matesic

It's a piccolo as played in marching bands. I once bought three of them for a couple of quid each in a charity shop. I may still have one somewhere.

What's the collective noun for experts? Not a "consensus" I think. I sometimes think that the more experts you ask the less certain the attribution is likely to become, but hopefully you'll get there in the end. Seven years ago I acquired an early 19th century violin from Bromptons, described as "by Charles Harris" in spite of the label being illegible. I first showed it to Ben Hebbert who agreed with the attribution ("nobody makes violins like Charles Harris") and compared it with a violin of his own whose similarity wasn't entirely evident to my inexperienced eyes. Next for minor repairs I took it to Andrew Fairfax who I believe wrote the page on Charles Harris I and II in The British Violin. He found no signature inside and made agnostic noises about the attribution. A few years later a travelling assessor from Amati happened to be holding a session just down the road from me so I gave him a look and told him what I'd previously been told. His verdict was "school of Betts". Finally I came across a violin for sale on a dealer's web site whose back was unequivocally similar in size, shape and figure to mine. Inside was inscribed "Made by Charles Harris...". I'm confident that all these opinions were impartial and sincere.

"If the opinions were educated and nonpartial..." "If these are legitimate opinions..." Aye, there's the rub.

If I had my time again I'd be interested to try out all of these and others, uninformed and blindfolded. But having thoroughly confused my left hand with violins of different shapes and sizes I should let my bowing arm rest in peace.

I'm not sure what wood my favourite bow is made of. It's Chinese and cost £150. My peers (the mediocre majority) should be capable of recognising that a bow made from pernambucco doesn't automatically make us play better, but we need role models.

Speaking as an amateur violinist with no particular preference for bows made from one material or another, I see the obsession with pernambucco as an example of the superstitions that are taught in the colleges and prevail among my fellow players. First among these, of course, is the doctrine that only Italian violins from a certain era are fit for top professionals, and therefore by extension those less elevated players who aspire to the same elite. Now we're finally coming to the realization that this actually isn't the case, isn't it time for one brave pioneer to take the stage with a bow that isn't made from magic wood? Can anybody here name one?

Whatever the price, the material, the nationality, the age... ?Am I the only one to think that's just bonkers?

Isn't there something a bit icky about this kind of fetishry? Like posing with three supermodels.

Au contraire, it isn't an affectation (like using French), just a vernacular term that violinists of all abilities often use in conversation with one another. It's also a rare case of a classical music term that's been adopted as a metaphor in common parlance, viz. to "play second fiddle".

The current Amati "affordable" auction will start to give you an idea of what a "good quality" violin doesn't look like. I don't think it's fair to ask the experts on this forum to judge for you every time. https://app.amati.com/en/auction/1118-amati-affordable-27th-28th-november

Copy of what? I'm not aware that this label was ever used by the Hill family.

The viola I had on loan from Guiviers in London was initially strung that way. When I started off playing the first Bach cello suite it went "doodle DIDle DIDle DIDle...". I bought it and Guiviers threw in a Dominant A string which it still wears.

I think you can be fairly confident that you'll get a better sound, at least in your own ears and possibly in others' ears too, after playing the violin for a period.

Judging from the neck and scroll I don't think so. Weird.

The two halves of the back are strangely unmatched in hue, not mentioned in the certificate. You must have discovered that in 2022 a viola by Guido Maraviglia was sold at auction for $5100. https://tarisio.com/cozio-archive/price-history/?Maker_ID=422