Hello

My daughter has been given a violin and 2 bows by a friend of mine, the violin having belonged to his great grandfather. It is not in playable condition - the bows have no hair - and the strings have become embedded into the wood.

How do we go about finding out whether the violin is worth restoring? Or are they all worth restoring if they are that old?

We are based in the south east - can anyone recommend whom we could ask?

Many thanks

While I know nothing about this it sounds a very interesting find (I like all these old instruments )

Do you have a local Violin maker / repairer? Maybe they could help on this?

Good luck and keep us informed!

No, they all aren't worth restoring if they are old - there was just as much rubbish made a hundred years ago as there is now!

Your best bet will be to take it to a luthier and ask him if it's really worth restoring or not. He should give you an honest answer.

Good luck!

Rosfrog is quite right. Age is no guarantee of quality, and the only restoration work worth doing on some old violins is to insert a clock movement. But there again, you might be lucky and have a really nice instrument and/or bow(s).
Could you post a photo or two?
PS I'm not sure I can quite picture what you mean by the strings being "embedded into the wood".

I think she means the strings have cut into the bridge, which just means you need a new bridge. Of course there may be other things wrong as well.

Liz

The strings have cut in to the wood at the other end - not sure what you call it - where the scroll thing meets the fingerboard - they are completely hidden. They got stuck there but we did eventually manage to semi tune it and play it and it has a rich deep tone.

I did a google search on the label inside - M Couturieux - and it looks as though it is a respectable French violin maker from the late 1800s/early 1900s. The auction guide prices for this make range from $4000 to $9000 (but I assume in good condition) so that's quite promising!

The case is quite interesting too - completely battered but looks like crocodile skin. And there are ancient bits and pieces inside - leaflets, rosin, an old metal mute and other bits that I haven't identified.

I'm quite intrigued now and plan to visit a local luthier tomorrow to see what they think.

that would be the nut. you can replace the nut, it's separate from the rest of the fingerboard.

Maybe you could donate it to Lottie, im sure it would look nice papiermached over?

I have had a very old violin restored by a lady in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you PM me I can give you details. My violin is German and is over 100 years old though factory made so not worth a fortune. When I bought it second hand from an antique shop in Norfolk it was in a battered case and no hairs on the bow. I bought a new bow and had this lady restore the violin. She gave it new pegs and a new bridge and strings and tweaked something underneath (can't remember what). It has a lovely tone and my violin teacher often tunes her expensive violin to mine! It stays in tune very well and I absolutely love playing it. I am now playing in amateur orchestras with it. Incidentally, a music shop in Tunbridge Wells originally told me to throw it away but I am glad I didn't do that. My teacher said it was a very good buy. It didn't cost an awful lot to get it restored so shop around.