Spelman

That thing is sweet, I'd play the hell out of that fiddle. Love the color.

Have to give a shout out to my former luthier and archetier, Jennifer Creadick. Awesome lady. There is also an Instagram account @womeninlutherie that is worth a follow. I see that there are several Maestronetters following the account already.

Not that modern is necessarily better, just that old is cool and people are willing to pay for old. Not commenting on the playability/tone/response/whatever of said fiddle, just that old has a certain cachet. Why else antique instruments?

I can definitely see imprints from bridge feet.

I remember speaking some years ago with someone in the bow trade who was visiting a prospective bow supplier. The supplier brought out a few bows with beautiful tortoise shell frogs and the buyer said that would be useless since it was clearly tortoise shell and ergo, clearly illegal. The supplier protested vigorously that it was very high quality plastic and could even fool a well experienced person. He finally brought out a plank of the plastic the frogs were made of and convinced the buyer it was indeed plastic. Despite this, the buyer still declined to get any of these bows since they would be a nightmare to get over borders.

I'd take Jacob up on his offer.

Louis, It might seem that the experts are being fussy about the pictures but it's not easy to identify violins without having them in hand (OK, some are easy to pigeonhole). Subtle differences can be the tells to an ID and if the angles of the photos are a little off or the background makes things hard to pick out, or certain features are not readily visible, etc., it can often make the difference between "it's X" and "I don't know."

Wow, I also thought the varnish looked a little off. That said, I haven't handled many Roths except my 1928, which looks somewhat different:

I kinda like the case

Thanks for the reply, I wasn't necessarily asking whether the change is positive or negative. If possible to generalize, what changes (albeit subtle) do/did you notice?

It seems that this was hip at one point and that as an esthetic, it did not necessarily stand the test of time as well as other varnishes. It seems the best idea is to leave it be, as there are a bazillion other non-tarred violins and originality is a finite commodity.

Ah, thanks for the clarification. I thought it was merely called f--ked up.

Was this fiddle in a fire? Is that why there is black stuff all over it that looks like someone may have tried to scrape off?

Question for those with experience: do geared pegs affect the sound of the violin? I have noticed a big difference in sound when my (electronic) tuner is clipped on a peg. Is there a similar difference, albeit smaller, when the increase weight is much smaller? I am assuming the geared pegs weigh more than wooden pegs? I also got pernambuco pegs installed and was pleased with the change in sound (from ebony pegs). Would the geared pegs affect the tone due to their very different construction and materials?

Yeah, I recommend my students who are intimidated by pegs to get geared pegs and fine tuners. Get it close with the pegs and nail it with the tuners.