Is this real deal my father left it for me when he passed 37 years ago it's been just sitting in attic collecting dust. My friend told me look into it

[clay]

authentic or none????

[FiddleDoug]

You really need to take pictures as recommended in the “How to Photograph……..” thread at the top of the forum. Stradivari didn’t own a typewriter, so the label is worthless. From what I can see, not a Strad.

[GeorgeH]

4 hours ago, clay said:

authentic or none????

Sorry, but none. It was originally a low-grade German trade fiddle that has deteriorated over use and time to the point of being basically worthless in today's market. Happily, it does look like it was very much enjoyed by a fiddler a long time ago.

It appears to have the prerequisite string around the sound post; I wonder if there is a rattlesnake tail inside there, too?

[Brad Dorsey]

5 hours ago, clay said:

authentic...?...

Yes.

It is an authentic violin.  But of the cheapest grade, in terrible condition.  It has no value as a violin; it's probably fit only for firewood.  

[LCF]

It has cultural cred if there's a story about who played it and where and when, but very little value as a violin outside of that. Somebody played the living daylights out of it and kept it going, whittled some replacement pegs, nailed up a case. 

The label is just pretense.

[Andreas Preuss]

Unfortunately law at the time when those instruments were produced didn’t force the factories producing them in hundreds of thousands to write on the label 

imitation of….

to make clear what it is.

[David Beard]

Perhaps they considered their use of a typewriter font to be sufficient disclosure.

[Riccardo964]

Antonio Stradivari invented font serif technique and then meticulously took his time perfecting making his labels look like yours.

I don't see any reason as to why this is not a legitimate Stradivarius violin at all.

Sell it for at least $11.3M - any less and they will be tricking you.

 

[uguntde]

Genuine Strad with a label done on his typewriter. Very rare. 

[LCF]

It might actually have been written by hand in imitation of a typewritten label.

[reg]

On 6/10/2024 at 1:03 PM, GeorgeH said:

string around the sound post;

Where do you see this?

...and why did they do it (prerequisite?)

 

[Blank face]

On 6/10/2024 at 9:02 AM, clay said:

authentic or none????

It's a bit cheap to make jokes about a typewritten label, which as a later addition can give the name of the real maker or even not.

Identification rule #1: Ignore labels, signatures or brands in the first place.

Identification rule #2: s.#1

etc.

We have a violin with inked purfling, a bit wobbly beneath the button, and a thin varnish of a golden-orange color, the fingerboard made (probably) of maple which was colored black. Therefore it is very probable that we look at an instrument made in the Austrian Salzkammergut, early till mid 1800s. The ff look recut, which is enough to set the moneatry value close to zero. Nonetheless it could be set up, as long as there are no other heavy damages than visible at the actual photos, as a sort of beginner HIP (baroque) violin, because it is expected still having the original through neck and bar. This would need minimum opening it, cleaning, reglueing and touch up the crack at the bass side new pegs (and possibly bushings), bridge,soundpost, period tailpiece and strings, refinishing the fingerboard, also cleaning and surely some reglueing of open seams. This action would cost certainly several hundreds till thousand of $$, what could be the new insurance value.

[GeorgeH]

54 minutes ago, reg said:

Where do you see this?

...and why did they do it (prerequisite?)

It is in the shadow of the sound post, and strings were tied around sound posts to use to reset them by holding the ends through the ffs to move the sound post around inside.

BTW, the OP hasn’t visited this thread since June 10.

[Andreas Preuss]

23 minutes ago, Blank face said:

Identification rule #1: Ignore labels, signatures or brands in the first place.

identification rule #1: don’t let yourself put under (expectation) pressure by the questioner. 
 

rule#2 Have your systematic order to look at instruments, best not to start with the top. (Back, then ribs and interior avoiding to look at the label, then the scroll, the top last. 

Rule #3 look at the label, but only if you have a good conclusion. 
 

Maybe it would be a good idea that all instruments posted here for identification don’t show any picture of any label or mention anything like that.