Let's have an interesting discussion about where our instruments come from, when they were made, and how long we've had them =)

My cello is a modern chinese instrument, only made in 2006, and it's absolutely gorgeous! =) I got it at the start of 2007, and it cost about £3,000 but apparently is worth 3 times the price I paid for it so I got a good bargain =D

My violin is from Czech and it was made in 1938, a Maggini copied which I have been playing since 2002.
It should be reaching 70 yrs old soon.

It cost about 1666 pounds

My main violin is a modern Chinese instrument made in 2006.
I payed £549 after having negotiated a £200 discount as I used to work in the shop.
Another violin dealer is selling the same model from same factory labelled with their own name for over £1100. (rip off merchants).

The instrument was the best I found under £600 after trying older European and modern European instruments out.



My back up violin is a basic Romanian violin.

Mine is thought to be English, post 1900 but the seller didn't know that much! It cost £400. Out of interest, sorry to thread hijack but does anyone have an opinion about how far you can go on a £400 violin? Thanks.

My violin is French, dated 1911, cost me £300 and is called Foxy. I got it after some other place had tried to sell me a mass produced modern Chinese one for the same amount of money, but it would only have taken me to about Grade 3. Foxy should be able to take me Grade 8 (whether I can take Foxy to Grade 8 is another thing!).

My backup is a mass produced German model from 1890 that cost £50 but needs some work done on it which I brought in a fit of madness.

My violin is Scottish... well the sycamore back is Scottish (from a castle estate about 10miles from me), the spruce is European and it was all handmade in Scotland in a village 15 miles from me! I'm not sure where the rosewood pegs, tail and the ebony fingerboard came from though... but it's mostly Scottish!

It was made in August 2006, wears a nice Evah Pirazzi fourpiece for most occasions, and because the luthier catalalogues his violins by name, she's called 'Martha'. She's worth around £1500 but that's not what I paid

I use a Kun 'Voce' carbon fibre shoulder rest (which I'm not all that keen on) and at the moment a very cheap bow.

My backup violin is a 7/8 Gliga Gama but it's for sale *halo*

I guess my YFL311 was made in Japan - but I bought it in the US because of the exchange rate.

Mine's a Rushworth & Dreaper 'Apollo', dating from around 1890-1930 and probably from Germany.

Thread about it here:
http://forums.abrsm.org/index.php?showtopic=26957

I've had it since I was 17 and I don't know what it cost, as it was an unexpected gift (I didn't even play the violin).

Apparently it's a nice little instrument and will take me right through the grades if I ever want it to. It doesn't sound so nice when I play it though, because I'm just a beginner.

It's got a lot of character and I like it. :-)

T.

1920's made by Swiss luthier - lovely tone - and improving all the time. Was a little quiet at first but is now opening up with regular playing and better strings.

I haven't actually bought any of my instruments, due to my family's musicality and tendancy to hoard things

My violin was my uncle's, French c.1890. It is getting nicer and nicer sound-wise as it's being played more again

My back up, which I was playing until a few months ago, was my Dad's, German c.1900. Also a nice instrument, quieter than my uncle's, but a lovely tone at the bottom end.

Mine's a Neil Ertz (UK) 2005, cost £7000. It recently replaced a Tononi (Italy) from around 1700, insured for £60,000. The Ertz is much better Bargain.

Which just shows that cost and sound don't necessarily correlate!

Liz

Mine's an old French fiddle from the Mirecourt school, it cost me about the price of a high-end small car new but I love it loads and would love it no matter what it cost.

Modern chinese instruments are surprisingly good quality and value, and seem to have gone up in the market considerably in the last few years =)

Mine was made in Germany, around 1890. It's a copy of a Strad xD It's gorgeous. I'm really interested as to who played it before me... Obviously nothing i can find out, but it's been VERY well played - it has a deep well developed sound and the wood under the neck is quite dirty (not in a bad way, if you know atal what i mean!) and there's a patch on the right side where the varnish has rubbed off from whoever's hand it was playing up the fingerboard.
It only cost me £450. I think it's worth a bit more though - the luthier knew my budget was £400ish (as you may know im saving for a £3000 flute, so can't afford much violinwise ) so he was like... well, i could do this one for £450. Then my violin teacher was like thats a very good violin for £450!
Anyway, doesn't matter about the price as i loooove my dear Fidelio

Oh I forgot to mention my Dad's violin which I play occasionally but is not a 'back-up' because I would never take it away from my Dad (it's his baby ).

It's a John Lowe and was made in Glasgow in 1919. It's been to Canada at one point as it has a repairer's label from a famous Montreal Luthier. Dad found it about 40years ago, in bits due to being waterlogged and he put it back together and revarnished it beautifully. He has played it on and off since then despite many offers from other people (including Bill Hardie, well known Scots fiddler) to buy it. It has the most incredible sound, definitely a soloist's instrument, and is probably a bit 'too much' for me at the moment (though Dad says I'll inherit it one day).

We've had it valued and insured but to me it's priceless because my Dad has cherished it for so long. I hope it will become a family heirloom if I can get my family to appreciate its value!

Yes, I'd have to agree there. Not that I'm any sort of expert, mind, but I have a £200 Stentor Conservatoire viola (and that was for the complete outfit, not just the instrument), and my teacher recently said that she's always amazed at what a good sound it can produce! I have my lessons and practise in a living room with many sound absorbing features, such as suite, carpet, curtains and about 600 books (seriously!), and it sounds good there. She should have heard it when I played it in a classroom, the resonance was amazing! I reckon this baby will last me for several years yet and, in time, I'll get a lovely new bow and some higher quality strings. I don't expect to be even Grade 3 for 2 or more years, so I should certainly get my money out of my beloved Violette.

Yeah, particularly for beginning/intermediate string players, Stentor instruments are incredible value! I had a Stentor conservatoire Cello for a good few years before I got my current beautiful chinese instrument =)

I don't know the brand...



It's made in england, very early 1900s. my dad paid (about) £500 for it.