Guido

November 29

Nice violin.
The label is Heinrich Eichheimer.

Someone here may know if he was a maker, a dealer, or just a made-up export label.

November 24

4 hours ago, martin swan said:

Isn't it Mirecourt?

Was my first impression, too.

But could be German imitating some French style features.

Do we have cleats along the back centre seam?

November 22

1 minute ago, baroquecello said:

In regard to the sound, weight does not have the effect you describe at all, when it comes to end pins.

Yes, our posts just crossed and I didn't see your description of warm/ bright for different materials.

I suppose the end pin does carry the vibration. I'm aware of an amplification effect if you put the end pin on a box when playing. AS the pin carries the vibration different materials will dampen/ filter different frequencies to different degrees. Would be my guess,

November 22

It would be the weight that is a variable here. No doubt, as the body resonates, the dead weight of the end pin will have a dampening effect, akin to a practice mute on a bridge. Less weight more resonant. Could be good (obviously) but also bad as the sound loses focus and separation.

Never conducted any rigorous experiments but I'd suspect the effect to be minor.

November 22

On 3/18/2021 at 2:45 AM, kostas said:

Ha! There you are. Was looking everywhere. An old thread in the back of my head.

Anyhow, not much to learn for me here.

But maybe a contribution; that the cut-down is real and the "S" used to sit below the purfling :-)

November 22

1 hour ago, pyrola_asarifolia said:

This. It's the page I was about to point to. I'm sure Google Translated will do an ok job on it, but for a high-level summary, multiple aspects are taken into account:

whether the product is developed and designed in Germany (by a German company, presumably)

whether it is assembled in Germany, specifically, in its final form

whether the bulk of the value creation happens in Germany

So yes, I believe it would be completely unsurprising for any but the naive Germans that a violin that is put together from parts ("boxes", necks/scrolls, fingerboards, plus of course fittings) made in Romania or China or elsewhere, then varnished in Germany, by a qualified luthier who works for a business registered in Germany, is a Made in Germany product. (Which I believe the cheaper German violins and cellos are).

Well, I suppose that’s still the rosy picture. As with my opening example, a violin maker could buy $200 violins from China, just set them up (cost $400). And export the whole product all over the world as Made in Germany. No need to assemble or varnish anything.

November 21

Looking at the lower block, it is installed with a different grain orientation. I don’t think this would have happened in Saxony.

but it is also possible that the lower block is not original to the violin.

November 21

Thanks for the additional pictures.

interesting violin, not the usual.

the head doesn’t look Saxon, and the lower block has an unusual shape.

the island for the trough neck is odd though as it reaches much further into the body than the neck. Maybe it was shortened.

the construction method can be found at old English instruments, too.

while the brand (xxxx London), may or may not be the maker, the violin could still be English.

November 21

Five largely unaltered instruments in existence from ca 1590 with the maker/s documented back to 1550.

November 21

3 hours ago, Blank face said:

For me it reads Masson - Cozio offers Masson Frerés and Masson, Sylvie, unfortunately without bio informations. But it is a relatively common name.

Wow! The cozio archive exceeds the speed of light. For Sylvie Masson, they have one auction result, a bow which will have failed to sell next week.

No mistake, the bow is indeed being offered at this time, with the auction closing next week.

November 21

You see cheap violins with “Made In Germany” on the label. Assuming this is legit, it seems hard to reconcile with an hourly rate of income in Germany north of a few cents.

How does this work?

Obviously “Made in Germany” allows for prefabricated imported parts or materials in the final product; but where does one draw the line?

Is it determined by a share of value added in Germany, say, more than 50%?

Then of course you can buy finished violins from China for $200, set them up for $400, and sell them for $600. Voila, enough value added in a Germany to label the product “Made in Germany”.

Just a guess, anyone knows?

November 20

25 minutes ago, Blank face said:

For me it reads Masson - Cozio offers Masson Frerés and Masson, Sylvie, unfortunately without bio informations. But it is a relatively common name.

Thanks, that's probably it.

I was going though the list of Mirecourt names without success. W/o bio, Cozio may not have them under Mirecourt.

I was also unsure about the second and last letter.

November 20

Found a signature of the person who made the fingerboard, may or may not be the person who made the violin. The neck is also grafted adding to the likelihood of a replaced fingerboard.

However, the fingerboard is rather thin, and hence could also be original.

Even though the writing seems clear enough, I don't recognise the name. @Michael Appleman or anyone else able to make sense of it?

November 20

2 hours ago, Pianootaku said:

It was bought in reputable retail shop with string instruments if that gives more clue to the price. I will post tomorrow full details, now I'm gonna go to sleep. Mainly I'm curious how luthiers know for sure something is hand-made or not. Do they look at the scroll finish mostly? How luthiers know what quality of wood was used, do they look at grain lines on top plate, if it's highest or good quality?

What would make you think it would be “worth” anything other than what you paid for it??? And if you bought it new in a shop and want to sell it again maybe a bit more than 50% of that.

Also, hand-made can be applied to any violin, in particular the cheapest violins you can find from China.

Both lines of inquiry seem rather strange.

November 10

Saxon, mass produced, often play well and are a good choice for students.

November 7

Screwdriver antiquing is often overdone (while they are at it), and the nicks are somewhat similar to each other, even if they try to avoid it.

The marks here are few and far between and they appear very random, in depth, length, intensity, angle, etc. I’d lean towards thinking these marks are genuine signs of aging. If it was done artificially, then certainly not with the (proverbial) screwdriver.

Also, while I have seen instruments antiqued from new with a neck graft and bushed pegs holes; I have not seen multiple peg bushes applied to new instruments. Also, this was mostly done in the 1920s/30s and this instrument looks very different overall. Again, I think it is genuinely old.

Not sure about a revarnish at some point. I don’t see any conclusive indications for it myself.

November 7

Some varnishes wear surprisingly quickly. Some may actually like it.

Generally, I’d err on the side of leaving varnish alone, but I have previously touched up a similar situation for s customer.

If it is a contemporary violin you may want to consult with the maker.

November 3

Ok, here are three more examples I have around at the moment. Two German, one French; but I don't think that matters at all regarding the question of design intention. All of them, again, just have a flat ribbon and no hair running up the sides.

17 hours ago, Blank face said:

...Obviously the person who made the rehair didn’t bother to do it this way.

So, is it a thing? Or intended to be, that the hair runs up the sides of the ferrule to about the widest point? Was that Vuillaume's idee with this design?

November 2

Has anyone ever seen a button screwed to the screw?

I have read about it in John Staggs repair book, but this is the first one I see in real life. And Stagg didn't elaborate on where/ when this variation of button attachment can be found.

November 2

16 hours ago, Brad Dorsey said:

Could it be a screw with its head filed down far enough to file away the slot?

I'm aware of this having been done and have seen it before. I don't think that's the case here; but can't be sure.

November 2

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I always wondered if there is anything to rehairing the Vuillaume style frogs that I may have missed.

I have only ever seen them with hair flat at the bottom of the ferrule like in the attached picture.

Just wondering if there was any "thinking" behind the design?

I could imagine running the hair up on the sides to the widest point of the ferrule. That way, more pressure when playing would simultaneously give you a wider ribbon of hair on the string - a double whammy on dynamics.

Just wondering what Vuillaume was thinking with the design innovation?

November 1

Fished a lovely French frog out of my parts box today.

Hoping for a school ID or maybe even some candidate names.

One feature that stands out for me is that the button is screwed on the screw (rather than the common press fit on a square taper).

The underslide has one pin behind the eyelet. The pin is either huge (!) or has a flat head. Seems to have some sharpie pen marks on the underslide, never mind.

October 29

The propensity to leave repair labels is highly correlated with the likelihood of the repairer causing more harm than good.

The 1737 label seems a good lead; and someone should be able to read it. It’s clear and complete, just a matter of handwriting.

October 28

18 hours ago, Jonathan21 said:

Here she is with a new fingerboard.

So you intend to make it playable again at some point?

October 26

Thanks. Good looking patches seem to run in the family.

Talking a cast across the whole chest seems a good idea and is still only about the size of a full violin cast.

19 hours ago, Jeffrey Holmes said:

For a cello sound post patch, I make a cast across the center area of the top including the four corners, as I do end up using a clamp here and there when the top is in the cast to ensure the plate remains stable and true (especially around the treble f). I use the thinest commercially available latex sheet and 2" insulation board (pretty common for casts these days) for the form with two strips of it cut to the contour of the arch. The stuff is easy to cut on the bandsaw, so the form and contoured strips go very quickly. I've found a dental casting plaster/stone that is quite strong and has a very low expansion rate. This allows me to pour a slightly thinner cast than I could get away with using Hydrocal and other plasters... plus it cures and sheds moisture faster.

Thanks. Good looking patches seem to run in the family.

Talking a cast across the whole chest seems a good idea and is still only about the size of a full violin cast.

Regarding the plaster/ stone, could you share particular product and how thick your cast would be in the centre?

And if it's not too much rouble, what would be the weight of your cast? Obviously a particular cast may be a bit bigger or smaller and the arch will vary, but it'll still be useful to estimate the quantity of product to mix up.

I have this at hand:

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