RIN:38 MALPRACTICE- Consumer Advisory

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" (emphasis added). In other words, devastation has been wrought, not by performers but quacks masquerading as violin "repairers" and "restorers". (You Need A Second Opinion)

2. SUMMARY OF ADVISORY: We have substantial evidence that a number of very prominent dealers of rare violins, primarily in London, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, have secretly and deliberately destroyed -- through an irreversible process termed "re-graduation" or "E.N.D." -- the collectors' and artistic values of numerous rare instruments. The instruments range from creations of Antonius Stradivarius to violins crafted by Roman Teller. The same instruments have been "tonally adjusted" and sold to uninformed, unsuspecting customers. "Re-graduation," one must understand, is an irreversible process in which one changes the original thicknesses and/or graduation pattern which the original maker gave to an instrument's top, back, and sides. This process undercuts the essential integrity of a violin and, hence, is malpractice.

3. What is the purpose of this malpractice? It is aimed at effecting a temporary increase in a violin's sound volume and therefore its salability. But it is a form of vandalism which few can detect. It is recognizable only if one opens the instrument, or if one inspects its inside with special mirrors. Thus few purchasers of vandalized instruments (re-graduated violins) will ever suspect that irreversible damage has been done.

4. What impact does this malpractice have upon an instrument's dollar value? It can, in fact, radically depreciate the resale value of a stringed instrument. It can reduce an instrument's worth to as little as 25% of the purchase price.

5. People very often purchase a violin assuming that it has the potential to increase in value. Yet the possession they prize may be -- from the perspective of an informed collector or dealer or player -- almost wholly worthless. At best, it may be worth far, far less than the price paid for it.

ILLUSTRATION:
6. To demonstrate the severe monetary loss this malpractice (re-graduation) causes, the following example may prove useful. Just suppose you went to a dealer in gold bullion to look at advertised bars of gold -- bars you have been considering as an investment. You saw that the ingots bore the imprint of the mint, which included a specification of the metal's grade of purity. Trusting the dealer, you acted in good faith. You bought a gold bar.

7. Years later, you want to sell or trade the gold. You take it to a gold-bullion dealer. After inspecting the bar, the dealer offers you 50% or less of the amount that -- given world market prices -- you thought it reasonable to expect. The dealer explains to you just why he must disappoint you. Before you purchased the bar, someone cut it in two and gouged out 50% or more of the interior. After the two halves were fused back together, the bar looked -- from the outside -- like any other bar. It appeared as something that it wasn't.

8. The criminal action I've described runs parallel to the concealed malpractice of gouging (or scraping, or re-thinning) the interior wood of a fine violin's essential original parts. Gouging a stringed instrument's interior, however, is despicable in a way that far exceeds the con man's trick with the ingot. For the damage done to the violin is irreversible.

CAUSE FOR ACTION:
9. A Class Action Suit For Malpractice, if brought against each individual violin dealer who engages in the degrading practice of re-graduation (gouging, re-thinning, etc.), would identify those customers who have been financially victimized. And it could well lead to the recovery of very substantial damages -- perhaps three times the amount of the depreciation inflicted. It could eventuate in an award of actual damages -- plus punitive damages, plus a sum equivalent to the cost of litigation -- in an amount which would exceed, extremely significantly, the sum originally paid for the vandalized instrument.

10. Only serious legal-monetary remedies will put a stop to a procedure which, understood in its broadest sense, both ravages instruments and cheats their purchasers.

11. The American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers' Code of Ethics requires its members' to be "frank and straightforward with clients." The Code further specifies that "a client should never be in doubt about the professional opinion or stature advised by a member" (Code of Ethics, "Principles of Professional Conduct," II, c). The professional maker and dealer should also, according to the very next subsection (II, d), "be constantly alert to guard the public against fraud (i.e., deception) or unethical conduct of any kind and report such suspicions to the appropriate professional committee."

12. If, you as a consumer, have been directed by your teacher (or by others) to purchase instruments, repairs, or other services from any particular violin dealer, then you may need to reconsider this directive. You need to be aware of the kinds of business arrangements that often link teachers with particular dealers. You need to be aware (and that is the reason for this Consumer Advisory) that you either have been -- or easily can be -- "taken" by one or another dealer's schemes. These schemes run the gamut from the marketing of depreciated instruments at non-depreciated prices, to the shop practices -- re-graduation being the most prominent -- which cause the depreciation.

13. The following account should provide a fuller picture of the meaning of re-graduation, the consequences of allowing such malpractice to be inflicted upon your instrument -- or of acquiring an instrument that has suffered such abuse.

THE E.N.D. PROCESS: The Final Solution, Chicago Style.
14. Have you been "taken"? Consider the words of an internationally esteemed authority, Mr. Recco Luppino, FASA, FSVA:

15. You may look at a Stradivari, a Guarneri, a Bergonzi, a Gagliano, a Landolfi, or any violin which appears to be perfect on the exterior and it can turn out to be a ruined instrument. This is due to fine violins and other instruments of the violin family getting into the hands of amateur players and amateur violin makers who opened up the instrument and reduced the thicknesses of the graduations -- thinking that they were improving the instruments -- and, as a result, ruined them. A violin, undergraduated, loses its carrying power and is, therefore, not suited for large concert halls.

16. If the amount of wood removed is replaced by gluing a piece of veneer to build it up again, then the veneer robs the instrument of a large amount of its natural vibrations and it becomes even worse.

17. Many of the ruined instruments (even though they are documented to be the work of Stradivari and other famous makers) are sold on the market for the price of one that has not been tampered with, made by the same maker. This happened to me in my early days as a student of the violin, and it wasn't until I gained more knowledge later in life that I discovered that I had been "taken." This is also part of the answer as to why some of these famous violins are lower in value than others by the same maker. Many dishonest dealers will withhold information of this sort to promote a sale.

18. In addition to graduations being tampered with, cracks in a violin in certain areas will downgrade the instrument. For example, a crack over the sound post will have serious effects on the tone. Also, cracks over the bass bar and cracks on the back of the violin will affect the tone. The value placed on a damaged violin by a qualified appraiser is in accordance with the amount of damage done to the instrument. Cracks outside of the danger area are not considered nearly as serious as damage done to the graduations of a fine violin which, in many cases, makes it worthless -- even though the maker was famous (emphases added).

19. These comments, excerpted from Mr. Luppino's study of the questionable practice known as re-graduation, appeared in Valuation (March-April, 1976.) It must be emphasized that Mr. Luppino, a former violinist and violin teacher, is an internationally noted appraiser of objects of fine art and an expert on the ethics of fine art restoration -- and that his study, "Don't Judge a Violin by its Outward Appearance," appeared in the scholarly journal of the American Society of Appraisers. Mr. Luppino's observations are neither casual nor amateurish. And one must give serious consideration to his concluding remarks, set forth under the subheading, "Past and Present Values and Conditions Affecting Values":

20. Technicalities such as originality and condition of the instrument play a very important part in the appraisal of violins. Several years ago I was asked to appraise a Stradivari which my client paid $25,000.00 for in the 1930's. My appraisal was $8,000.00 [a depreciation or loss of 68%]. I was about to be ordered out the house by the owner until I sat down and explained my findings, which had to do with the reduction of the graduations as left by the maker. After explaining how this had a serious effect on the tone and carrying power, she (i.e., the owner) was then satisfied that I was right.

21. A settlement was made with the seller out of court, as he was aware of the condition of the violin at the time of purchase. This is the case where the appraiser not knowing certain technicalities could have been influenced by the price paid for the violin -- and could, therefore, have raised the price to bring it up to its current value instead of lower it, as I did, because of its condition (emphases added).

22. Such is the warning issued by Mr. Luppino. And it brings us back to the crucial question: Have you been "taken"?

23. For those not trained in the arts and ethics of professional violin making, preservation, and restoration, a satisfactory answer may prove difficult. However, some basic information will help. It will clarify the workings and purposes of the nefarious, culturally barbaric and irreversible scheme which amounts to vandalism -- and which is most frequently disguised by the acronym E.N.D. (Enhanced Natural Decay), or by the euphemism, re-graduation.

VANDALISM: The Malpractice Known as Re-graduation.
24. Vandalism is willful or malicious destruction of what is beautiful or artistic, valuable or useful. It commonly entails hostility to or contempt for that which is beautiful and/or venerable. It may also entail the creation of new objects which, by design, are fated to become obsolete before their time.

25. But why would apparently respectable businessmen engage in a policy of vandalism? A word of explanation is necessary. All musical instruments wear out with age. Almost inevitably, fine, old, antique master-made stringed instruments lack the vitality and resonating tonal qualities discoverable only in new master-made instruments. Yet some types of vandalism will temporarily cause old instruments to approximate the vitality and sound of new creations by contemporary, twentieth-century masters -- though with horrifying, long-term consequences.

26. One of the of the dominant methods of vandalism which is practiced by a number of Chicago's violin dealers, as well as others, is the re-graduation (i.e., re-thinning) of the violin top, back, and ribs. It is the mode of destruction which we described in our series of REUTER'S FOCUS REPORT articles starting with "Has The Violin Business Become A Criminal Racket And A Snare?" (1985). And it has earned its status as a mode of destruction, for it is a method which produces definite results -- in the lives of customers, and in the life (and death) of instruments. By misrepresenting instruments' physical condition, unethical dealers lead their customers to believe they are paying premium prices in order to acquire a fine restored or adjusted instrument which is -- because of the dealer's work -- in prime condition. In reality, they are often purchasing a violin which has been mortally wounded by the E.N.D. process. This Chicago brand of vandalism can irreversibly destroy, simply "wipe out," as much as 75% of the value of an instrument. When a connoisseur or collector contrasts the "restored" violin to a comparable instrument with its original graduations and graduation patterns, he knows -- unquestionably -- the magnitude of the damage. Terrible as this is, the damage and fraud have a point -- a monetary point. The dealer has misrepresented the instrument's physical condition and, in consequence, the customer buys something which may have little lasting value as a performing instrument -- and even less as a collector's piece. What is more, for his devalued specimen, the customer is paying an arbitrarily high price.

27. Enshrined in the Code of Ethics of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (the AIC), as well as in the similar code of The American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers, Inc., is a principle known as the "principle of reversibility." This principle is a fundamental guide to restorers of antiques and objects of art. As the words of the AIC's own distinctive code explain (see Part One, II, E: "Principle of Reversibility"):

28. "The conservator [e.g., a restorer of fine violins] is guided by and endeavors to apply the "principle of reversibility" in his treatments. He should avoid the use of materials which may become so intractable that their future removal could endanger the physical safety of the object. He also should avoid the use of techniques the results of which cannot be undone if that should become desirable (emphases added).

29. Here, we can not to be too emphatic. The principle of reversibility is much more than a high-sounding phrase -- some sort of upper-class, guild bumper sticker. It addresses a problem -- indeed, a problem which has been around for some time. A slight expansion will explain. The Hills of London, England, were the world's oldest and most renowned firm of violin makers/dealers and restorers. In their important 1902 study of Stradivarius, the three Hill brothers (W. Henry, Arthur F., and Alfred E. Hill) sounded a warning to anyone seeking an instrument dealer, restorer, or repairer. Too many such professionals, from the Hills' point of view, are likely to abuse their position -- to vandalize the instruments they sell, as well as those entrusted to them for repair, or on consignment. When dealers -- dealers such as those the Hills warned of -- get their hands on a violin, they often set to work hastening its approach to premature death. So, as if they had been writing with some of Chicago's violin dealers in mind, they spoke urgently to their readers.

30. Plenty of scope is left for the present-day vandal. The matter is now perhaps more subtle, and the injuries inflicted less apparent; but under the cloak of restoring and improving, vandalism goes on as actively as ever [it did in the past]. Will it be believed that within recent years, notwithstanding the boasted enlightenment of so many of those who aspire and claim to be considered worthy followers of the great traditions of violin-making, things have been done which call for the sternest condemnation (Antonius Stradivari His Life and Work, Dover rpt., 1963, p.237).

31. The Hills' words were published nearly ninety years ago, yet their contemporary ring is unmistakable -- for the problem the Hills were addressing has, if anything, intensified over the century. Today, Charles Beare (head of J. & A. Beare of London, England), another of the world's illustrious violin maker/dealers, is equally clear in contrasting the ethics of professional violin makers and restorers with the unscrupulous activities of musician/dealers -- and their shops' unethical accomplices. After a visit in Beare's shop, Janet Dorner summarized his and all true luthiers' starting point. 'The workshop ethic begins," she wrote, "from a premise of basic respect for the original makers of the instrument" ("Sound Evaluation," The Strad [February, 1987], p.131). And she immediately continued by quoting Beare's own words: "It is essential to identify with him (i.e., the original maker) and not impose your own ideas all over his work." We should add that, in a lecture addressed to the Violin Society of America, Mr. Beare discussed the ethics of restoration. After describing various instances of vandalism, examples comparable to those witnessed by the Hills so many decades earlier, he capped his remarks with the following: "Probably worst of all," he lamented, "I have seen well-made instruments thinned out to give an immediate and salable tonal impact, but thinned to a point that could only ruin their future" (Beare as quoted in Dorner, "Sound Evaluation" -- emphases added).

32. It is vandals who do this kind of thing to stringed instruments. And, as we know, their primary modus operandi is the pseudo-restorative technique known as re-graduation. And it can not be said too often: re-graduation is vandalism. It is a form of destruction which can not be reversed, and which treats the original maker's intentions -- the instrument's actual architectonics -- with complete contempt. Perhaps even malice. The result is instruments which are too often rendered unplayable beyond the brief time needed to swindle the "valued customer." And there is something more. Not only do the instruments tend to become worthless for performance purposes, their worth as collectable antiques is also radically diminished. The most important authoritative publication regarding the current pricing of violins is Albert Fuchs' Taxe der Streichinstrumente. In the introduction to the volume's first edition, Fuchs reports that changing the thicknesses of the instrument's wood plates inevitably devalues it very considerably. Most tellingly, he refers to this value-destroying practice -- i.e., re-graduation -- with the special German word Ausschachtelung: "scraping out."

33. Many other professional publications decry this malpractice. Depreciation tables for appraising the Fair Market Value of Stringed Instruments, tables used within the business confines of professional violin makers and dealers and appraisers, acknowledge as much as 75% depreciation or loss of value in totally re-graduated violins.

CONCLUSION:
34. Should you be an individual who has within the last ten (10) years purchased a violin, viola, or cello from any dealers of rare violins -- that is, dealers located primarily within the City of Chicago, Illinois -- we very much hope you will contact us. Also, if you have had your instrument opened up for "Acoustical Refinement" or "Acoustical Tone Improvement" (as re-graduation is often deceptively called) you, too, are someone from whom we should very much like to hear.

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SUPPORTIVE ACTIONS: We know that many violin teachers, tutors and institutions take their fiduciary relationship with their students very seriously. The following are ones which should be especially supportive of our efforts to address the problem outlined in these pages (though there are doubtless others we should have listed, and omitted simply due to oversight). They should also, we think, welcome the legal remedy we have proposed (a class-action suit) since it would not only be educational -- but would also serve such teachers' and institutions' professional interests. We tender apologies for deserving institutions and individuals accidentally left out (please write us if you are one of those omitted), but for now we asked the following organizations and/or their members to write regarding the proposal outlined in this advisory. We welcome all suggestions:

The American Federation of Violin & Bow Makers, Inc. 288 Richmond Terr. Staten Island, NY 10301 (718)816-7878) (800)633-2777)	ASTA -- American String Teachers Association 1806 Robert Fulton Dr. #300 Reston, VA 20191 TEL: (703)476-1316 FAX:(703)476-1317 Email:ASTA@erols.com	Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra 410 5. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60605 (312) 939-2207
The American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) 3545 Williamsburg Lane, N.W.,Washington, DC 20008 (202) 364-1036	Society of American Musicians P.O. Box 792, Evanston, IL 60204-0792	City Youth Strings/Merit Music Program 47 W. Polk St., Chicago, IL 60605-2098 (312)786-9428
Clarion Associates, Inc. (Musical Instrument Insurance) 30 Lincoln Plaza, New York, NY 10023 (212) 541-7960	American Viola Society 830W. 34th St., Los Angeles, CA 90089 (805) 255-0693	The Classical Symphony Orchestra 410 5. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60605 (312) 341-1521
Merz-Huber Co. (Musical Instrument Insurance) 2 Penn Center Plaza, Philadelphia, PA 19102 (215) 665-8600	Chicago Cello Society 1615 Cleveland St., Evanston, IL 60202 (847) 864-5991	The Music Center of the North Shore 300 Green Bay Rd., Winnetka, IL 60093 (847) 446-3822
American Musical Instrument Society (AMIS) c/o Shrine to Music Museum 414 East Clark Street Vermillion, SD 57069-2390 (605) 677-5306	The Violin Society of America (VSA) 614 Lerew Road Boiling Springs, PA 17007 (717) 258-3203	Suzuki Academy of Performing Arts 101 N. Owen St., Mt. Prospect, IL 60057 (847) 253-0946

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