What do you think of these two violins listed on Ebay?

[xyz]

I saw the following two potentially interesting eBay listings that will end soon.

First item: https://www.ebay.de/itm/255848331799

The seller is apparently a former orchestra musician. The age of the violin is unknown. According to the seller, "there is a name in the violin "Joanes Gagliano", which is likely not "Joannes Gagliano"". On the bridge, it says "Schade Halle", which seems to have something to do with the violin maker Jens Peter Schade,

Unfortunately, only three photos are available. The case is very professional, so my guess is that it is indeed a valuable violin.

 

 
Second item: https://www.ebay.de/itm/185672674975

The seller only said that he/she has owned it for 50 years. The flaming seems to be real. Its peg holes are bushed. So my guess is that it is also a valuable violin.

 

What do you think about them?

Edited December 2, 2022 by xyz

[mysticpaw]

Run away !!!!

[xyz]

7 minutes ago, mysticpaw said:

Run away !!!!

I prefer you to give a more detailed response so that I can refer to it in the future...

[chrissweden]

50 minutes ago, xyz said:

The case is very professional, so my guess is that it is indeed a valuable violin.

That's a very bad assumption to make! The violin appears to be Eastern Europe with sprayed on varnish, could also be Chinese but the quality of the photo's are deliberately poor, this isn't 2001 when we were making photo's with 1mp cameras!

 

The other appears to be Bohemian but again the photo's appear to have been taken at midnight which is probably done to conceal defects.

[Wood Butcher]

54 minutes ago, xyz said:

I saw the following two potentially interesting eBay listings that will end soon.

First item: https://www.ebay.de/itm/255848331799

The seller is apparently a former orchestra musician. The age of the violin is unknown. According to the seller, "there is a name in the violin "Joanes Gagliano", which is likely not "Joannes Gagliano"". On the bridge, it says "Schade Halle", which seems to have something to do with the violin maker Jens Peter Schade,

Unfortunately, only three photos are available. The case is very professional, so my guess is that it is indeed a valuable violin.

 

 
Second item: https://www.ebay.de/itm/185672674975

The seller only said that he/she has owned it for 50 years. The flaming seems to be real. Its peg holes are bushed. So my guess is that it is also a valuable violin.

 

What do you think about them?

I think you should stop looking on ebay, and go to a good shop in your area.
It's clear from what you have posted, that you are not in a position to tell a good violin from a bad one, and are in great danger of either wasting your money, or buying something, which by the time it becomes useable, has cost more than what it is worth.

If you go to a shop, you can try them first, get advice, take one home on a no obligation trial etc, You will know exactly what you are getting, and how it sounds.

[mysticpaw]

My detailed response is ...... know what you are looking at .... research what you want to buy ... check out violins in the flesh ( not from 3 doubtful photos on ebay )..... spend hours reading expert opinions on good forums rather than hours looking at "bargains" on ebay .. don't confuse the fact that a good case MUST contain a good violin. The first violin is most likely Eastern European/Chinese, the second is hard to say because of the poorly lit photos.

 

[Wood Butcher]

5 minutes ago, mysticpaw said:

My detailed response is ...... know what you are looking at .... research what you want to buy ... check out violins in the flesh ( not from 3 doubtful photos on ebay )..... spend hours reading expert opinions on good forums rather than hours looking at "bargains" on ebay ..

I would agree with a lot of this, however the part about Forums is tricky. There are many who write in an authoritative way, and feel obliged to have the last word on every topic, but it's clear are no expert of any kind.
Knowing who to listen to can be almost impossible.

[mysticpaw]

Point taken.... but even the words of a "dogmatic expert" can sometimes be useful. I suppose the best advice is to to listen to all and sundry and absorb as much as you can ... then go to a shop and play a violin

[______]

1 hour ago, mysticpaw said:

Run away !!!!

 

1 hour ago, xyz said:

I prefer you to give a more detailed response so that I can refer to it in the future...

Run away quickly

[xyz]

Thank you for the response of you all.

A clarification: as someone on a limited budget and a beginner of violin, I would consider a violin that is worth $600 as a "valuable violin".

A question out of curiosity: Do these two violins, as seen from the pictures, worth $600, or $500 even, if such judgment is possible?

 

[Pate Bliss]

On 12/2/2022 at 5:49 AM, ______ said:

 

Run away quickly

Run away in the future 

 

[Pate Bliss]

14 hours ago, xyz said:

A clarification: as someone on a limited budget and a beginner of violin, I would consider a violin that is worth $600 as a "valuable violin".

There are online shops that sell lots of serviceable violins for $600 or less.  I would just choose one that has gotten good reviews or something, because as a beginner you won't know what you want or need.  I mean you might choose one because of something meaningless or because of something bad.  If you have a teacher let them do this for you. Ebay is 90+% fiddles that need expensive work to make them playable, and if it was unplayable would you know if the problem was it or you?