Wow, I got a bargain – what do you think?
So, you are looking to upgrade your violin and have saved up £2000 for the dream instrument. Everyone including your teacher has advised you to ‘buy an old violin, preferably German’ – so out you went and tried many violins. Maybe your teacher offered you ‘just an old one which I never use’ – or you scoured eBay. Well, finally you found just the one, an old German Strad copy and it was only £1250, so that even left budget to restore it.
Consider for a moment (and I too selectively appreciate old German violins!) what it is that you have chosen as a companion in your violin playing career. In the 19th century the German violin making machine pumped out thousands of instruments, some of the exceptional quality but the majority very mediocre – it was the 19th and early 20th-century European version of the 21st century mass-produced Chinese fiddle. If you’re lucky you might find one of the better ones which might even be nice enough for classical work. You won’t know from looking at it. It may look good and ‘old’ but even that can be faked, as were labels on a massive scale.
And then there is the cost of repair! When deciding whether it’s worth it to get it fixed, here is a checklist (and make sure you go it to a luthier specialising in bowed string instruments and not a shop that sells general music instruments, even if they claim to have luthiers).
Repairs needed: New bridge plus properly fitted. Pegs fitted properly. Nut grooves fixed. Fingerboard dressed. Seams reglued. Cracks glued ( if it has a soundpost crack it’s a dead knell).Tailpiece with fine tuners. Soundpost carved properly adjusted. A decent set of strings (Dominants are fine to start out with and inexpensive) Decent bow (carbon fibre are good value for the money) – it starts running into hundreds of pounds.
Now consider a modern ‘Master’ instrument from Germany, Romania or China as an outfit with a case and bow, £1500 to £2400. These instruments are very well made from fine tonewoods, often exceptional instruments and will improve with age requiring minimal maintenance and giving you years of playing pleasure.
The bottom line is that if a really good German violin is offered for sale, for example, a Mittenwalder – it will sell for £5000 to £7000 and be worth every penny!
