1908 James Carpenter 4/4 Violin

Overview: This cool old violin was made in the USA by a James Carpenter, working for a James Vaughn, out of Wakefield, Rhode Island in 1908. It's well-made, clearly inspired by "good old violins" but cut to his own tastes, and has good-quality wood and fittings and a nice, even, slightly-saucy sort-of tone. I love old American-made violins because they just have something a little different about them -- and often in a good way.

Interesting features: The medium-dark brown finish is a nice option as it does stand-out from the pack a bit. It has tightly-grained spruce for the top and a one-piece, medium-flamed, maple back. Everything is a uniform coloration and the build and fit is full of good workmanship. The carve for the scroll is nice and all of the detail work is, too. It comes with a set of 4:1 geared pegs installed which is a huge upgrade for practicality.

Repairs included: Manny repaired a couple side seam separations, fit a new bridge, restrung it, and set it up. It's playing spot-on and is ready to serve.

• Weight: 1 lb 2 oz
• Scale length: 13"
• Nut width: 15/16"
• Neck shape: medium C
• Depth at first position: 49/64"
• Body length: 13 7/8"
• Body width: 8 1/8"
• Body depth: 1 1/2"
• Top wood: solid spruce
• Back & sides wood: solid flamed maple (one-piece back!)
• Bridge: maple
• Fingerboard: ebony
• Neck wood: maple
• String height: between fiddler and classical setup (3/32" bass, 1/16" treble at octave)
• Strings: Thomastik Alphayue

Condition notes: I did not find any cracks or crack repairs when examining the instrument. It has some mild wear and tear to the finish but overall it's actually in very good shape. I'm surprised by how clean it is, to be honest -- it must have been tended-to well by its past owners.

It comes with: It's got a good, hard case, a spare decent bow, and a spare bow needing a rehair.

Consignment tag: MBUO