dpappas

OP, I agree. And to each their own. But I do play with a SR but I hold the instrument on the collarbone and with my left hand, using my jaw/chin only for support during down shifts. The SR provides stability and lets me play longer. Since I broke my shoulder last year, I need the support.

Sorry for the delay! Rondos, PIs, and Rondo Golds are to me very "pure" sounding strings. The Dynamos are very textured, you get a lot of grit to the sound, which I like. For the Rondo Gold, and Rondo, I hear this midrange "honk" that I find unpleasant under the ear. The Rondo Gold are definitely better in that regard than regular Rondo. For pure, powerful strings you can't be PI. For textured, powerful strings, there's a reason Dynamo strings are getting so much attention these days.

I did not like the Rondo Golds. But I also don't like Rondos. The Rondo Golds are a high-quality product, no doubts there, but I just didn't like the core of the sound--it was sterile to me. I prefer dynamos but they are completely different animal altogether. I suspect people will like the Rondo Golds overall, they just didn't do the trick for me.

Michael thanks for sharing. Interesting story. I wonder how many people were taken buying this instrument for what it isn’t.

At what point is a GdG no longer so? How much must remain intact/original before an instrument is no longer considered by the maker? I know that's subjective, so I'm asking rhetorically. For me, the box is the magic and the scroll and f-holes are the art. I would want top, ribs, back, and scroll to be original.

Since I first posted the link they have removed the sentence “copy by John Lott”. Weird.

Michael et al., thanks for your expertise. I stumbled across it and there were so many questions about it. I think a seller is definitely struggling with a valuation issue. Bought it as X, and now it's a Y.

It’s a curious fiddle. Ambiguous description, low estimate (for a del Gesu, which it isn’t). And it clearly listed as a copy.

My take is that Hilary Hahn’s name is driving the prestige. Plus you can’t get a strad for less than a million, so it’s time to talk up something else the middle tier fine market can afford. also, the more it sells for the better it sounds ;)

Interesting fiddle at Tarisio Londo. Lots of certificates ascribing to GdG but dendrochronology dates latest rings to 1756. Interesting that Tarisio calls it a copy and then still says “ascribed to”. they are also auctioning an omobono strad. https://tarisio.com/auctions/auction/lot/?csid=2200043520&cpid=4071948288&filter_key=

They are barely lower tension, I think 23.1 vs 23.4 kg. My PIs were definitely old, but the dynamos really do project, I've been in orchestra rehearsals and others have confirmed it. The whole point of the dynamos, if you believe Thomastik, is that they object while having more colors. So far, I think they've pulled it off. Will I stay with them? I'm not sure. When they die off I'm putting PIs back on to see if it was a honeymoon phase kind of thing. Also, I'm about a month in, who knows how they'll sound in 3-5 months. My PIs last a long time before they give out.

I have been a PI guy since I first tried them. I like pi power and tension and always considered them neutral and long lasting. I turned a few other people on to them as well. For the last month I’ve been playing dynamo strings. They are powerful, slightly lower tension, but more “colorful”. I mean they are less neutral and more projecting. I like the range of colors and sounds I get. I still like the PI, these are both excellent sets. I’d say they are like PI but more broad.

I shattered mine into multiple pieces two months ago. There’s quite a bit of steel in there now. Also tore tendons. I hope you have a full recovery.

Thanks, all. I’m happy to report that I’m out of my sling and in physical therapy. I have limited range of motion and even less strength. I can now hold a violin, at least. playing is exhausting and I sound terrible, very poor bow control. But I, and my instrument, survived.

Good points , all, thank you! I’ll just check on it weekly while I recover. My surgeon wants me to bring it to physical therapy so they can work playing into my recovery in a few months.

Thank you for the replies everyone. I may loan it out to a talented highschooler or two to play their concerts on, since it's significantly better than anything they would have, just to let it get played while I recover.

I sustained an major injury that will prevent me from picking up a violin, let alone play it, for 2-3 months. I intended to leave it in its case tuned properly and check on it weekly. Will that be sufficient? the instrument will be kept in the same climate controlled room as before. It will just sit idle.

Michael Darnton is 100% correct. Weight is a byproduct of so many factors. Bigger factors are things like arching and geometry, overall construction/design.

I agree with you 100%, it was amusing and education to see the "boost" wasn't anywhere important to my ears and brain.

A few days ago I decided to acquire bridge tapping and bowing spectra to “see” if my new side mounted chinrest “sounded” better than my less comfortable center mounted one. I was dejected when the spectra showed more output in all the right places for the center mounted one, which was counter to my ears and recordings at a distance. How could my ears have lied to me? So I redid the experiment the next day and got the opposite spectral result. Same player, same everything. I think spectra have some uses but also serious limitations and resolved that I should spend more time playing my instrument and less time looking at data.

I'm not sure if this is allowed on the forum, but I'm certainly not selling these so it might be okay. I saw Pirastro has a new model of their Korfkerrest line, the Luna. I love my Model 2, and can't imagine playing without it, so a collapsable one, that's slightly less expensive, is cool to see. Thoughts? https://www.pirastro-shoulderrests.com/en/korfker-rest-luna-features/

probably because the market limit for a Tourte bow seems to be less than $400k. I think Tarisio might be getting overly ambitious, and the stock market is taking a dip.

The Pasquier was sold by an auction house that did not specialize in instruments, and I think had no idea how to sell it well. Tarisio has experience, but an 8M starting bid means some wealthy hedge fund manager will scoop it up tomorrow.

I see the Tourte bow has a bid, but nothing on the del Gesu yet. I can't imagine it will suffer the same fate as the Hellier Strad, or that it will go for as low as David Garrett paid for his del Gesu last year at auction.

Wow that is clean work, I like it. The scroll eye is small for my taste but opinions vary, it’s well executed as is.