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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4026
Location: Utah | The last major economic stimulus from us for a while is this gorgeous instrument. The workmanship and sound on this is very impressive. It has put a big smile on my son's face! Though it is only a mid-level violin, it is sufficient to get him through college (if he should pursue music that far). We are fortunate to have three excellent violin makers in the valley who make instruments much nicer than the typical school rental variety.
If you thought guitars were expensive, you haven't had a violinist in the family! I coulda had a new Adamas for the price of one of these, and this is nowhere near high end for violins.
The top is spruce. The rear is a single piece of flame maple, and the sides are also flame maple IIRC. Tuners are ebony, as is the fingerboard.
The lucky new owner, playing his old free loaner at a recent recital.
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 2120
Location: Chicago | That's gotta be the WEIRDEST ukulele I've evern seen... inspired by herbs out in Hawaii that not even Lanaki knows about.
Who's ever heard of playing guitar with a stick? |
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Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Sweet wood! 
Four strings, no frets, no plectrum... No Iffy, not even that! :(
Did ya'll get to watch its progress? |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4026
Location: Utah | Originally posted by 2ifbyC:
Did ya'll get to watch its progress? No, we didn't get to see it made. We went into the showroom and my son just played lots of violins. After a while even I learned to hear the differences between instruments. One great thing about violin shops is that they let you borrow an instrument for free so you can live with it for a few days. We checked out two finalists from different shops and brought them home. My son's teacher played both and came to the same conclusion as my son as to which was the better made and better sounding instrument.
A better instrument also requires a better bow. Now those suckers aren't cheap either! So the second part of the process is to take the new violin to several shops and try out different bows.
Whatever the violin version of GAS is, it's as dangerous an infliction as O-GAS. |
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | The cost and value of professional symphony orchestra level instruments is mind-boggling. Mid-range violins were $75K five years ago. Upper level cellos go for twice that. A 250 year old double bass played by one of our musicians is well over $200K. Given the investment required to be a symphony level musician not only for several decades of lessons but obviously in the instruments themselves, one might question the rationale in choosing this career field. The hours are relatively easy but the earning potential is only fair. Classical musicians often have to supplement their symphony salaries with private lessons and gigs to support their families (and to make payments on those incredibly expensive tools of the trade). The rewards are primarily intrinsic for sure. Therefore, support your local symphony! |
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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | It is truly art for the love of art...
Random Thought about the art of making a violin:
Violins are very small and very light.
But they are very LOUD for their size.
There is a fiddle player down by the MAX station near me...
You can hear that Fiddle over traffic noise a block away.
And he don't use an amp.
Lotsa power packed into them things. |
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Joined:
March 2006
Posts: 1634
Location: Chehalis, Washington | Great thing about acoustics...as a conductor once explained to me, because of sound's acoustic canceling properties, in order to roughly double the actual volume output of one violin, you have to have ten playing in unison. That would be some serious power playing there. |
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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | NICE fiddle. |
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Joined:
July 2002
Posts: 1900
| FlySig, dare we ask how much that little lewel set you back?... :eek: |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 4026
Location: Utah | Sure, $2k for the fiddle plus probably another $350 for a bow in the near future, plus a case sometime soon. Comparitively speaking, this particular luthier has the nicest wood and best sound for the money around here.
I'll tell ya though, shopping for a violin is like shopping for a used car. Except that no two have the same nameplate. Every maker is unique, so there is no way to know how much any particular instrument is worth. Every luthier puts his own label on instruments and bows, which makes it impossible to really know what you're getting. Trust in and reputation of the luthier are main factors in where to buy.
Some of the sales people are downright cagey about the instruments, which just makes it more irritating as a buyer. One major local builder tried to foist a $900 used mass production instrument off on us as a $2200 instrument! All it took was an hour on the internet to discover the true history and current value of that model.
What we need is the Mr. Big of violins. Seriously, a mom & pop style violin shop that won't bull**** the customer. Just good prices and great service. Someone who won't rebrand a $20 Chinese bow and call it a $300 Brazilian bow. |
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Red Blanket photos - hand carved slot head, flame maple, non-O
