The Strad... What is it and Why is it Valued By So Much?
RED TAG SALE ALL OVER THE STORE!!!!
We’ve been doing markdowns—had some time to look at overstocked
inventory!!! Many items marked 25% under internet pricing from these amazing instruments: Ukes, Bowed Cases, Nylon String Guitars, Djembes, Doumbeks, Electric Violins!
https://youtu.be/uIdblJh4tOk
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Set-up - Buy from a reputable brick and mortor store rather than the internet. They can make sure your instrument is properly adjusted, and keep it sounding as good as possible. A good setup is vital for any violin, both for playability and tone. The quality and fitting of the bridge, and especially the fit and adjustment of the sound post make a huge difference in how a violin sounds. Setup is so, SO important... and I love an instrument that has a history... warm, big tone... and is set up easily playable.
Sound - I think violin sound and the ability to color it is part of the addiction to get us to keep playing! Be leery of buying a violin without trying it out first. A well setup and responsive good sounding violin will make you progress a lot faster as you'll enjoy practicing and be motivated since you actually sound good. As it is always a joy to drive a responsive car, it's the same with a violin and bow. If you can get good sound, handling, and feel, then you'll really enjoy it a lot more.
Longevity - I'd look at what you would be willing to spend on something that will carry you through many many years of playing. Spend some money to get the best… A good, responsive violin (and bow) make practicing much more enjoyable, and you'll progress faster. A few hundred dollars' difference in price, amortized over all the hours you're going to be playing, gets pretty insignificant in the long run. quoted from Violinist.com
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6 essentials for a playable and payable violin, viola or cello http://ow.ly/xEKmz. This is an interesting Youtube video about things to look for when buying a violin
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How can a dip in temperature cause damage to your wood instrument?
Wood is a material that expands while in hot temperatures and high humidity and shrinks in cold temperatures and low humidity. Usually crafted out of several types of wood, this shrinking and swelling can occur in different parts of the instrument. Cold and dry conditions during winter can have a variety of consequences for your musical instrument.
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Piero was a native of the Pisa region and taught himself violin making from the age of 16. After the second WW he became associated with the Soderci family. His output is small, probably less than 100 instruments. His violas are highly regarded, winning the gold medal for viola in the 1976 International Triennal Competition.
Badalassi had a personal and classical model; his instruments are known to be well finished. He was highly respected as a repairer and restorer. His other awards include at Cremona 1937, 1965, 1973. Piero Badalassi in Pisa / Faceva l’Anno 1946 Piero Badalassi-fece / in Pisa l’Anno 1952.
When it comes to a safe haven for your money, little can beat a rare old violin. Other things always have their ups and downs. In the boom years of the 1990s, everyone assumed property was “safe as houses,” but then came the crash of 2007.
Gold was the miracle investment from 2005 to 2012, but in the last two years it has bombed. Shares are good for the long-term, but in the short-term they can be scarily volatile. In the crash year of 2008 they fell around 30 per cent, and bounced back by the same amount the following year.
Compare that with the steady rise of stringed instruments, particularly violins. A study quoted in the Economist concluded that the annual rate of return for a Stradivarius violin between 1980 and 2011 was 15.4 per cent, without any of the sudden surges and drops that send investors’ stress levels through the roof.
Until now, the virtues of instruments as an investment vehicle has been hidden from view. Instrument dealers inhabit an old-fashioned world, shut away from the rough-and-tumble of the financial world. That may be about to change, if the recent on-line instrument auction from Beares, one of the most venerable violin dealers in the world, is any sign. Simon Morris, one of Beares’s directors, says the motive was to show the world that the trade is moving with the times.
“Not so long ago there were just a handful of dealers in Europe and America, who were on first-name terms with buyers and sellers,” he says, “but it’s changing fast. The trade is becoming much more international, and we have to reflect that, and open ourselves up to a new market.” However, Beares isn’t about to abandon its old ways. Visiting their premises near Oxford Circus is like stepping back into the past.
n the workshops, the craftsmen still work with tools barely changed since the days of the great Cremonese makers of violins and cellos, such asGuarneri and Stradivari. Racks of wood slumber in quiet corridors, maturing like fine wines. And Simon Morris himself has the comforting air of unshakeable probity that was once the hallmark of the English banker.
He takes me up to a showroom where two would-be buyers are putting a couple of instruments through their paces. “Here they are,” he says, gesturing airily at the wall-racks where nearly all the 29 violins available in the auction are hanging. On the other walls are the bows, violas and cellos being sold alongside them.
Missing from the racks are the so-called “Cabriac” violin by Antonio Stradivari and another Cremonese violin made a century later by Guadagnini. These are the two most valuable instruments in the auction, with guide prices of $2.5-3.5 million (£1.5-£2.2 million) and $1-1.5 million (£630,000-945,000) respectively. The other violins are priced at anything between £4,000 and £500,000. “Generally auctions are clearing-houses, and the rule of caveat emptor [buyer beware] definitely applies,” says Harris.
“That’s not the way we want to go. We’re only prepared to have an auction where absolutely everything has been authenticated by ourselves.” Is he ever caught out himself? “No, but I don’t always get it right at a first look, when someone tests me.” I can’t resist pointing quizzically at one of the violins. “Well, hmmm... it looks like a French copy of a Guarneri pattern,” he says. Sure enough, the label says it’s exactly that.
Back in his office, I ask Morris whether he agrees that stringed instruments, especially violins, make good investments. “They do, because it’s an almost completely risk-free investment. At the top end there’s a diminishing supply, because certain instruments are bought by banks or foundations and will probably never come onto the market again.
"And on the other hand, the demand is constantly increasing, as new countries enter the market. It’s especially strong in the Far East, where excelling at the violin is a way of demonstrating that you’ve reached the West’s level in cultural terms.
"First it was Japan, where there are now around 35 Strads, then South Korea, then Taiwan. In China there are apparently 30 million people learning the violin, and it can’t be long before we see Chinese collectors in the market.”
from the Economist: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalmusic/11211888/How-good-an-investment-is-a-violin.html
Featured Violin - the Szasz Friderich line exclusive to Golden Music; we have been visiting Romania and buying the "fritzy's" since 2007. At an affordable price for a single maker master instrument, the Fritzy's are hand crafted in Reghin, Mures, in the heart of Transalvania, population 33,000. The industry of Reghin is closely related to the traditions of the medieval trades, starting with the resources in the close vicinity, rich in wood and farm produces, the goods of the private producers from Reghin are in the market all over Romania and abroad. Reghin is well known for the industry of the musical instruments, especially of violins. There are many companies that produces instruments using the famous resonance wood from Calimani and Gurghiu forests. The violins made in Reghin are used abroad.
Szasz (nickname "Fritzy") began his work in a violin factory in 1977. He left the large factory for a small workshop in 1990, where he was an apprentice to Ciurba Nicolae. He perfected his technique alongside a master with his guidance and experience. In 2003, Szasz opened his own workshop. Hemakes instruments for people all around the world.
Here is an example of one of the Golden Music "Fritzy's (click here)" Right now we have several in stock including product number 4579 and 4580.
This picture is from our first trip to Reghin in 2006. It is the owner, Mary and Fritzy.
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The Kirschnek Violins - This company was established in 1880 in Erlangen/Bubenreuth, West Germany. It is still run by the family. The owners of Golden Music have had many lovely visits with this family, including a tea party in their heavily treed back yard of their house which is next to their workshop. We carry a full spread of different models that you can see here and on our web page.
The company was established by Joseph Muller, born 1850 in Schonbach. He was the great grandfather of the owner today, Ilse Fischer. Since the beginning, he was well known for his fine workmanship and best tone quality. He won many awards and even exhibited his instruments at the world exhibition in Paris in 1900. In 1922, his grandson-in-law, Franz Kirschnek, established his own company under his name and the label, Franz Kirschnek. He began exporting his instruments to other European countries and to the US. They moved after World War II to the present location. The family states "We feel obliged to continue making violins, violas and cellos of fine quality. We are proud to say that we still do not import any parts from other countries. Each one of our instruments is entirely made in Germany."
We have several models in stock from the Kirschneks and plan to have more in the future.
Kirschnek Arnoldus master
Kirschnek Conradus master
Kirchnek Knoblach master
Kirschnek Gesang master
