Books › The violin : how to choose one, 1893 › scan 13
Scan 13
The violin : how to choose one, 1893
6 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 9. See the scan on archive.org.
1CHAPTER II.
3Some Hard Words about Collectors—Model.
5The ear and the eye of the player ought to be the sole guide, but as both ear and eye require training, a few hints on how violin players may become their own experts may not be unwelcome. Here the vastness of the subject is enough to appal any but the stoutest heart, and I fancy I hear a host of questions showering in on me, such as "What maker do you recommend most?" "Are Italian violins really the best in existence?" "How are we to know a real from a fraudulent copy?" "Would a well made new violin not be as good as an old one?" &c., &c. To answer these and a thousand similar questions I have to refer the reader back to the reply of the simple person—the ear and the eye must decide for you. For reasons which I have already given in "The Violin: How to Master It," and "The Secrets of Violin Playing," I think it may be taken as established, that an old violin, well made and well preserved, with a large and telling tone, is better for all purposes than the best new violin that can be made. By old, I mean about 150 years of age, as under that a violin is not generally at its best. Old violins may be had by the bushel for from £5 to £300, which, alas, are not worth buying. There are husky, diseased, patched, and fractured wrecks of violins, by eminent Italian makers, selling and reselling which would be better thrust into the fire. They are kept in existence merely by the rapacity of experts and dealers, the folly of collectors, and the ignorance of players. At a high-class concert recently I heard Vieuxtemps' Concerto in D minor performed by a soloist whose powers fell little short of genius, but who—oh, fatal folly—had chosen to use an old wreck of a Strad beautifully fitted with gold-mounted pegs, but having a tone which I have heard brilliantly outshone by an old English fiddle, with no purfling, a miserable scroll and a wretched oil varnish, and which was sold for £4. When—oh when—will players realize that it is not gold mounted pegs for which
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