RIN:502 Chapter 2 How to Buy a Violin

Chapter 2. Types of Manufacturing, Grades of Quality and their Usage, Price Ranges, etc.

A. Trade-name or Trade-Mark(TM) instruments

By and large, a wide range of string students and beginners play commercially made, mass-produced violins -- the instruments commonly categorized as Trade-Name or Trade-mark. Since these violins are mass-produced, their function is strictly utilitarian. In other words, their value is limited wholly by the purpose for which they are made. These instruments very rapidly diminish in value from their original price. Violins of this type are most common and were first produced in Germany, France, Czechoslovakia, Japan, and in more recent times, China, Korea, Bulgaria, Romania and Sri Lanka. The catalog list prices for these trade-name instruments range from $120.00 to $1,000.00 for violins, $150.00 to $1,200.00 for violas, $800.00 to $3,000.00 for celli and $1,200.00 to $10,000.00 for double-basses.

As a rule, instruments retailing in the upper half of these price ranges are, literally, of no better quality than those in the lower half. How, then, are the enormous contrasts made to seem reasonable? How are potential buyers induced to "go along" with the game? The truth is easy to see -- and note the word: see. The costlier violins frequently display gold mounted pegs and other inexpensive, eye-catching trimmings which "explain everything" to people who think that the price tag indicates quality. The gold has virtually nothing to do with the instrument's value in any real sense. But it is highly visible -- and powerful as part of a marketing strategy because gold, a so- called precious metal, evokes distinctively forceful associations. What is more, many of these specially trimmed instruments also have a seemingly important name branded on the outside of the back or scroll. Or, pasted inside, they display a supposedly impressive famous-name label. The labels are mostly crude forgeries of original labels used by celebrated violin makers -- makers whose style and pattern the instruments imitate. And, as one would expect, the names they boast usually sound very familiar. Those most often found include: Stradivarius, Guarnerius, Amati, Maggini, Stainer, Klotz, Hopf, Schweitzer, and some others. Violins in the trade-name category, sold through wholesalers, may also bear fictitious labels -- labels that only appear to identify the manufacturer. Sometimes, surnames of lesser known makers are used, but preceded by fictitious first names or initials. To the unwary buyer, this maneuver makes house brand fiddles appear to be -- or "sound like" -- master-made instruments. Often used in this ruse are names such as Knilling, Bauer, Morelli, Ficker, Hornsteiner, Juzek, Lowendahl, Heberlein, Wagner, Pfretzschner, Kaiser, Fischer, Schneider, Goetz, Hopf, Hofner, and Klier, as well as others.

B. Master-shop instruments

Master-shop instruments, whether old or new, are commercially made instruments, instruments which are or were manufactured in limited quantities. When contrasted to trade-name instruments, these violins are almost always distinguished by much better workmanship and materials -- even though they have been produced commercially for utilitarian purposes. These instruments are at times fine reproductions of violins created by famous masters of the past, and are made under the direct supervision of a master violin maker in his shop. (The work is done by either apprentices or other violin makers.) These master-shop instruments bear the label of the supervising master. Commercially produced master-shop instruments had their beginnings in Germany, France, Czechoslovakia, and to a small degree, Italy. The catalog list prices for genuine master-shop instruments range from $500 to $4,200 for violins, $800 to $4,800 for violas, $1,500 to $10,000 for celli, and $10,000 to $20,000 for basses.

To repeat, these violins are in most cases imitations of specific violins, originally made by a great master such as Stradivarius, Guarnerius, Klotz, etc. At times, papers accompanying the new violin state specifically what particular instrument served as a model. Too, the violin is uniquely marked by the label of the master of the shop where it was made. These labels read: Especially made by _____ for __________ (here, one finds the name of the dealer). Other times the label states clearly: Made in the shop of ___________ (the name of the master is inscribed). Names found quite frequently include: Roth, Lang, Sandner, Poehlmann, Hausmann, Aschauer, Teller, Leclerc, Neuner & Hornsteiner, and Heberlein. But the ethical-professional dilemma is as follows: These instruments are often presented and sold as genuine master-made instruments. Indeed, only experienced violin makers and dealers can distinguish between (1) stringed instruments made in the shop under the supervision of the master and (2) those made by the master himself.

C. Amateur-made instruments

There are also old and new violins made by amateur violin makers, which, of course, vary considerably in quality. Odd though it may seem, violin dealers tend -- for business purposes -- to put their value on the same level as those within the master-shop classification; some are even ranked as master category. These amateur violins are basically utilitarian when it comes to value (although the identity of the maker will at times modify this). Yet they do have some local value for collectors and students of folk art. Amateur violin makers are found in most countries influenced by western culture. Large numbers of modern Italian violins are amateur made. Basically, an amateur is any violin maker who is self-taught or who did not serve a full apprenticeship under a master violin maker, certified as such by European standards. Sale prices of amateur instruments are $500 to $5,000 for violins, $650 to $6,500 for violas, $1,000 to $10,000 for celli and $1,500 to $7,500 for basses.

D. Master instruments

These violins are individually crafted throughout. They are created in limited quantities by certified master violin makers. Each such instrument is wholly and in every detail the product of a single master maker. When a violin of this quality is new -- when it has "just left the shop" -- it does indeed have artistic and utilitarian value. Of course it is playable! Yet there is a sense in which all master instruments are set apart from the other types or categories discussed so far. For master instruments, and only master instruments, acquire collector's value with age. To explain the same point in a different way, these violins are priced like fine paintings. Their price accords with and reflects the market standing of the maker, the physical condition of the instrument, and, in some cases, the instrument's history (for example: who has owned it? who has played it?). Tonal beauty, per se, is the last consideration in pricing a master violin. In fact, so far as the figure on the ticket is concerned, such beauty may not count at all.

To qualify as a master violin, the instrument must have been crafted by an individual maker who is certified by one of the various European violin makers' guilds -- or who has been acclaimed as such (for obvious reasons, this especially applies to the older masters) by the various European violin and bow makers' associations. If bought at a reasonable price, violins made by old and modern masters maintain their value -- and, with time, their monetary worth actually increases. These are the only instruments of the various types mentioned in this report which, besides giving pleasure to the player, may in time bring a profit when sold -- or at least fetch a return of monies originally paid. Prices of genuine master instruments span an enormous range. They go from approximately $3,000 to millions of dollars for violins, $4,000 to millions of dollars for violas, $8,000 to millions of dollars for celli, and $8,000 to $250,000 for basses.

E. Fetish-like instruments.

Instruments belonging to this category are outside the normal rational market place. The classical example is provided by violins which are composites, i.e. violins, which consist of various parts made by various makers of prominence. These instruments are high-priced conversation pieces, but have no genuine artistic or collectors' value.

Other fetish-like instruments are the high-priced ones which (1) bear names of very prominent makers and, in addition (2) have been played by very prominent musicians. Whether most people know it or not, there's a major drawback to owning such instruments. They are too-often physical wrecks, having been over-repaired and over-restored. They therefore lack any actual redeeming values -- unless we count a major non-value: the habit of reverencing them as magical objects, despite their uselessness as musical instruments, their impotence.

The prices paid for these instruments are very frequently called "Liebhaberpreise" or, a price paid because of infatuation and not because of connoisseurship.

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