Advice violin

[ionu7]

 i have a friend that has this violin, he paid 1500 euros for it, from a romanian luthier, and i heard that this luthier buys form china , a good set up and he sell at a higher price. Does it looks like a chinese violin?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 15, 2020 by ionu7

[deans]

I would have guessed Bubenreuth, or maybe Romania, esp since thats where it was purchased. Could be chinese. Looks fine for the price either way.

Ask the seller

[Blank face]

The pinched rib corners are pointing more to a Schönbach made violin from the first half of the 20th century, not very refined in my eyes. Maybe the setup is Romanian or Chinese.

In Europe this type of violin can be bought much cheaper.

[PhilipKT]

3 hours ago, Blank face said:

The pinched rib corners are pointing more to a Schönbach made violin from the first half of the 20th century, not very refined in my eyes. Maybe the setup is Romanian or Chinese.

In Europe this type of violin can be bought much cheaper.

Can you show a photograph that illustrates what do you mean by “pinched ribs”? 

[Blank face]

1 hour ago, PhilipKT said:

Can you show a photograph that illustrates what do you mean by “pinched ribs”? 

First picture shows a pinched /clamped together rib corner of a built on the back construction (with pseudo block), both endgrains are visible with the joint symmetrical in the middle, very often a bit wobbly like at the OP clearly visible. Second picture a rib joint of an external mould construction, the ribs mitred with a tiny gap inside, the outer covering the C rib. This looks usually very straight and regular.

At both Chinese and new Romanian I would expect an external (outside) mould construction as in the second picture, while ribs built on the back are indicating a Schönbach.

[Blank face]

Early Bubenreuth would be possible, too. Later production (Höfner etc.) used  mostly an external mould.

[PhilipKT]

1 hour ago, Blank face said:

Early Bubenreuth would be possible, too. Later production (Höfner etc.) used  mostly an external mould.

Thank you very much, one big barrier to people like me is that frequently even though we understand the terms, we can’t visualize them. I appreciate this very much.

[hannaz]

12 hours ago, Blank face said:

First picture shows a pinched /clamped together rib corner of a built on the back construction (with pseudo block), both endgrains are visible with the joint symmetrical in the middle, very often a bit wobbly like at the OP clearly visible. Second picture a rib joint of an external mould construction, the ribs mitred with a tiny gap inside, the outer covering the C rib. This looks usually very straight and regular.

Does any of these methods indicate better craftsmanship (or better quality instrument) or is it a matter of personal preference?

[Violadamore]

9 hours ago, hannaz said:

Does any of these methods indicate better craftsmanship (or better quality instrument) or is it a matter of personal preference?

  There's a presumption that inside mold is better because Strad and his colleagues in Cremona did it that way, outside mold was used for French trade fiddles, and Saxon/Bohemian trade fiddles used built-on-back, but masterpieces, mediocrities, and absolute disasters have been produced using all three methods. 

[Blank face]

4 hours ago, hannaz said:

Does any of these methods indicate better craftsmanship (or better quality instrument) or is it a matter of personal preference?

More a matter of different schools and traditions. Neapolitan makers including the whole Gagliano family for example used the building on the back method (and other Italian schools, too) and are highly esteemed nonetheless.

Certain marketing propaganda caused many makers from the 19th century on (Vuillaume et.a.) to disguise their real construction method to make them appear "Cremonese". The latest consequence is the meaningless Ebay advertising as fully lined and blocked and the like.

[martin swan]

3 hours ago, Violadamore said:

 inside mold was used for French trade fiddles, 

typo I think ...

[Violadamore]

4 hours ago, martin swan said:

typo I think ...

Yep, thanks.  Editing now.