RIN:006 Why are Stradivari Violins So Cheap?
| Today, not a single instrument crafted by Antonious Stradivari--not even
one!--survives in its original form. All have been injured. and almost never by accident. Consciously and knowingly,
these instruments have been ravaged--all for a short-lived increase in tonal power. In a recent STRAD magazine article ('The City of Instruments," April 1993, 333-334). Helen Wallace reported on a fact long known to many insiders. "It has been said," she wrote, "that 95% of all damage done to instruments in the last 300 years has been done by members of the luthier profession and not by the musicians themselves" (emphases added). In other words, devastation has been wrought, not by performers but by quacks masquerading as violin "repairers" and "restorers". (Especially in centers such as London, New York, Chicago. and Los Angeles, they are frequently employed by high-profile dealers.) |
| The process of alteration is usually called re-graduation. It works as follows: The interior of an instrument is secretly gutted by "thinning" the wood of its top, back, and sides. Original thicknesses are reduced by as much as 50%. And without the owner understanding what is going on, the instrument's fair market value may have been dropped by as much as 75%. |
| Like AIDS in humans, the damaging process is internal--and terminal. It
sometimes is disguised--even made to sound like "treatment", by use of an
euphemistic phrase "Enhanced Natural Decay" (or by the acronym.
E.N.D.). True, skill can substantially mitigate symptoms, but the damage is still
damage--a form of destruction which is devastating, and irreversible. The Condition of Your Stradivari... or Any Fiddle |
| A Certificate of Condition will document the physical integrity, as well
as the condition and degree of originality of an instrument. Does someone want to sell you
a bow or stringed instrument? As a consumer, it's your right to ask that person to provide
an up-to-date Reuter’s
Certificate of Condition--a health report. Together, the individual experts who represent our firm, hold membership both in all major organizations of appraisers. and in the parallel organizations for violin and bow makers. In addition, each is an alumnus of the Geigenbauschule (Mittenwald, Germany) |
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We Like To Share What We Know You can ask us about certificates of condition, certificates of authenticity, insurance appraisals. etc. Please call us at the number below. Fritz Reuter & Sons, Inc. Phone 1(847)677-7255 |
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