ALCO Report post Posted September 23, 2020 Hello, I would appreciate your opinions on this instrument that I believe is from Markneukirchen. If possible, I would like to know when it may have been made and it's quality grade. LoB 360mm. It doesn't have corner blocks. More than the above, it is the fingerboard markers that I would like to know about. I'm sorry about the quality of the photographs. Thank you, Ian. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Slight Report post Posted September 23, 2020 13 minutes ago, ALCO said: Hello, I would appreciate your opinions on this instrument that I believe is from Markneukirchen. If possible, I would like to know when it may have been made and it's quality grade. LoB 360mm. It doesn't have corner blocks. More than the above, it is the fingerboard markers that I would like to know about. I'm sorry about the quality of the photographs. Thank you, Ian. 20th century. Low quality. The fingerboard markers are unlikely to be original to the violin. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Strad O Various Jr. Report post Posted September 23, 2020 Looks to be the cheaper grade Schoenbach production violin. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rue Report post Posted September 23, 2020 That has an oddly carved back, no? And another first for me...the inlaid fingerboard dots! Haven't seen that before. Was it common at one point in time? Regardless, looks like a low-end beginner or school instrument. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J-G Report post Posted September 23, 2020 The spacing of the inlaid dots doesn't look right for 'markers'. On fretted instruments the dots mark the space behind frets 3, 5, 7, 9 (or 10) and 12. So minor 3rd, fourth, fifth, etc. Can you tell what notes you'd get on this fiddle by fingering at the dots? I'm guessing it'd sound dreadful. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deans Report post Posted September 23, 2020 8 minutes ago, J-G said: I'm guessing it'd sound dreadful. It would be a good guess, and a good example to refer back to the thread about modern vs old low grade instruments. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jacobsaunders Report post Posted September 23, 2020 Is that a “vernacular” one? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Violadamore Report post Posted September 23, 2020 1 hour ago, ALCO said: Hello, I would appreciate your opinions on this instrument that I believe is from Markneukirchen. If possible, I would like to know when it may have been made and it's quality grade. LoB 360mm. It doesn't have corner blocks. More than the above, it is the fingerboard markers that I would like to know about. I'm sorry about the quality of the photographs. Thank you, Ian. The photo quality is fine, it's the violin you should be sorry about. Made on a Friday around quitting time. "More than the above, it is the fingerboard markers that I would like to know about." Why?? Doesn't it have one of those tacky postwar "Handarbeitet in Mittenwald" stickers inside? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ALCO Report post Posted September 23, 2020 Thanks for your comments, good people. Perfectly vernacular Jacob! J-G, it's a whole tone scale . There's not much call for it down my way but, as Rue has shown, it is a conversation starter. Yes deans and I'm delighted to discover that I actually have a cheap and nasty example of what I was enquiring about in my other thread. No labels or markings that I can see. But Violadamore, surely you must agree that those markers make this an interesting violin? Very interesting!! It was my first fiddle and I learned everything I know on it. Yeah, yeah, I know!! One last question: could it have been made in the nineteenth century or only, as Dave suggested, in the twentieth and if so, would that have been early on? Is that two questions? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wood Butcher Report post Posted September 23, 2020 27 minutes ago, ALCO said: Thanks for your comments, good people. One last question: could it have been made in the nineteenth century or only, as Dave suggested, in the twentieth and if so, would that have been early on? Is that two questions? It could be up to 1920’s, looks like the varnish might even be sprayed on with a gun. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jacobsaunders Report post Posted September 23, 2020 46 minutes ago, ALCO said: Perfectly vernacular Jacob! J-G, it's a whole tone scale . I expect it was exposed to Sudeten-German dialect in the womb, first quarter of the 20th C. ish. I’m not aware of any Sudeten-German folk-music using the whole tone scale, although I remember being impressed as a teenager when Stevie Wonder started “isn’t she lovely” with one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ALCO Report post Posted September 23, 2020 I would never have thought that spray-guns were used. I have searched the web and found nothing about any inlaid markers on violins. I would have suggested it was merely a symmetric decoration, if it wasn't for the irregular spacing of the two highest dots. Maybe I'll have a crack at the Berg concerto. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Violadamore Report post Posted September 23, 2020 3 hours ago, Violadamore said: Doesn't it have one of those tacky postwar "Handarbeitet in Mittenwald" stickers inside? 1 hour ago, Wood Butcher said: It could be up to 1920’s, looks like the varnish might even be sprayed on with a gun. 46 minutes ago, ALCO said: I would never have thought that spray-guns were used. Something to consider when something looks almost Schönbach. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J-G Report post Posted September 24, 2020 2 hours ago, jacobsaunders said: I’m not aware of any Sudeten-German folk-music using the whole tone scale, although I remember being impressed as a teenager when Stevie Wonder started “isn’t she lovely” with one. Pretty sure that was You are the Sunshine of my Life. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jacobsaunders Report post Posted September 24, 2020 5 hours ago, J-G said: Pretty sure that was You are the Sunshine of my Life. thanks, I'm sure you're right. Still astonishing that Mr Wonder started a pop song with a whole tone scale Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sospiri Report post Posted September 24, 2020 7 hours ago, jacobsaunders said: thanks, I'm sure you're right. Still astonishing that Mr Wonder started a pop song with a whole tone scale He was a big Jazz fan. You could say that his 70s music was an extension of Jazz for a wider audience. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
