New Hill violins

[deans]

Anyone see one?

https://www.wehillandsons.com/violins

[J-G]

They sure don't seem to want to tell us much about their "workshop".  Or their violins.

And what's with calling them all "The Hill"?  

 

[Wood Butcher]

I have never heard of these, so I will assume it is a new venture, hence the lack of detailed information.

But with Robert Brewer Young, Stefan Peter Greiner & Derek Wilson involved, it sounds promising.

[Dwight Brown]

Did someone by the name?

DLB

[Violadamore]

26 minutes ago, Dwight Brown said:

Did someone by the name?

DLB

Yup. "J & A Beare" bought it back in 2017:  https://theviolinchannel.com/j-a-beare-london-acquisition-w-e-hill-sons/

Wouldn't it be lovely if someone from the firm came round MN to tell us all about their new violins? 

[jacobsaunders]

43 minutes ago, Violadamore said:

Yup. "J & A Beare" bought it back in 2017:  https://theviolinchannel.com/j-a-beare-london-acquisition-w-e-hill-sons/

Wouldn't it be lovely if someone from the firm came round MN to tell us all about their new violins? 

Zombie squared

[Three13]

Someone in London should make an appointment to visit the workshop and report back. You have to like the fact that they're making a Bergonzi model...

[JacksonMaberry]

Smells like snake oil, to me. 

[Evan Smith]

What does snake oil smell like?

[Rue]

I like their Del Gesu descripton;

"Dark, earthy, grounded with a heroic human voice, full of grit and power."

I feel a bodice-ripper moment forming.

36 minutes ago, Evan Smith said:

What does snake oil smell like?

You don't want to know. Trust me.

But - speaking of oil, they *gasp* are selling a varnish cleaner. Didn't someone send them the memo?

[matesic]

 I'm sure these violins are the real deal because J & A Beare surely don't want to besmirch the Hill name and their own. But someone in marketing should be taken for a walk in the woods

[HoGo]

14 hours ago, J-G said:

And what's with calling them all "The Hill"? 

Perhaps they aim at the US market? US companies like to call their instrument like The Gibson etc :-) I wonder why they don't build under their own name... would a Greiner-made "the Hill" violin be more sought after than Greiner-made "Greiner"? Or will the violins be made by apprentices under guidance of the forementioned gentlemen?

[vathek]

I think the "since 1762" in their masthead is a bit disingenuous

[martin swan]

11 minutes ago, HoGo said:

Perhaps they aim at the US market? US companies like to call their instrument like The Gibson etc :-) I wonder why they don't build under their own name... would a Greiner-made "the Hill" violin be more sought after than Greiner-made "Greiner"? Or will the violins be made by apprentices under guidance of the forementioned gentlemen?

They are workshop violins (and bows), so made by an anonymous workforce with some input from a couple of well known names.

J&A Beare bought out the defunct WE Hill & Son firm (which is little more than a brand) and have revived the violin-making and bow-making concepts.

As far as the bows are concerned, Derek Wilson used to work for Hills when it was still running, so I think these bows will be made absolutely in the manner of the previous Hill bows.

For the violins, they look very much like the old Hill violins, but it couldn't be claimed that this is some kind of continuous tradition. Naturally the marketing glosses over this, but in our current climate of everyday bare-faced lying it seems quite innocent.

[jacobsaunders]

Does this, as a quirck side effect, mean the end of "David Hill" certificates?

[Wood Butcher]

So the real workshop where the making takes place could be in China?

Then set up and labelled in London?

[plasterercaster]

9 hours ago, Rue said:

I like their Del Gesu descripton;

"Dark, earthy, grounded with a heroic human voice, full of grit and power."

I feel a bodice-ripper moment forming.

You don't want to know. Trust me.

But - speaking of oil, they *gasp* are selling a varnish cleaner. Didn't someone send them the memo?

sounds more like a description of William Ebsworth turning in his grave

[martin swan]

59 minutes ago, jacobsaunders said:

Does this, as a quirck side effect, mean the end of "David Hill" certificates?

I think it means that the automatically regenerated certificates which you can obtain to certify a fingerboard that was once on a violin that might have been a Testore can now be had from WE Hill & Son/J&A Beare rather than David Hill. Probably the price has gone up too!

[jacobsaunders]

24 minutes ago, martin swan said:

I think it means that the automatically regenerated certificates which you can obtain to certify a fingerboard that was once on a violin that might have been a Testore can now be had from WE Hill & Son/J&A Beare rather than David Hill. Probably the price has gone up too!

Perhaps they will put an old fingerboard into the next Tarisio auction, instead of a bottom block

[violinnewb]

Here is my un-learned opinion:

1. If a company buys established goodwill and continues to use the brand, what's the problem?  So many companies out there do this.  Established companies are bought out and continued under the original marquee all of the time.

2. The violins are clearly referenced as "workshop" instruments.  They aren't trying to deceive anyone.

3. Matesic is correct.  J & A Beare probably didn't take the Hill company over and said, lets kill (literally) two birds with one stone....or let's sink two ships with one canon?  Whichever you choose.

[deans]

I like the Messiah, and I agree with Martin that somehow there seems to be a resemblance to older Hill violins. The Messiah pictured almost looks like it has a neck set like the actual Messiah. Or maybe I'm just imagining that.

[martin swan]

From my point of view, if the instruments and bows are made in a workshop in Hampstead, then I think it's a very laudable initiative.

 

[Wood Butcher]

23 minutes ago, martin swan said:

From my point of view, if the instruments and bows are made in a workshop in Hampstead, then I think it's a very laudable initiative.

 

It is a big “if”. But if true, I would agree.

On the other hand we may never know where they are made. Greiner is so successful in his own right, it is hard to see how he will have time for this, but maybe I’m judging unfairly.

[deans]

I didnt think this would be such a big mystery. 

[Dwight Brown]

It’s kind of like when they resurrected Bugatti. The present company has almost nothing to do with the real Bugatti company. I think there are lots of instances of this sort of thing. 
 

DLB