Byron E. Beebe - Muskegon MI, 1919

[Jeny Mahon]

I wanted to share a fiddle that just arrived today!  I got it on Ebay a few days ago, and at the time I didn't know that the Beebe family has an active facebook page and is looking for violins made by Byron Beebe or his son Emmett.  Of course I immediately wrote to them and said they have first dibs on it!  They responded with really good information, as they have all of the original records.  They looked up the inventory number and this is what they found:

"Evidently it was purchased by someone in Roanoke, VA.  He must have been a dealer because he purchased several violins within a few years.  It certainly appears that #1374 was an imported violin and re-graduated by both Byron and Emmett. The violin was a K410 model which suggests German in origin. In the notes they mention they considered it a good violin, a note they did not make very often."

Aside from the saddle crack it's in great shape.  It was cool to learn that the original buyer was in Roanoke, because the Ebay seller is located there.  So, it most likely didn't go anywhere until this week!

Anyway, that's my Small Business Saturday purchase... only 100 years late 

 

[BassClef]

Did they want to buy it back from you? What are they doing with all of the violins they buy back?

[J-G]

17 hours ago, reepicheep said:

They looked up the inventory number and this is what they found:

"....  It certainly appears that #1374 was an imported violin and re-graduated by both Byron and Emmett. The violin was a K410 model which suggests German in origin. ..."

Interesting detail.  We gather that some early 20th century American "violin makers" added nothing more than labels to instruments that were brought in ready to sell.  I wonder how common it was a hundred years ago to import violins, then regraduate (and varnish?) them for sale as US instruments.  There's certainly a lot of that going on nowadays.

[Jeny Mahon]

Yep, this is on their FB page: 

THE BEEBE FAMILY IS INTERESTED IN ACQUIRING BEEBE VIOLINS. PLEASE CONTACT US IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN EITHER SELLING OR DONATING YOUR VIOLIN TO THE FAMILY. THESE INSTRUMENTS HOLD GREAT SENTIMENTAL VALUE TO US & WILL BE CHERISHED, PROTECTED & PLAYED BY OUR CHILDREN. THANK YOU.  

I gave them my contact info and they said they'd let me know if any of the family wanted it.  

[jacobsaunders]

10 minutes ago, reepicheep said:

Yep, this is on their FB page: 

THE BEEBE FAMILY IS INTERESTED IN ACQUIRING BEEBE VIOLINS. PLEASE CONTACT US IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN EITHER SELLING OR DONATING YOUR VIOLIN TO THE FAMILY. THESE INSTRUMENTS HOLD GREAT SENTIMENTAL VALUE TO US & WILL BE CHERISHED, PROTECTED & PLAYED BY OUR CHILDREN. THANK YOU.  

I gave them my contact info and they said they'd let me know if any of the family wanted it.  

If anybody would like to donate one of my dad’s fiddles to me, I would be happy to “consider” it too!

[Jeny Mahon]

1 hour ago, jacobsaunders said:

If anybody would like to donate one of my dad’s fiddles to me, I would be happy to “consider” it too!

No kidding!    As for this one though, I'm guessing they are probably more interested in fiddles that were made by Byron or Emmett Beebe. 

[Ladislaw Pfeifer]

I own my uncle's E. W. Beebe violin and he may have been the original owner as he was a teenager when it was made.   I have had it since 1960.  It is a 'Grand Concert' model # 198  from 1925.

L. Pfeifer  

[skinnedleather]

Does this look like his earlier labels?