Guido

Bet you will I suppose with some of the repairs there is always the possibility of an apprentice/ practice project happening. For instance, I'm just putting my fist sound post patch in a 1/16 violin for practice - that'll surely make someone scratch the head in the distant future.

Very common indeed. As an example, I'm just restoring a fine Hopf where the (probably pear wood) veneer over spruce core was worn too much. I'm replacing the top veneer only to keep the original fingerboard. A fun little porject.

I just read that somewhere the other day: the repairs don't happen all at the same time (that would indeed make one wonder why). But a crack here and a cheek there on their own would be worth while fixing in most cases.

Could this read 20/38 and denote week 20? Or was it always month/ year?

Re bump: maybe the violin was rather thick and someone re-graduated it but didn't want to lose the label, or intentionally left it thick in the centre?

I'm otherwise tempted to bid on this violin. Is the button repair known as "the brick" an absolute no-go (i.e. the violin is ruined end of story); or would an otherwise nice violin still be interesting provided it could be had for cheap?

Thanks BF. Funny you should say that. My first (and very short lived) impression was French. And it does have a fake French label

Bohemia 20th century = Schonbach trade? Rather than Prague?

Yes, the longitudinal arch is really strange. It remains flat for a long time and then produces a fair bit of a pump in the centre, both back and front.

This neat little violin (LOB 34.8 over arch) makes me curious. Varnish looks a little more towards red in real life. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

If you proportionally scale down a violin, angles stay the same. That may or may not apply perfectly, but will be pretty close. Projection comes down by 2 mm to 25 mm in Strobels measurements.

I have a ca. 1820-30 Hopf violin (dendro 1810) in stunning original condition with original unaltered neck and apparently still the original saddle. It looks like the violin was never played much - the pegs are not bushed, the holes not even reamed much bigger (if at all) from the original. I did think I had a replaced fingerboard though. Now I'm not so sure anymore. Could this be original (maybe the core blackened later)?

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Popular with French makers. With Italiens, Poggi comes to mind (not all) and I’m sure there were others.

After the first couple of pages on Bass Clef's thread on the fractional violin I grew tiered of "Bass Clef threads". I did really enjoy the plunge thread though! I just went and had a look at those new instruments now. WOW! One would hope that none of these are from China or Reghi though. Regarding the OP fiddle, my guess would have been Vogtland between WW1 and WW2. Even then, the high arch is a little bit unusual.

I would think the arching makes a new-ish instrument (China or Reghi) somewhat unlikely.

After making contact with Bubenreutheum.de I was given a reference in the "Schoenbacher Heimatbuch" which was published 1969 in Bubenreuth: Ferdinand Goth was born 1883 in Schoenbach and established his own workshop there in 1910. His brother Peter, also violinmaker, moved to Bubenreuth in 1950 where he died 1967. It is not known if Ferdinand moved to Bubenreuth after the war, so I would assume it was not the case.

...translates to 'big city violin making"'; i.e. Munich, Berlin, Hamburg and others. Or in other words not Markneukirnchen or Mittenwald. These city makers could have bought-in white parts or finished violins from different sources; or they could have been artisan makers with influences from anywhere (a little bit like today), which is near impossible to keep apart. On the other hand, looking through Zoebisch Vol2 the 'typical' mass-production Markie style isn't really evident with the better makers featured in the book anyways. Quite a few could be confused for Italians IMHO. I think the OP violin may well have an authentic label. Herbert was only 20 yrs old when he made this fiddle well before he left his home town to establish independently elsewhere. That would fit with the hand written label, too.

I would focus on playability and otherwise minimise investment. Reducing your string angle seems to be the priority. The modern equation of higher sting angle/ higher tension/ louder instrument is not always true and less tension seems to work well with some instruments.

... and then there was a Willi Goth, born 1913. Could that be Ferdinand's son? At least, Goth seems to be a Schonbach violin maker family.

I have a violin labelled Ferdinand Goth, Schonbach, 1939. Has anyone heard of this maker (if it is a maker)? Could it be the son of Wenzel Goth (died 1909)?

What would be a recommendation for a reference book on German violins, preferably with lot of good photos? I've got the Zoebisch books on Vogtland, what else is nice? Is Hamma a must-have? Or rather go with 3-4 focused books for certain schools/ areas?

Best bought here - you can submit your order online and then call an pay via credit card. For sales outside EU they also drop the GST, which is included in the prices you see. http://www.holfter.com/Shop/main_bigware_29.php?bigPfad=29&sort=4a&page=2 The book/s focus on Markneukirchen/ Klingnthal though. For Mittenwald and other areas I'm still looking for good references myself.

Good books on Markies in particular are: Zoebisch - Vogtlandischer Geigenbau Vol 1 and Vol 2 ( in German). Volume 1 (up to 1850) has poor quality pictures but great info, volume 2 (after 1850) is much better and richer on pictures (I wish it was the other way around). My copies are out on loan with a friend and I won't see them for a couple more weeks. Vol2 is probably the best chance you have to find something on your maker.

Looks like "The American Violin" would be the pick over the Wenberg book? Does anyone know if any of the two covers Arch Kested?