What's the Name of Your Violin?

[tchaikovsgay]

I've just watched an anime about violin, the characters all give names to their violins!! I have a violin too but don't know how to name it...

[Jeff Jetson]

No name for my violin and if  showing it to someone interested i  will even avoid naming the makers name as I do not want to draw attention to it.

[Michael Jennings]

"Worm"....... and a much older one referred to sometimes as "Quasimodo". A third "Nippon" fiddle about half way between the ages of the first two somewhat appropriately referred to as the "Predator Call".

 

[Rue]

Some name their instruments - and I get it...a violin is like a puppy in many ways...and it's an intimate instrument - held under your chin and close to your body...not unlike how you'd snuggle with a baby, a cat...or a parrot...

I love naming things. Consequently I tried to name mine...but it doesn't work for me. Can't even remember what I picked...

But...I do tend to use the same descriptors for them...ie. "The Chinese Maggini"  

[uncle duke]

I looked inside my violin and found it has it's own name already.  It's name is Expressly made for K.C. Strings.  

[Jim Bress]

I pretty much nickname everything.  Just the way my warped mind works.  The stuff I make all have names, but I don't put their names in the instrument, just my note book.  Current project is a viola named "Lefty".  Maybe it will get paired with a bow named "Poncho".  

"...Pancho needs your prayers it's true,
But save a few for Lefty too
He only did what he had to do,
And now he's growing old..."

[Trenchworker]

I never named the violins I owned as a child or an adult, until I made my first one.  I named it "Patch", for an obvious reason, and kept it for myself.  After Patch, I started naming the violins I made after each grandchild, until I realized I could never sell any violin so named.  So I stopped naming my violins, and "Patch" remains the one and only.

[Stavanger]

2 hours ago, Jeff Jetson said:

No name for my violin and if  showing it to someone interested i  will even avoid naming the makers name as I do not want to draw attention to it.

So, Who made your violin, Jeff? 

[Stavanger]

22 minutes ago, Trenchworker said:

I never named the violins I owned as a child or an adult, until I made my first one.  I named it "Patch", for an obvious reason, and kept it for myself.  After Patch, I started naming the violins I made after each grandchild, until I realized I could never sell any violin so named.  So I stopped naming my violins, and "Patch" remains the one and only.

Nice story, and you do have a point.

[Brad Dorsey]

My first violin was made by the Boston maker Charles E Farley.  I named it Chuck Ewe Farley.

[mood2000]

as usual they labeled by the year of made , by model , or by the owner's name 
for example :
Stradivari : ( Hellier , Soil , Red Mendelssohn , messiah & etc. ... )
Guarneri :  ( Lord Wilton , Kreisler , il Cannon & etc. ... )

[mood2000]

also the modeled by the family's name too ( by profile shape of the generations masters )
such as : ( Klotz , Vuillaume , ... )
or model by the Firm or by brands names ( Scherl & Roth , W. E. Hill , Lyon & Healy , etc. ... ) 
by the way there is some modern trade names or factory made too 
such as ( Cecilio "Mendini" , Stentor , Cremona , Scott Cao , etc. .... )

So , you can lable your violin by the ( model , your name , new brand-name , name of the shop , ...... )
 

[Eloffe]

i don't name violins

but i have named a cello "Monty"

and i know a double bass called "Mortimer"

[ClefLover]

My violin’s name is “Klutz.”  This is an unfortunate alias based on the fact that I wish it was a Klotz, yet he is a clumsier more millinial version of one... I thought about naming it “couch potatoe,” but thought that might offend my teenage son when explaining my thought process. 

[FoxMitchell]

I'm guilty of naming mine. Or at least giving them nicknames.

There's the 'Diva', the 'Bishop', the 'Old German Man', the 'Cremonese'... and some I've worked on got working titles as well: The 'Orange Strad', the 'Butt Strad', the 'Fake Vuillaume'...

[Smith]

 .

[David Beard]

As a maker, I don't much believe it good to name instruments. That's for later owners to do or not do.

I'm still in research and experimentation. But even though I'm not really in the market, I do have a few instruments out in the world so far. One violin got named after a father who took up violin later in life. The William James. And he inspired music making in the three generations of his family since.

Also, a cello I made got named 'Ariosa' by the player. The cellist feels the instrument has a singing voice and is feminine, which indeed was something I thought about during the making.

Lastly, the very first violin a made as a prototype and as an experiment in balancing asymmetries is now my daily instrument, which indeed I find I love. I named it Argo as it job is to take me on a journey.

[Rue]

I have to agree...I'd rather the maker didn't name the instrument. It implies ownership. 

And if someone else has staked a claim I am less likely to "bond".

That would be worse than borrowing an instrument - in which instance you know it will have to be returned at some point.

Mind games...

[MikeC]

Mine is named 'Dog Bane'  because whenever I play it they run away whimpering.....  

[Violadamore]

My violins usually have more than enough individual personality and influence in my life, without personification.

[James M. Jones]

Never really named my own work , but the guys I,m working with do. We have nicknames to help . Big eye, the three sisters ...the good bad and ugly..... the constitution,  the old Saxon , the new Saxon, The relic, ...big lots, ....ect.. helps when there are quite a few hanging to have nicknames. Nothing really serious. 

[Ron1]

Two different things here- one is sort of a "pet name" for one's violin, etc.- I can't imagine not doing that.  The other, in my view, is a more serious name given to an instrument you made, own, etc., based on something- it's history, provenance, appearance, sound, part of a set, and on, and on..  can be smart advertising/promotion.  Manfio might chime-in here. 

[antero]

Name that the maker gives, is usually the best.

Most outstanding in this respect was of course the notorious Walter H Mayson:  ELEPANTA, DRUSILLA, THIRLMERE, and the ever popular CONVOLVULUS.

[Mike_Danielson]

I named my most recent cello, Lady Julia.  This cello is a copy of the King Amati.

Lady Julia is named after Julia Bulette of Virginia City, Nevada.  She was a famous prostitute in the late 1800s.   You can look her up on Wikipedia.  A much loved character.

The cello is loud and warm voiced.  No matter how hard you play it, it always delivers.  The sound does not degrade with power.  A fast, easy response with good projection.

Mike D

[gowan]

Manfio names all his violas.  He usually uses names of famous women.   See his thread in Contemporary Makers.