number of skilled craftsmen and women each carrying out a specific task, does not preclude the fact that it might be a decently built decent sounding instrument, but trying to pretend it is something that its not is no more than that, a pretense. The catalogues, company records and government archives make it pretty clear that literally hundreds of thousands of violins came out of Markneukirchen every year, to be sold to wholesalers like Herrmann and Metropolitan, who could place orders for various grades instruments from VSOs to some of the decent sounding and looking instruments we still see and hear everywhere. Since it has also been touched on in this thread can we also just make a note (again) that at no time was there ever a John Juzek making violins for the Amercian trade, and trekking from Prague to Markneukirchen. John Juzek is a trademark, same as Andreas Morelli GM, Chevrolet or Snickers. Juzek and Morelli violins were likely often bought from the same Markneukirchen wholesalers and only differ by the labels stuck in them by their American Importers. If one were to spend a bit of time with the search function to find this discussed again and again over the years, with archival sources and a fair bit of scholarship. Sorry for the Rant. I will go and lie down now.

This lot, 325 at the May T2 sale caught my eye because of the inked purfling on the back. I wonder if the good people of maestronet would share what they see when they look at this violin, as part of your ongoing educational outreach to bozo's like me?

I waited a bit to see if there were more up to date responses before I posted. The museum in Cremona is a real gem. I visited in 2014 and was completely blown away. Most days there is a recital, and one of the violins is taken out for a romp in the small recital studio, which is pretty much a highlight for any visit. I found The tool collection fascinating and oddly very moving. Cremona itself is a charming town, worth spending time in. Remember everything closes in the middle of the day, so plan to be in the museum where it is at least cool. Call ahead and visit with some luthiers. I believe our owne Davide Sora can sometimes be tempted out for lunch!

Many thanks, never seen the Elephant until now.

Am I missing a joke here?

Been quiet here for a few days but plenty of stuff going on below the surface: think big catfish swimming in a still quiet looking river! James M Jones has just received his form back from the Neil Ertz build. As soon as its welcome home party is over JMJ is going to block it up and send it on to Alex I Reza who is going to start on the Garland. Jackson Maberry and Advocatus Diaboli are involved in lots of Plate discussions. Although its still early days I feel the momentum building and in my small way as junior Gopher I am very excited to see how things are starting to get going.

Well, I enjoyed it. It might not fit with everyone's world view, but for me presence of rather too much titebond was rather more disturbing than a bit of candle magick! It is after all a movie for entertainment, not a template for how to build a violin or to live your life. It was an entertainment. Daniel seems a nice guy struggling with a lot of issues and if this little film helps him on his way, good for him. i only hope that the titebond was purely for cinematic effect! PS streamed from you tube: worked perfectly.

Sorry to slide off topic, but you should also remember to take a fairly large pinch of salt with your Brompton's reading. If you look at page 310 you would be led to believe another famous Czech, John Juzek, was a real person. Although to be fair Tarisio seem to think so too, if you check (no pun intended) the Cozio archive for some hilarious labels.

Herding Cats

My wife uses a Bobelock. It has taken a lot of punishment over the years and still looks great and has protected her instrument really well. I would say that would be a great choice. Again, thank-you Dwight

sadly its one of the few things I do well!

That is a very pretty chinrest Dwight! Its going to look beautiful on Craig's violin

Don, Thanks for the offer, Advocatus Diaboli and JacksonMaberry are deep in discussion about Materials. Drop them a PM and see where they are at. JamesMJones has kindly offered the form that was used on the Neil Ertz tribute which is the Kreisler as Jim alluded to above. Having the form available and ready to go is great (it is still on its way back from Scotland) and its also a nice in direct link back to Craig since he was very supportive of the Neil Ertz build. The violin is not going to be a Copy, rather 'a genuflection in the direction of' as someone on this site put it recently. Things are slowly coming together

GMM22 spoke with Mary and she has kindly donated an unfinished neck to the project, so the violin will have a direct link with Craig. Advocatus Diaboli has also volunteered to work on the plates, set-up or varnishing as required via PM. Now we have Alex on board as well we are approaching a solid team. We are currently short on materials. Jim has offered some spruce. What thinks the luthiers?

Sorry Jackson. Missed your post. You should write yourself in for your preferred step. Either rough arching, or finishing as you prefer. You were one of the first to step up so go for it.