1903 L.W. Hadley 4/4 Violin

Another consignment violin -- and another mystery! I have no information on this maker, though the instrument itself is obviously well-made. I can't think that this was his (or her) only effort. I'm gathering that it's probably an American fiddle, but that's only a guess. It's very "Strad" in terms of cut and looks, and has the voice of a mature old luthier-built instrument -- loud, clean, and silky. I think the strings are a rope-core set but I can only imagine what this might sound like with a perlon/synthetic-core set on it.

Work included one seam repair and general setup. It has some old minor repairwork done to it and all of that is stable and in good health. I'm not entirely sure if the finish is original or not as it seems a little too fussy to have been done in 1903 -- though I have seen fiddle-boxes with this sort of finish from the time. It plays quick and easy and is setup for fiddling.

Pretty, isn't it? The proportions are pretty elegant on this one

No expense was spared in the wood selection on this violin -- back, sides, and neck are a riot of highly-flamed maple, the top is tight-grain spruce, and the board, nut, and pegs are ebony. The pegs have been shaved a little and could be fit better, but do work alright.

The board is nicely-cut.

I'm not sure what wood the chinrest is made of, but it's clearly a bit more modern -- along with the Wittner 4-fine-tuner tail.

Intense, huh?

The back center-seam on this violin was reglued at one point (tailpiece end) but is in good stead. The top center-seam also had a bit of reglue in the past and is also in good shape.

The scroll is cut beautifully...

...and so is the neck. Note the "dot" at the heel overlap (and also near the endpin) -- I'm guessing this may have been from a neck reset job in the past and may coincide with, perhaps, the finish touching-up or refinish job that might've been done in the past.

This comes with a padded "flight case" that's a bit dirty on the outside but fine on the inside.