loudandproud Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 (edited) I know this not the right forum but what the heck. Ok, so the other day i was reading in the classifieds on to see this violen selling for $200. It read: Old itailian violen, old coffin case and old bow. Needs Strings. $200 It caught my eyes for some reason. So i called and went to the house selling it. I went out to a little shed beside a barn and sure enough the was an old (i mean really freaking old) case. Shape like a coffin. I popped it open and there was a little silk towel thingy over it. Very nice violen. You can tell it is very old. The varnish has turned a dark brown, chocalate like color. Very good condition. Some things i notice about the wood. Mastergrade spruce top! I mean 34 grain line per inch, no runout, on quarter to 2 degrees The back and sides are also very impressive. The intensity of flame a with out a doubt the tightest and deepest ive ever seen. The case looks to be made out of spruce as well. it has an interior that is almost like a wallpaper (not wallpaper, but it has the touch of it). Inside the case i found a ticket to an orchestra with some righting all over it and different other little pieces of paper with gibberish written (real bad hand writing). The bow is rosewood, with an ebony frog and a sterling silver tip. What really caught my eye was the frog, it had the usual MOP inlay of the side, but on the botton of the frog it had a inlay of MOP. Some thing i personnally havent seen. Now back to the violen, Inside it reads the whole bit about stradivarius. with the date 1721. It also has a little map of italy about the size of a penny. What troubles me is that i can not find where it is made. Im sure it isnt a real strad, but it is without a doubt a very old strad copy, with great woods and workmanship for that matter. I bought it on the spot. So, can anyone help me out with this find? Thanks for your help. Jeff PS: tommorow i will be picking up a set of strings for the sucker and see how she sounds. Edited December 26, 2005 by loudandproud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 Sweet find man. Once I was doing some remodling for a lady in my church and I found a box full of violin parts, from the 1920's, in her attick. She had no clue how they'd gotten there(no doubt she forgot, she's about 95). I had hoped to take the parts(they had fallen appart due to humidity) and rebuild them(there were 2 violins worth of parts), but unfortunately everything was warped and bowed way beyond feasible repair. A shame really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~john~ Posted December 27, 2005 Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 loudandproud did you get the date 1721 from the inside of the violin? You do realise thats about 286 year old if its right my family have violins from about 1880 and i tourght they were old. Do you have any pictures of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugaree23663 Posted December 27, 2005 Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 Dude, if thats a real Stradivarius, you can retire right fricking now and live the way you want. You need to get some one who is savy on that sort of stuff to authenticate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted December 27, 2005 Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 Dude, if that is a real Strad, I am quite envious... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egdeltar Posted December 27, 2005 Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 I demand Pics!!!!! Hahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted December 27, 2005 Report Share Posted December 27, 2005 My great-grandfather was, at one time, the owner of the "Guyot" strad (made in 1688). But that doesn't mean I know jack about Strads, because I don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loudandproud Posted December 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 I just put strings on it and it sounds very good. Warm, and lively. And really resonent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pr3Va1L Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 BTW, if you get it checked by a pro, be wary. He might tell you it's worth nothing and try to buy it from you... A service Seriously, I've seen many luthiers (sorry guys but it's true) try to **** poeple up with those costy violins... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGwaH Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 Not to get your hopes up or quash them, but according to Wikipedia, there are no known Strad's made in 1721. His last known insturments made prior to 1721 was produced in 1720 with production picking up again in 1722. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 If the label inside is written in English, I think that could shed some light ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s.t.rising Posted December 30, 2005 Report Share Posted December 30, 2005 lf you find out it's a real strad send me your address. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loudandproud Posted January 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2006 If the label inside is written in English, I think that could shed some light ? ← no, i think it is latin. My wife translated it like In the year of our lord 1721. Blaha blah. I will eventually get pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted January 2, 2006 Report Share Posted January 2, 2006 If the whole label's in Latin (i.e. not just all the Anno Domini), type it up or post a pic, and I can try my hand at it. Strad or not, great find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weaponepsilon Posted January 2, 2006 Report Share Posted January 2, 2006 Even if its a copy, a steals a steal. A student Viol at any shop is around $600. Plus even a copy that old is worth something. I'd say have it appraised if possible and learn to play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammy Posted January 3, 2006 Report Share Posted January 3, 2006 I need to see pictures of this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loudandproud Posted January 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 I took it to an appraser. Violen: Nice, from 1790's. Most like made in germany. High quality. Could bring as high as 2500-4000 usd. The bow: Bling beotches !!!! He was happy with this. Said it could be worth as much a 5 time the worth of the violen. Made in 1720's with rare frog inlay. Here are some pic i finally got around to taking. Pic 1 pic 2 pic 3 pic 4 pic 5 pic 6 pic 7 pic 8 pic 9 Thats it. Im pretty damn happy with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeiscosRock Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Beautiful man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoSo_Spencer Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 The Flame is perfect Imo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x189player Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 You should try searching ebay for old violins. There are a million of them out there, starting 50$ or so. Fake strads outnumber all the other violins in the universe- there was a huge market of them to sell to servicemen, especially after WWI, who thought they were getting somethign rare. The original strads had labels in old Italian, so they all have fakes that look the same. To be fair, it may be a great instrument. The fact you can play it in person means a lot, because you can't really tell by the grain how it will sound. One detail that will tell you a bit about the quality is whether the purfling is real or painted on (that's the pinstriping around the edge). It should be real superthin layers of ebony and maple, sometimes you can see with a magnifier, or where the finish has been chipped. Granted, this is not an indicator of high quality, but it will sometimes help weed out the really bad ones. Be careful. You might find a gem, but if you're spending 200$ a pop to find out, c'mere, I'll sell you 200$ violins all day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weaponepsilon Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 See? What did I tell you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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