J. B. Vuillaume Cellos

[cellopera]

I have been trying around 12 Cellos in the past years from Vuillaume and have been very surprised with the difference in quality of sound between them. It seems like his Cellos either have a neutral, unidirectional and nasal sound, or quite impressively powerful and full of color. In my cello group in the orchestra we also have two and they are both quite different in quality, but the making is gorgeous in both. Why is this the case? I could never understand. 
I also noticed that they almost always benefit from a French bridge, whereas the Belgian bridge  makes the usual Vuillaume lose precious core and dynamic flexibility in playing. I have a friend who prefers playing his modern Ersen Aycan instead of the Vuillaume, saying that he is tired of always not managing to modulate the sound.
 

[martin swan]

Pretty much the same with the violins IMO - most are very poor, some bordering on unusable, but the best are wonderful.

[jacobsaunders]

One should remember that Vuillaume almost certainly didn’t make Celli, Violins, Violas, Bows himself, but was a businessman who had a large amount of workmen who made them for him, while he chatted with his stockbroker in the front room. As such one needn’t be surprised when they are not all the same. Retford in his book “Bows and Bow Makers" writes (on page 60) “We have to thank Vuillaume’s parsimony for the Vorin bow bearing the name of the actual maker”. That said, one customer of mine has a Vuillaume Cello (whoever made it), which is an absolutely wonderful instrument, even though I carved a Belgian model bridge for it

[GeorgeH]

1 hour ago, jacobsaunders said:

One should remember that Vuillaume almost certainly didn’t make Celli, Violins, Violas, Bows himself, but was a businessman who had a large amount of workmen who made them for him, while he chatted with his stockbroker in the front room.

You don't think he made any? Then who taught his "large amount of workmen who made them for him" to produce such a large number of apparently good violins?

[FiddleDoug]

34 minutes ago, GeorgeH said:

You don't think he made any? Then who taught his "large amount of workmen who made them for him" to produce such a large number of apparently good violins?

You think that he hired them untrained? Most jobs require that you have qualification before they will hire you. (except maybe McDonalds). He was a businessman, and knew how to run things.

From Wikipedia: "In addition to the above-mentioned bow makers, most 19th-century Parisian violin makers worked in his workshop, including Hippolyte Silvestre, Jean-Joseph Honoré Derazey, Charles Buthod, Charles-Adolphe Maucotel, Télesphore Barbé, Paul Bailly and George Gemünder. "

[David Burgess]

51 minutes ago, GeorgeH said:

You don't think he made any? Then who taught his "large amount of workmen who made them for him" to produce such a large number of apparently good violins?

He probably made some of the very early ones himself. After that, he brought in already-trained workers from Mirecourt.

[GeorgeH]

1 hour ago, FiddleDoug said:

You think that he hired them untrained?

No, I don't, but for example, George Gemünder Sr. who came to Vuillaume's shop after being trained in Germany, was apparently personally trained by Vuillaume.

33 minutes ago, David Burgess said:

He probably made some of the very early ones himself. After that, he brought in already-trained workers from Mirecourt.

Are there enough authentic Vuillaume violins around such that the ones he made personally can be distinguished from the ones made by others in his workshop? Maybe not, I dunno.

Are there characteristics to Vuillaume workshop violins that distinguish them from other French workshops/makers?

[jacobsaunders]

58 minutes ago, GeorgeH said:

 

Are there enough authentic Vuillaume violins around such that the ones he made personally can be distinguished from the ones made by others in his workshop? Maybe not, I dunno.

 

It is a common misperception amongst people who have never worked in a larger firm, that “the boss” does much at all. Those of us who have worked in lager shops checked where the first aid kit was if the boss ever put an apron on