RIN:68 Reply from Hans

March 21, 1984

Mr. Fritz Reuter
1565 West Howard Street
Chicago, Illinois 60626

Dear Fritz,

Thank you for your letter of March 1st. It is difficult to address your two questions.

1) The first question addressed the problem of ethics in regard to re-graduation of master instruments. You continue to state that it is alleged that many establishments of note practice re-graduation. Now your question is, is it right or wrong or what are the guidelines?

2. The only answers that I can give you are those which presented themselves to me during the many years I have worked on old instruments. First of all, the only school of violin makers in Italy that really followed a successful system of graduation were the Cremonese. This discovery was made over a hundred years ago by the foremost establishments who dealt in rare instruments and we find only rarely a violin of the classic period that has not been re-graduated. Of course the question is, what is a master instrument? Once I saw a Testore cello with the thickness of 12mm. in both the table and back and I am quite sure that many of the classic makers, especially early makers, simply graduated by feel . The uneven interior with scratch marks from the rasps which you can find in Brescian instruments are totally unevenly graduated. The makers of other Italian schools were also not too concerned with a graduation system. No wonder that in order to make instruments sound, those houses who dealt in instruments, saw to it that the graduations would be somewhat corrected and this was then done by those who understood and had studied best sounding, namely the Cremonese, instruments. They discovered that a definite graduation pattern (shown in these instruments) would yield the best tonal results and re-graduated other instruments accordingly. It is for this reason that you almost never find an instrument today that has not been re-graduated by some unknown party and it is for this reason that your question, in my opinion, is not really pertinent nowadays.

3. In the matter of modern Italian instruments, I myself have graduated innumerable instruments for my employers. For instance., most Scarampellas, which we treasure highly today, used to cost $200.00 and came with an original thickness of 6 mm. in the backs and also in the tops and did not sound in that condition. Now was that ethical or unethical?

4. To summarize the whole thing, I believe most of the old instruments which we encounter today have already been graduated in the past and those which have been thinned out too much had occasionally to be re-enforced. As you see you are talking about a situation that occurred mostly in the past and cannot be changed now. The only thing one might hope, is, that those people who encounter instruments which do not sound because the sound plates are too thick, do their graduation work expertly and judiciously.

5. To look upon changes in original graduations, the consideration, in my opinion, should be "was it good for the performance and usefulness of the instrument" or not. Speaking of changes in old master instruments, what about the neck-grafts and different neck settings? Was that also unethical? Or the change of bridge forms and the change of tuning, not to mention the change of the bass bars in thickness, height and length? And how about putting those nasty chinrests on these poor violins?

6. Your second question regarding the payment of commissions, finder's fees or any other remuneration in money or kind, is much easier to settle. If you are in business and want to sell instruments, you will find it very difficult to be successful without doing it. It has become an established and accustomed practice that has become a necessity for survival for many. And regardless of the protestations of many, this practice will survive and be part of our life, the same as prostitution in all its many forms has been part of our lives since time immemorial. So take it from there as a strictly philosophical observation on my part; it is an existing condition and not necessarily my idea of what is better or more ethical.

7. Both your questions, in my opinion, cannot really be practically addressed or changed, like so many questions which face mankind now, all over the world. Ethics are difficult to legislate and hard to enforce -- and -- who is the policeman? I prefer to take a lesson from St. John's Chapter 8/7.

Sincerely,

Hans Weisshaar