1910s German-made? 4/4 Violin
This is the last item from a large assortment of estate instruments I've been pushing-through this month. It's unmarked but bang-on for a German-made trade fiddle from around 1910-1920. While it's a bit worn-in and arrived in the most falling-apart wooden case I've ever seen, work on it actually wasn't bad to get it playing up to spec.
Soundwise, with the John Pearse Mezzo (like Thomastik Dominants) strings on it, it has a clean-and-clear, but mellow tone. I like that double-stops don't get too mushy or warm and yet it's not shrieky or hollow-sounding on the highs. It's not super-loud but it does carry just fine.
Work included: seam repairs, one hairline crack repair (small, 1.5" or so) on the lower-bout top (under the tailpiece), fitting of an old bridge, a soundpost reset/fitting, replacement endpin, new tailgut, and general setup. It plays with super-fast, fiddling action. The neck has only a tiny amount of relief overall vs. dead flat and the fingerboard does show just a little bit of wear in first position.
Soundwise, with the John Pearse Mezzo (like Thomastik Dominants) strings on it, it has a clean-and-clear, but mellow tone. I like that double-stops don't get too mushy or warm and yet it's not shrieky or hollow-sounding on the highs. It's not super-loud but it does carry just fine.
Work included: seam repairs, one hairline crack repair (small, 1.5" or so) on the lower-bout top (under the tailpiece), fitting of an old bridge, a soundpost reset/fitting, replacement endpin, new tailgut, and general setup. It plays with super-fast, fiddling action. The neck has only a tiny amount of relief overall vs. dead flat and the fingerboard does show just a little bit of wear in first position.
Scale length: 12 3/4"
Nut width: 15/16"
String spacing at nut: 11/16"
String spacing at bridge: 1 3/8"
Nut width: 15/16"
String spacing at nut: 11/16"
String spacing at bridge: 1 3/8"
Lower bout: 8 1/8"
Upper bout: 6 5/8"
Side depth: 1 3/8"
Body length: 14"
Top wood: solid spruce
Back/sides wood: lightly-figured maple
Neck wood: maple
Neck wood: maple
Fingerboard: ebony w/streaking
Pegs: rosewood
Bridge: maple
Nut: ebony
Condition notes: average uswear throughout with some rosin/finger-staining on the upper-bout and various scratches and small nicks on the body all-over. The original ebony tailpiece is missing its little ridge/saddle, though I did add a decent vintage fine tuner for the high E during setup. Pegs at the headstock work just fine.
The chinrest is celluloid or similar.
Nice figure on that back, huh?
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