Ebay Fiddle

[Singingmaple]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...446030&rd=1

I was searching through auctions and came across this.

Other than the seller stating that they know little about Violins in their add and having 11 feedbacks from violin purchases.... what else is wrong with this?

[MisterMcDario]

Nothing's wrong with this violin if you are in the market for a nice Romanian fiddle of recent manufacture. I saw a ton of these at the recent NAMM Show in Anaheim. They wholesale for $400-$800- this being a lower end one. If I am not mistaken, this is the seller who sold a bogus Italian violin to my doctor friend. I especially like the way he makes all of his auctions private.

[GlennYorkPA]

Keen to hear your observations.

At $265 it's worth every penny

[GlennYorkPA]

Any good Chinese violins at the Anaheim show?

I haven't seen any reports yet.

[jackc]

It looks older new Romanian to my eye. But not that old. Anyone else think French? I'm just guessing.

But I don't like the sound of the description. The seller doesn't know about violins but knows the terms, sale is as is and final, and bidder's identity kept private. All clues.

[MisterMcDario]

Yes, Glenn, there were many excellent Chinese violins at the Anaheim show. I got a chuckle when some German buyers came to my booth and mistook the Chinese violins I was selling for European! Granyed, these particular violins I had made of European wood. It is obvious that the Chinese now dominate the market and rightfully so. I'd guess that for every new 20 Chinese violins sold, 1 European one is sold.

I think this is a brand new Romanian fiddle based on what I have seen. There are numerous ways of aging a violin even before it's varnished. For example, many makers hang violins in the white in the sun to age/oxidize the wood- for sometimes years. I know a way of doing the same process which takes a matter of a couple of days.

[Singingmaple]

One thing I noticed is that the guy is trying to post a fake label... Shouldn't the label and auction description read "Ballestieri" Not Ballefrieri?

[Oscar]

Early fonts (right up to the early 1800s) did have odd-looking "S" characters that resemble Fs. The ad says the label says: "THOMAS BALEFTRIERI

CREMONENFIS

FECIT MANTUAE ANNO 1759"

and in the type used on the label in the pictures, that F is definitely an S.

So while the label might be a fake (I wouldn't know), it's not the type that gives it away (I do know typography).

[Michael Darnton]

There really isn't any question that the violin isn't a Basestrieri, so, de facto, the label is a fake.

If it's a new Rumanian violin, I'd like to know who's making new violins with broken and badly replaced buttons. :-)

[Singingmaple]

That would make sense to me if the other 2 S's on the label didn't look normal.

[Richf]

"Early fonts (right up to the early 1800s) did have odd-looking "S" characters that resemble Fs."

Ouch! That really hurts. When I was studying German in high school (not in the 1800s) we learned the old Gothic letters. It actually comes in handy these days, since it seems that even many of the younger Germans don't learn them and can't interpret the Gothic type correctly when it turns up in old violin labels.

[Korngold]

Quote:

---

If it's a new Rumanian violin, I'd like to know who's making new violins with broken and badly replaced buttons. :-)

---

The button looks like a lot of very cheap Czech fiddles I've seen, so does the scroll. However, I've only been at this a short time, so my guess is most likely off. :-)

However, I'm leaning toward this being a Chinese fiddle. I had the exact same cheapie strings on a Chinese fiddle I bought a while back. So, I'll put this as a Chinese copy of a cheap Czech fiddle. So, if I'm right (which is doubtful), even at $265 this may not be a bargain.

[Korngold]

Now that I look at his feedback, I think the guy took the body of a Romanian or no-name violin and replaced the neck from an old Czech violin. Check his feedback and look at one of his recent purchases:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=3775489670

That may also explain the demolished button.

Here's where the tailpiece came from:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=3772605291

And the back looks a little like the darker violin from this auction he won:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=3771069657

And he won a Chinese fiddle from Muses back in November, which is likely where those strings came from.

If only he had won an auction for labels, you could piece together every part of this new creation!

I think I should get back to work now.

[John_Jesseph]

Interesting. I checked out his/her other transactions and saw purchases, and thought that MrMcD was off base. I just now read your post Korngold, and Michael Darnton's. I wonder if fraudsters are doing this for the challenge, the excitement of fooling people, just for the cash, whatever.

[John_Jesseph]

Oh, and why does someone who bids on and buys violins on eBay write in their auction that they know very little about violins??

[Korngold]

Quote:

---

Oh, and why does someone who bids on and buys violins on eBay write in their auction that they know very little about violins??

---

[maestramusica]

What I noticed right away was that although he claims to know little about violins, he said there was evidence that the neck had been reset- Or is this another way of palming off a new instrunt as old?

[bean_fidhleir]

Quote:

---

That would make sense to me if the other 2 S's on the label didn't look normal.

---

No, actually it's okay. There was a rule for when to use which one: the "rolled-up s" was used at the ends of syllables, and the "long s" was used everywhere else.