Violin maker

[Pedro Ebro]

If a violin maker from the German manufacturer GEWA Violins sells two violins with a price difference of 700 euros, Gewa Maestro 56, Gewa Maestro 71 and the only difference is the spruce top of the Gewa 71 which is Italian alpine wood, is it worth paying the difference?

[matesic]

I'm afraid your question is unanswerable except by someone with experience of precisely these two violins and the same conception you have of the meaning of "worth".  But Gewa know their business.

[Pedro Ebro]

the question was not about these violins, it was just an example, the question was about the wood of the spruce top, I understand that the best European woods grow in forests in central Europe, northern Italy, Switzerland, Germany, the Balkans, etc. and they are areas close to each other, if we have trees at, for example, 700 meters high with more or less the same climate, and it is the same type of tree, why? do they charge me more for Italian Alpine? The easy answer would be that that is where the wood of Stradivari and Guarneri came from, or is it simply better? If in a violin factory the same employees make two types of instruments with exactly the same quality and the same effort and only the origin of the top changes, one of German spruce and another Italian, and without being able to listen to them, is the one of Italian origin worth it or is it just marketing

[reg]

As you say, GEWA know their business and in my opinion the better violin is worth the extra price.

Why not test drive them and decide for yourself?

[Strad O Various Jr.]

Why not compare to antique violins that are guaranteed to use European wood?

[Greg Sigworth]

The materials a violin is made of is just the beginning of the final instrument. The more expensive instrument may have been made using more expensive and time demanding skills. A simple item such as the bridge and strings can easily account for the difference in price. In the grand scheme of things a price difference of 700 EUROS is not very much for good instruments. One would have to try the instruments and see if the greater price is justified. Have fun trying out the instruments.

[jacobsaunders]

I remember once, many years ago going to a music fair. The Firm Paesold had a stand there. They had the entire spectrum of all the price ranges of Celli standing there like a choir. I went and had a look. As far as I could judge, they were all pretty much the same. The cheap ones had plain wood and on the more expensive (up to very expensive, I thought) ones, the wood got progressively more stripey. I frankly couldn’t see what else was different. A representative started coming over to explain to me how wonderful everything was, but I shuffled off in the general direction of away