Favorite Luthier Quotes

[HoGo]

8 hours ago, Roger Hill said:

And based upon that, it is only a matter of 250 years or so until a good quality Chinese import has value equal to today's Strads and Del Gesus?

Sadly tha value of the highest end violins is completely out of hand of luthiers or musicians. Now, it's the investment of big companies expecting PROFIT over time and so the price HAS to inflate over the rest of "lesser" instruments so they do whatever to keep the value rising. Sometimes together with some dealers wanting to get a piece of that cake as well.

[David Burgess]

7 hours ago, Roger Hill said:

  Doesn't tone count for something in the market made by professional luthiers, numerous comments neglecting tone notwithstanding?

Among my clients, it very much does.

[Michael Darnton]

On 11/26/2020 at 10:30 AM, Roger Hill said:

This thread seems to confirm that professional luthiers can determine the quality of a violin with only their eyes.  An amazing development of their senses and skills, ears not required.............

OK, this is an opening to my favorite player quote, heard more than once. Paraphrase: "This violin is certainly at the top of the price range of this maker; I tried many of his violins, and this one sounded the best."

And I guarantee you that EVERY person you meet with a violin will assure you of the same thing, and that of all the violins in that price range, theirs was the best.  So of course it naturally follows that they ALL are the most valuable of their maker's work, and the best at that price. Every single one of them. 

Or, alternately, tone quality is subjective and doesn't bear too heavily in defining price. That works, too.

[Michael Darnton]

Now that I think of it, the obvious solution to this would be to wait until the player has made his choice, then tack 30% on to your price to assure that this is the most expensive example of that maker on the market, based on its tonal desirability that day to that customer. Would that make you happy, Roger? :-P

[stringcheese]

The phase that we use occasionally among ourselves (but not in front of customers). "Well, NOTHING will make it good, but ANYTHING will make it better." 

[Roger Hill]

1 hour ago, Michael Darnton said:

Would that make you happy, Roger? :-P

Well, Michael, when it comes to violins, anything that pleases you just tickles me pink   .  Now, where I am coming from is that you could staff the physics and mechanical engineering departments of a PhD granting  university with the technical talent that posts here regularly. While I can't speak for all of that talent, I think that I speak for the majority when I say that the part of violin making that we obsess over is the acoustical part, the tone.  I think that most of us probably don't give a flip about the subtle curvature of the entry to the helix of the scroll, but we can get completely engrossed about the entry of the curve of the arch as it approaches the rib, something impacting tone.  In my naivete, it came as a surprise to me that professional luthiers would not have tone at the top of their list (or even on their list?) of factors defining quality of a violin.  Given that that is so,  I can live with it.  I just won't be showing anything I make to anyone in the market, and that is no great loss to the market.............