Guido

Yes, some of his violins have allegedly lived a part of their live as the original. Being such a good and versatile copyist, however, it can be difficult to be sure a violin is actually by him. Forgeries of this copyist are common. I'd want a bulletproof certificate or two.

Why would you think it is worth anything other then what you paid for it? It's a pretty robust definition of value.

Thanks a million. This should settle it. My head height is even a little shy of 23mm. What seems light are your frogs; and between those and a tinsel or silk lapping, the weight estimate for my bow can easily come down from over 70g to under 65g :-) Only other thing, I was hoping @martin swan might chime in on dimensions/ measurements given he has an iron wood viola example on offer.

Not sure how the measurement of head height is defined. I show a photo of how I measured it to the underside of the stick to come to about 16mm. Also, I attach a photo of comparing the mortice to an average violin bow (right). Still not sure if I should fit a violin or a viola frog to this stick. Or find a viola frog with a relatively narrow hair band.

Great info, thanks. Have had this book on my wish list for far too long...

Did F Peccatte make much of a difference between violin and viola bows when it comes to the frog? I.e. are the viola frogs bigger, wider, longer, higher, or none of that? I'm asking because I have a bare iron wood stick (45g) that'll be about 70g as a complete bow, but the head mortice is fairly narrow and will probably only want to have a violin amount of hair. Seems to call for a violin size frog...?

Isn't it obvious? It holds a liquor bottle (the top held by the little box next to the sound post). It's also called a vibrato modulator. Or a Brahms fuel tank.

That would be awesome!

Not all but some makers of the Kloz family have what seems to be a centre notch in the far side pegbox wall. See first photo. I always thought this had to do with some method of neck alignment during construction... anyone know details? Likewise, Degani's hollow fingerboard (and nut) allowing to peer though (or insert a rod)... anyone know what he actually did there? And finally, the second picture, a notch in a place I have never seen before. Maybe it's just damage, maybe it's intentional. Anyone seen that before?

No2 and No4 designs are often encountered with French trade instruments and I think they can be seen in old JTL catalogues, too. Not sure, maybe they go back to the Hills in design. Or maybe the OP2&4 aren't even Hill and just got a Hill clamp. Here is a fun example of No4 that integrates the idea of a shoulder rest.

I was wondering if there is any possibility that this is the original face as it is.

The violin is being offered as an authentic SB Fendt, at about 80% discount vs greedy dealer retail. Doesn't that sound like an attractive proposition? https://www.ebay.de/itm/387489508909?itmmeta=01JAYG0VT46W4BCSR78BV51GFQ&hash=item5a382cae2d:g:j8EAAOSwXb9nDjhZ

What they said. And: The wide mortise in the handle looks French. The small mortise in the head looks cheap. Fittings are often easier to tell apart than bare sticks. Show them if you have them.

Maybe you can add some pictures?

Well, I better get busy and revisit my inventory, tripling price tags.

That's a remarkable difference to the latest Fuchs Taxe (2017), which lists the small pattern at EUR160k-280k; and the large pattern at EUR400k-800k; or USD436k-873k at today's rates.

Looking at the photo above I can see what you mean. But the blocks are of one piece - there is no joint running down the surface facing the inside of the violin. In the photo above there is also a line continuing in the direction of the lining. I think they might be marking traces for the cut-out.

Don't you think it could be English? I'm starting to like that idea. Btw, I checked and pretty much excluded Australia.

Thanks Andreas. I love that kind of reasoning. I find it fun and I'll end up learning something new and unexpected in some otherwise useless rabbit hole. I too excluded French and German and all that goes with it, which is A LOT! I can't turn up any of Belt's work, but I would doubt that the violin goes back to a self-taught career changer (unless they are a dentist ;-) It really looks rather professional. So with the lack of signing the instrument by name (unless it's the B....) and the tagging of the fingerboard to belong to a certain violin, I'd rather speculate to a larger workshop setting. Along the lines of: the violin had a generic Lewis and Son shop label and was made by one of their workmen. The label was removed by a dealer who wanted to avoid the confusion with the imported trade violins usually bearing such a label. There is, btw, a very clear outline of a former label in the colour of the wood. I'm attaching a picture.

Here is a 1930 from London. Similar downstroke to start the 3. Been flicking though my copy of "The British Violin" a few times, too, but not much is represented in the book from the relevant time.

Yes, I have some hopes here, but couldn't decipher. There are also a couple of dots, which could make this initials; but then again, it seems to continue in lower case after the B.

Indeed it could be anything. Scandinavia or South America, Eastern Europe. In fact, when I initially got the violin I was mostly looking towards Eastern Europe, but mainly the "Strad copy" and "1" and "7" makes me favour the US as an hypothesis. The frustrating thing is that the violin has distinctive features in spades, for instance the central half cut pins or the way the linings are let into the corner blocks (which I have actually not seen quite like that anywhere else). Another thing I forgot to mention is that the internal surfaces have had some sort of sealer applied, which is quite noticeable in the photos as it tends to stay away from gluing surfaces.

LOB is 356

Mostly, but also the "Stad copy" seems of an English speaking origin. Do you think it could be from England?