240 replies to this topic

[wireman24]

My gut tells me it's a fake.
I have a feeling Vuillaume made it.
I also think many other strads are fakes as well.
A friend of my grandfather was a respected luthier and Conservator during the 1920's in Chicago he had worked on several Strads over the course of his career. He also felt the same way that many are fakes.

What do you guys think?

[fiddlewallop]

I have never personally seen it, so I have no opinion. However, I was talking to a luthier friend who had seen it and he said that he thought it was made by Vuillaume. Said it just didn't have the same feel to it that other genuine Strads had. Too perfect.

Also, I believe Vuillaume made a suspicious amount of Messiah "copies". Seemed rather odd for him to make the volume of copies that he did.

[carl stross]

My gut tells me it's a fake.
I have a feeling Vuillaume made it.
I also think many other strads are fakes as well.
A friend of my grandfather was a respected luthier and Conservator during the 1920's in Chicago he had worked on several Strads over the course of his career. He also felt the same way that many are fakes.

What do you guys think?

I agree. I solved this problem long ago : it's a fake made by Stradivari himself. A clever marketing ploy to sell cheaper without damaging the main brand....

[Addie]

I agree. I solved this problem long ago : it's a fake made by Stradivari himself. A clever marketing ploy to sell cheaper without damaging the main brand....

Strad secret #479: Increase market share.

Personally, I think Roger Hargrave made it, then hopped in a time machine, and using a fake Italian accent, sold it to Vuillaume.

Or, maybe, he used the time machine, went to Strad’s shop, stole it, then fast forwarded to Paris, and...

Ooh, ooh! I know...

Not sure where Pollens comes into this whole time machine thing, but give me a day or two to work it out? Something about chronology errors....

[Christopher Jacoby]

Next time you're handling the Messiah, see if you can press your fingernail into the varnish down at the end button. If it gives, you're holding a Strad.

[carl stross]

Strad secret #479: Increase market share.

Exactly. Strad was a Ferengi. It's one of the rules of aquisition.

[carlobartolini]

Throughout history, many belonging to one religion question the authenticity of another religion's messiah.

[Brad Dorsey]

My gut tells me it's a fake. I have a feeling Vuillaume made it....What do you guys think?

I think that your gut and your feelings are not useful in determining the authenticity of violins. Do you have any evidence?

[TimRobinson]

My gut tells me it's a fake.
I have a feeling Vuillaume made it.
I also think many other strads are fakes as well.
A friend of my grandfather was a respected luthier and Conservator during the 1920's in Chicago he had worked on several Strads over the course of his career. He also felt the same way that many are fakes.

What do you guys think?

We've been through this before - it's Brian.

Tim

[Torbjörn Zethelius]

Guts have poor violin expertise.

[~ Ben Conover]

Strad's work changed alot over his very long life, so it's entirely possible that he made the Messie as a one of a kind, just as he made other vioins that look like nothing else.

That sort of makes me feel better knowing that people's work evolves, if they let it.
Which in turn helps me to forget the crap I made 15 years ago, and to focus on what is happening today.

[Urban Luthier]

There is plenty of research on the topic wireman24. Check out Stewart Pollens book on Stradivari and his website, the Strad has published several articles on the topic featuring John Dillworth and others (including results of dendrochronology analysis). The Strad varnish book by Brandmair and Greiner has scientific analysis of the Messiah varnish.

[Christopher Jacoby]

http://www.violinist...nse.cfm?ID=9982

[Roger Hargrave]

It was a Vuillaume until someone subjected it to acupuncture, and then ‘hey- presto’ and ‘abracadabra’; it became a Strad.

[carl stross]

It was a Vuillaume until someone subjected it to acupuncture, and then ‘hey- presto’ and ‘abracadabra’; it became a Strad.

It'll never end...I've got it on good account (!) that you took care of it many times.

[Addie]

Throughout history, many belonging to one religion question the authenticity of another religion's messiah.

Are you saying it wasn’t made by Strad, it was made by... That explains the name.

I figured out the Pollens angle. He borrowed Roger Hargrave’s time machine, to get wood samples for dendro testing, but there was a transporter malfunction, and he was switched with his evil twin from a parallel universe. The evil twin was the one that dissed le Messie, but then David Burgess used his superpowers to set everything straight. That was Violin Heroes, episode 27, on Cartoon Network.

Sorry, must be the heatwave.

[Bob A]

When I was a young man, my Greek teacher told me that it had been bruited about that the Odyssey was not written by Homer, but rather by another Greek with the same name.

[Wolfjk]

When I was a young man, my Greek teacher told me that it had been bruited about that the Odyssey was not written by Homer, but rather by another Greek with the same name.

Absolutely right!
Homer could not read or write,
But he could spin a yarn!

[MikeC]

Next time you're handling the Messiah, see if you can press your fingernail into the varnish down at the end button. If it gives, you're holding a Strad.

My varnish is soft does that mean I'm secretly Strad?


Wasn't there some tree ring growth analysis that proved the wood was the right age?

[Johnmasters]

It was a Vuillaume until someone subjected it to acupuncture, and then ‘hey- presto’ and ‘abracadabra’; it became a Strad.

I have heard it said that various violinists say that "it needs playing." What do you think of this? And the related question of how distinctive is the average Strad tone? I am concerned with two things. The ability to identify by appearance and sound and also about what kinds of changes may occur when "breaking-in."