1970s Anton Becker 3/4 Violin

This violin belongs to a friend-of-a-friend and I just restrung it and set it up. It looks like it was built in the '70s or early '80s and bears an "Anton Becker" brand inside and an indication that it was made in Germany. It's not a bad instrument at all and was clearly intended more for the student market when it was made.

With a fresh set of Thomastik-made John Pearse Mezzo strings, however, it has a good, focused, warmer-than-expected tone. It also has nicer fittings than your average student model with an ebony tailpiece, fingerboard, and nut. The back is mildly-flamed maple and the overall cut is clean but a little clunky. Then again -- what average fractional instrument isn't slightly-clunky?

The original friction pegs were either missing or broken, so I installed a set of banjo-style, spring-adjustable friction pegs from the '20s. These work great but are certainly non-traditional.