Fake Cracks Or Just Good Repair Work?

[Fellow]

Hi All,

I looked at my cheap old German violin with great amusement. Many cracks of it were fake but one or two looked real of good repair work. Can it be true? I have seen fake cracks or intentional scratches on modern expensive violins ($12k), it does not look real "fake"? (too easy to tell is fake) Cheap old German fakes are good

"fakes" (not so easy to tell) How about that?

My theory, if you do fake, better to do a good job. (Make sense?)

PS. I have seen a Roth ($6k) with real crack repair. It look good fake crack but real ( a black hair line joint). and also a patch of rectangular wood right in the midlle of nowhere,(an ice pick must have punched through it) the repairing luthier showed off his or her skill,(you can see but you cannot feel) put a patch to cover it and he/she never compromised the sound) Amazing,art work work. /yuen/

[Michael Darnton]

Just quoting someone else here: "Good repair work is repair work you don't see; great repair work is work you don't still don't see 50 years later."

[Andres Sender]

Assuming all repair people retire by age 65 (hah!), that means that there are no known active great repairmen?

[Michael Darnton]

I don't think violin people retire--they die at the bench, knife in hand.

[Regis]

And their last words on Maestronet are "And now the final step to make the crack completely invisable arrrrr........"