RIN:503 Chapter 3 How to Buy a Violin

Chapter 3. Basic value components of a violin

A. The tone
As outlined in the beginning of this article (Basic Fact 2), the quality of sound (tone) of any violin has no practical relationship to its price. Tonal beauty and monetary value are not directly linked; neither do they rise in tandem. The more you pay the better it sounds! -- this appealing myth simply is not true. In any case, just as visual beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so tonal quality is in the ear of the listener.

Take an illustrative parallel. If you go to an art fair or art gallery to buy a beautiful painting -- while paying no attention to price tags, names of painters, or the surroundings in which the collection of paintings is exhibited -- the painting you like the most may well be one of the least expensive.

It's much the same with violins. A given $1,500 violin -- when its tone is compared to that of a $15,000 or, even, a $150,000 instrument -- may resonate and ring out more beautifully than either of its more expensive competitors. This very kind of experience has been replicated again and again when modern violins have been played and compared to representative groups of fine, old -- and expensive! -- master violins. (See: Related Links.)

These observations point us toward a general rule -- a guideline for potential buyers. The maximum amount one would have to pay -- if he is only interested in finding a violin that fulfills his individual requirements for tonal beauty -- is $10,000 to $20,000. (The price spectrum is largely a product of various sellers' marketing methods.) And let us add that any violin can be tonally altered, theoretically at least, in thousands of ways.

Advice to the buyer: If you plan to purchase a different violin because you are seeking a "better" or more desirable tone quality, then your personal taste is the only valid measure of judgment. You must discover what will work for you by, personally, trying out the violin offered for sale -- and by comparing it with the violin you already own. Remember, when another person plays a violin for you, as part of the selection process, that player can make any particular instrument sound better to you, the buyer. This fact is terribly important when a violin seller employs sales method number 1.
(For a description of this, look ahead to Chapter 10.)

B. The utilitarian or practical value
The practical value of a violin is determined by THREE criteria. FIRST, one should assess the instrument's physical condition. It should have no open edges, and no open cracks on the top, back, sides, scroll, neck, etc. SECOND, someone needs to check the same instrument's conformity to basic critical measurements. The fingerboard should be checked, to see that it is set at the proper angle. Too, one should know the exactitude of the violin's proportions; neck length should be proportionate to the length of the distance from F-hole notches to the edge of the top near the neck, etc. FINALLY, there are issues of proper adjustment: the smooth working of the pegs, the proper arching and dressing of the fingerboard, the spacing of the strings, the length and position of the sound post, the height, contour, fitting and position of the bridge, etc.

The basic, intrinsic, practical value of a violin -- its use and purpose -- is tone production. The instrument exists to be played. Poor physical condition, inaccurate measurements, and improper adjustments hamper its capacity to produce tone. Because these issues are crucial, a visually attractive fiddle may be practically -- in the full meaning of that term -- useless. Unusable in any actual performance situation. Unplayable.

Advice to the buyer: Only the services of a professional violin maker and repairman can give a violin its greatest possible practical value.

C. Artistic value
The criteria for determining artistic value in a violin are similar to those used in judging the artistic value of a painting.

1. The degree of skill employed by the violin maker;
2. The degree of demonstrated mastery of the physical laws which govern the workings of the violin;
3. The degree of individual expression in the varnishing and styling of the violin.

Any one of the basic three points or criteria, or any combination thereof, establishes the relative artistic value of a violin.

Some amateur-made and master-shop-made violins have artistic value. All master-made violins have artistic value.

Violin makers are judged, by their peers, in terms of their ability to create violins of artistic value. Positive judgments are publicly witnessed by bachelor's and master's degrees in violin making, and by degrees awarded by the violinmakers' guilds. Note the lack of flimflam and mystery. The evidence for professional standing and artistic achievement is public.

Advice to the buyer: The authoritative appraisal of the relative artistic value of a violin is primarily the judgment of a professional violin maker.

D. Antique or Collector's value
When value is assessed from this perspective, the violin is in the same category as fine new or antique paintings -- or as any other objects distinguished as artistic, rare, or unique. And much like a painting, basic considerations in establishing the relative collector's value of a violin are: the name of the maker, the instrument's physical condition, and (in some cases) the history of its repair, ownership, and use.

Note: If it is considered at all, tonal value/beauty is of least importance.

1. Collectors of violins and bows collect for any or all of the following reasons:

1. The exhibition value/nature of a particular violin or bow. This reason is most commonly a motive for museum acquisition.
2. The investment nature of a particular violin or bow. One buys with the hope of financial gain when selling the same.
3. The vanity nature of costly material objects. This reason tends to inform the activities often labeled "conspicuous consumption."

These reasons/motives are difficult to evaluate -- because, for most people, the violin is a "blind" item. They often aren't sure what to focus on -- what standards to apply -- in judging an instrument's tonal value, utilitarian value, or artistic value. Understandably, people are even more uncertain about assessing investment potential or collector's value!

This uncertainty has consequences at many levels. But they may be most striking when individuals purchase an instrument as an investment. Thus . . .

Note: Willingly, many people who buy a violin pay far too much. They do this because of misinformation regarding string instruments' real value and/or alleged collector's value. Unfortunately but predictably, the same people most often lose money when they sell their "investment."

DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!

Advice to the buyer: There are only two ways to buy a violin both at a reasonable price, and with relative assurance of its collector's value:

1. Knowing and finding a seller of violins who comes close to the following description: An independent violin maker (A) who deals in all types of violins and (B) who, in the judgment of his peers, merits high professional standing as a maker and as an authority concerning the authenticity of violins -- and (C) who also sells violins accompanied by a warranty
(the method specified as number 2: See Chapter 10.) ***Don't Buy One Without It!***

2. Knowing, as a buyer, as much or even more about violins than the seller.

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Related Links:	RIN:010 OLD VERSUS NEW IN CELLO TESTING by Stan Schmidt
	RIN:024 IGNORANCE à la PROFESSOR UNNO by Fritz Reuter