How much would you say is my violin worth?

Discussion in 'General Chat' started by Walter vi Britannia, Apr 13, 2019.

  1. Walter vi Britannia

    Walter vi Britannia Well-Known Member

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    I have always wondered this. I have a 50 year old violin with a bit of history.

    I'm asking this because after seeing TwoSet's video '1000 dollar vs 10 million dollar violinist', there the two hosts of the channel jokingly gave their own violin a thousand dollar estimate. One of their violin was a 52 year old salavetz(?) or something and the other one was an unnamed violin from 1914. So I wondered, shouldn't mine be about the same price? But the thing is, they gave their violin that estimate on the spot. It can both be higher or lower.

    So, how much would you say mine is worth?
    I'll give you a brief explanation of the history behind it which might lower or increase its value to you.
    First, this was created by a small violin maker at the countryside in an oppressed country (Bangladesh, before it's liberation war). It survived through a war, although it was not played on the battlefield in the middle of gunfights(which would've been cool), it has still seen some shit. The violin maker put his whole heart and soul into this particular creation, using the best materials, the best wood he could get his hands on. The reason being, it was for my grandfather who, to the maker, was the greatest violinist of our country. We can't be sure about that cause there was no leaderboard at the time, but let's assume his estimate was true. My grandfather did get to specially play in front of the hero of our nation(the one who led our country to freedom) and millions after the war ended, so that claim may be plausible. (oh, and he also used this violin...does this increase the price even a little bit?)
    So, as it lays on my shoulder this violin holds the legacy of two people, one the creator whose masterpiece is in my hands, and one the first owner whose life's last accompanying violin is in my hands.

    So, what's it worth to you guys? Usually a good piece of classical instrument is considered worth more than a car, this is definitely an antique and sounds amazing in the right player's hands. The original bow is a bit damaged, so I use a new one, but the violin is in top shape. (And nobody uses antique bows really, the horse hair don't last that long...I mean, it does, but it gets a worn out a lot...and bows need to suit the player's hands so everybody gets a new bow, even pros use newly made bows that suit them so it should not affect the price.)[​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Apr 13, 2019
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  2. Walter vi Britannia

    Walter vi Britannia Well-Known Member

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    ...so you saying its worth as much as dota?


    Isn't that game free?
     
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  3. xtremeloldude

    xtremeloldude the slime guy

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    pretty sure he's an advertising bot
     
  4. juniorjawz

    juniorjawz Well-Known Member

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    he's real, just some spammer. Just report his account.
     
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  5. Deleted member 155674

    Deleted member 155674 Guest

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    If what you said is true then, your violin should be worth few tens of millions in the eyes of collectors or perhaps some more
     
  6. Fluffy Jellyfish

    Fluffy Jellyfish 『Number 1 Lolicon under Heaven』

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    I only know Stradivarius
     
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  7. redleaf97

    redleaf97 Lurker

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    post a pic of it next time
     
  8. tekinwillie

    tekinwillie TEKING

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    I don't know much, but if an appraiser can't authenticate the product it may not be worth much
     
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  9. Myriadfold

    Myriadfold 『Silkmaid』『Ishhara's Devotee』『Daoist』『WW Vet.』

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    not much in truth. the violin itself while having a nice backstory. in terms of quality could position anywhere on the charts from the very bottom to near the top. I have seen a few videos myself where the only difference between the expensive and cheap violins are a very minute increase in sound clarity and quality.

    ultimately it will be worth whatever you can convince a rich collector it is worth. but it's best to keep your hopes on the much lower end of the scale as the sentimental value of its origins won't translate into monetary value. expensive violins newly made are still super expensive without a backstory, because the care and attention put into the quality is insane, they get it certified on the moment of completion and that certification is what allows them to sell it for ridiculous prices.

    antiques without a verified recorded history of passage will never get top dollar even if they are worth it, because people cannot be sure and thus the speculation shines a negative light on the antique.
     
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  10. Liyus

    Liyus Laksha's Desu~ Cat

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    it's would be that valuable only if there are documents that can prove it.....a recipt, a writen statement of what happened or anything else, otherwhise it's only a 50 year old violin......and i think you should go to an appraiser(antique store or similar, better to go multple different people just for safety from scams) to judge the value.....

    after all for different people it's could be cheap shit or expensive car
     
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  11. raysha18

    raysha18 [Blank]

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    No idea about antique stuff but going to a renowned appraiser might be your best bet. It might be more expensive due to its history and you can't really put a price on that unless you know your stuff.
     
  12. Myriadfold

    Myriadfold 『Silkmaid』『Ishhara's Devotee』『Daoist』『WW Vet.』

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    the issue is in the details you provided IMO.

    you mentioned the violin maker putting all his skill into making it with the best materials he could get his hands on. this poses 2 problems, first there is no guarantee to how skilled the maker actually was, or how good the materials he was capable of getting a hold of.

    the value for this violin would therefore fall entirely on any historical value it may have that would make it worth collecting. and as you admitted yourself there was no way to genuinely rank your grandfather to see if they truly were the countries best, that won't give it much value, then there is the additional problem of being the best in a country that bad at something in general loses out to being merely highly skilled in a country which excels at it. so you will need to do a lot of research to determine exactly how well made was it, the quality of the materials and the notes it produces and also the countries position in the world for violinists of their time.

    if all of these give positive results you can expect a decent valuation for the violin.

    the more verified history you can provide with the violin to the appraiser, the better a shot you have at raising its valuation
     
  13. Walter vi Britannia

    Walter vi Britannia Well-Known Member

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    I just took a picture and uploaded...hopefully.
    It was quite a pain to get it uploaded since NUF doesn't directly upload from phone.
    So, what do you think? (Don't mind the messy table.)
     
    Last edited: Apr 13, 2019
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  14. Walter vi Britannia

    Walter vi Britannia Well-Known Member

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    @Liyus
    Oh! Lucky for me it has a recorded history! My grandfather's death made the news many decades ago shortly after the war and the violin is present in the shot of my grandfather where it talked about the great violinist he was. We still have a piece of that newspaper, as a memento or something. My mother preserved it...although he was my father's father.
     
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  15. Myriadfold

    Myriadfold 『Silkmaid』『Ishhara's Devotee』『Daoist』『WW Vet.』

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    as the only one with physical access to the violin your best trying to look into it yourself and try your hand at a rough assessment. it looks pretty standard as far as I can see from the picture. but of course the picture won't allow us the accurate measurements or the ability to judge the wood used in its construction.

    at least a relatively helpful link: https://www.connollymusic.com/stringovation/which-features-help-determine-the-quality-of-a-violin
     
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  16. Walter vi Britannia

    Walter vi Britannia Well-Known Member

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    Me too...more or less. I don't pay attention to famous violins very much...which I thought so, but now that I think about it, I think I can name most of the violins of famous violinists. I might be more impressive than I thought, lol.

    Anyway, yea, the strad was basically the only name I knew for years. Only later did I start to pay attention for no reason, I got by just fine before then.
     
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  17. Myriadfold

    Myriadfold 『Silkmaid』『Ishhara's Devotee』『Daoist』『WW Vet.』

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    I plan to get a cheap one when I have the financial freedom to not worry about the cost of lessons.
     
  18. tak

    tak ignorant but well-meant

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    My visual ain't sharp, so i can't really differentiate faces, even more for violins. Is there a special mark to prove it's the same violin with the one on tv/newspaper?
    you can upload directly
    Screenshot_20190413-202605_1.jpg
     
  19. Walter vi Britannia

    Walter vi Britannia Well-Known Member

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    Shhh! We'll just pretend that doesn't exist, ok?

    And people who knows their shit, ones with weird useless licenses can discern about anything. Haven't you watched that pawn stars show? How they discern signatures and ancient Chinese paper money and whatnot. I'm sure they'd be able to easily discern my violin.
     
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  20. Walter vi Britannia

    Walter vi Britannia Well-Known Member

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    Well, cheap Chinese training violins are usually what people use for starting out...but you better get a better more expensive one later on if you plan to master it. Best case would be to get one lent to you by an institute...but that would only happen if you've got national level skills.

    Also I wouldn't recommend picking up violin unless you're 5, but that's your choice what you wanna play. If you've got the talent and dedication, you can master it no matter how old you are...just be warned that it's the hardest instrument to learn. Not play; learn. Every instrument is equally easy or hard to play once you've mastered it, but sitting on a piano and hitting some keys for the first time is miles easier than picking up a violin and playing some notes.

    Nothing makes sense, the absolute hardest way you can think of holding a violin, you have to do exactly that. You'll think there are a lot of easier ways to hold it, but you'll not be allowed to hold it that way. You are not even allowed to hold it up with your hands, just your shoulders. The vibrato for the violin is the most physically nonsensical maneuver ever. I still don't know how its anatomically possible even though I know how to do it, lol. And the BOW! What the fuck!? You have to hold it like you're holding a feather, not a single joint (finger or wrist) is allowed to be tense. Like, you're not allowed to use a single bit of force, as if it's just laying in between your fingers like a hologram. And do that with picture perfect accuracy on the strings.

    Really, that's just a part of it. Once you're able to do all that, now you have the ability to play notes as easily as hitting notes on a keyboard...piano...whatever. Now go learn all the difficult pieces in the world, but before that you must learn the impossible names of the composers and their pieces which have equally impossible names with numbers in them!

    I don't know why I'm saying all this. I'm just venting. Just when you said you wanted to learn it too. If it makes it any better, although I don't want to say any of them, there are lots of good points about it. It's completely worth it. I can vouch for it as someone who is completely obsessed with playing on the violin.

    Once you've got an instrument you can be proud of and the skills to play any amateur pieces easily, it all becomes worth it and you feel like a damn high-class son-of-a-bitch when you're holding your violin while in a suit.

    Give it a go. Let me know though. Would love to have a violin buddy. Even if you don't choose violin, I would love to have a classical musician buddy as much...but if you're not learning classical, just find another teacher. I suggest you learn classical no matter which instrument, electric guitar or acoustic. That is the greatest peak of music and it's the most defined way of mastering any instrument...except drums. I think drums are the only things that improved with modern music....but by modern I mean the previous generation, so I guess it's not that modern.

    Sorry for going on and on about it, I can't stop when I'm talking about things I love, like my favorite novels and stuff...I have a sudden urge to talk about my favorite novel Reborn as my Love Rival's Wife now. Before I go any further I'll just hit ENTER!!!


    ...it just sent me down here. 'Enter' key doesn't post...forgot about that. Bye! (the fuck am I saying bye for?)
     
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