Bill Merkel

^If only it was that easy! A bungler is as likely as not to charge as much as anybody else.

I hope you made him pay you for that repair, instead of the other way around. Instrument repairers who can do passable work are few and far between. The worst is when they do something you didn't even ask them to do and screw that up. Sometimes your only course is sell the result to somebody who's on the same wavelength as the repairer.

^Mine wasn't silver, and yours is likely better than mine. Very good find! The knot was funny but it didn't have any effect that I could discern. The knot was about 2-3 mm in diameter. And some artist really is reported to have said a bow was no good unless it had a knot in it! I only remember reading it because I owned one...

Does this kind of humidifier do anything? My case from the '90s came with one and I seem to remember they were commonly built into cases back then. It only has a few small holes for vapor, so you'd think it wouldn't do anything. OTOH, it mounts to the lid near the handle and any air that goes into the case will go by it because everyplace else is covered by a zipper...

I agree the modus operandi of home invaders isn't to steal violins but leave the cases to throw the coppers off the trail. Tourte on a bow is like Stradivarius inside a violin. I had and old light bow stamped Tourte like yours that was pretty good. It actually had a big knot in it about 2/3 up but it was straight as an arrow. Wasn't it Oistrach who is supposed to have said a bow isn't any good unless it has a knot in it? Defending his bow with at knot in it I assume.

Gesu Maria on the top block didn't keep the neck from coming loose this time.

^Ethnic German, at least. I wouldn't pretend to be able to read the date. Also, I'm nooooo violin authenticator. But I was going by the similarity to the F-holes and the blocks/linings to the one in Jacob's link. To me, the F-holes have similarity, in particular the breadth and flatness at the top, and the path and shape of the lining in the corner blocks is just as similar...

You could offset it by making a contribution to a preservation organization. Would probably net you into positive territory...

If it was mine...I sure wouldn't consider it a beater for canoeing. There are plenty of cheap, probably totally weatherproof fiddles to be had. It's quality construction, made in Germany by a known maker who was active in Bach's lifetime...

With a compressed (or expanded) width tailpiece, the downward pressure on the bridge will be less than if the straight line of the string was continued. You can prove it by showing that if the width was compressed to the minimum, the force would be totally to the side and there'd be no downward pressure on the bridge at all.

Does it have its original neck?

Otto Buchner, Karl Richter's concertmaster in Bach orchestra works used that tailpiece and I'm assuming steel strings as well. I quit thinking it looked ugly when I noticed that... Out of style now, but I love it.

For instruments from a living maker, it seems like it would be good salesmanship to include a certificate from the maker. The maker should happily provide anything that might push his price up, for free

I bet 1.3 million dollar headphones sound pretty good!

Speaking of The Red Violin and auctions, one of the prop violins they used went for about $5000 if I remember right, with proceeds going to charity. I read a long description off it including who'd had a hand in it, and it sounded like it was probably a good violin in baroque configuration. It would be neat to have. I didn't bid because I'd have to make a new bank account for it for security. Same reason I didn't buy bitcoin when it was $20.