Fiddle Nerds

[Wafflestomper]

Thought I’d just start a new thread, so the other one doesn’t get too long.
SInce, I have to pace myself with playing.. as some carpal tunnel/tendonitis has reared its ugly head >:( Apparently my new hobby is digging around for stuff.

Whilst digging around on Ebay looking for names to research.. I came across this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Giuseppe-Marconcini-violin-anno-1836-excellent-condition-/331838321215?hash=item4d431af23f:g:pxoAAOSwv0tVV-U7

I thought it was kinda pretty, and it’s in Henderson, so I might be able to arrange a viewing. Just wondering if anyone could provide any input.

According to the listing, its being played here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdTfmx7wU1g

Sound files are worth their weight in styrofoam peanuts, but sounded nice on this piece.

[DianeG]

Hi…..will I found out some info on Giuseppe. Universal Dictionary of Violin and Bow Makers. Volume 3.
By William Henley. First Ed. 1960

G. Marconcini. Born 1774. Son of Luigi Aloisio. Studied with Storioni. Settled at Ferrara. Died 8141. His workmanship varies considerably, but many of his instruments may be placed on a level with those of his teacher. Amatese-Strad pattern, Belly wood often wide grained, two piece back of very straight flame, body length 35.5cm. Covered with a brilliant red or golden brown varnish. One example from 1830, solid in US in 1930 for $500.

Hope that helps. Yes…going to see it would be a good idea. Taking a couple of different bows. Bob says it is probably a trade name as his instrument are pretty rare. There is a whole…very long list of names of old violin makers that have been used to trick you into thinking its an Old Italian, valuable instrument. Bob said to google violin trade names and see if his name is on that list. Oh no, not another research nite!!!! LOL. : >)
Stay tuned. Diane and Bob in SoCal

[Wafflestomper]

Thanks Diane.
I’ve pretty much decided that are two classifications of fiddles out in the wild. “Factory Fiddles with fancy names” and “Total BS”. Anything I can afford likely falls into one of those two categories, mostly like the latter lol.

I also found another local dude with this listing: https://lasvegas.craigslist.org/msg/5570626205.html

A google search turns up that this violin was also listed once in Houston, TX.

It also turned up an Ebay page.. dude seems to have quite a collection of “fancy” fiddles in his possession. http://stores.ebay.ph/vegasviolin/

How do people come up with all these fabulous toys 😉
I wish I had one of these attics with a magic tree that grows all of these rare and fine instruments.

And my apologies if the guy is legit. Could be that he’s just a very aggressive auction dude.
There might be a future trip to San Diego near the end of the year 😀

…the hunt continues.

[DianeG]

Good Morning Fiddle Nerd Friend!!!! Well this is very interesting what you turned up about the Vegas guy. I will show that to Bob when he gets home this afternoon. As for the one you show on Craig’s List…Bob would probably tell you that the arching (top and bottom plates) are not the best. If you look at the image, #7 and see how the top is rounded and comes down like a hill top to the edge…that is not the best for tone. You want to have more of a top that is flatter under the bridge and then comes down gradually and then flattens to the edge. This is more of the Strad model and that is where you get the projection of tone and voice. We have a good friend who lives up your way…he is above Carson City. He is a violin collector and builder. He comes to the same workshop that Michael Darnton teaches at the first 3 weeks of June in Claremont, Ca. at the Claremont Colleges. He has spent his whole life playing violin professionally in many wonderful orchestras and gigs…I will email him and see if he has anything for sale and if he would be willing to set up a visit or something with you to show you what to look for in a good fiddle. He’s a great guy and now very retired. He has not been down to the workshop for the last few years because his wife has had some health issues. Or, yes, come down here…bring your wife and spend the weekend down here…we have a few local hotels near by and you and Bob can talk fiddles, making and trying out our vast array of French, German and American stuff. We have ALOT of violins and bows, you would be impressed. Bob’s prices are great too for what your getting. It would be a day or two at the “best candy store” you could imagine. LOL. Take a look at this website…it’s where Bob heads to in two weeks for violin making, repair and setup. You might even want to consider this workshop someday when you retire….just for setup and repair. Southern California Violin Makers Workshop. SCVMW.com.
Have a great day and stay tuned. Diane in SoCal

[Roland White]

Hi DianeG and WS, Great to see a Fiddle Nerd posting. This is like a dramatic play as WS digests all this gigantic plate of fiddle food knowledge and tech kernels from DianeG and as WS treks out into the rabbit hole of the used Fiddle world we will all be on the edge of our seats while the perfect fit and marriage of Man and Fiddle occur sometime in the future. I hope that at the time this marriage is celebrated that you send us a sound bite of the other lady in your life, that being a new beautiful matched to your personality fiddle. Have fun! Roland

[DianeG]

Hi Roland….LOL…that’s so funny how you describe WS foray into the Used Fiddle pile of vintage instruments.It is fun though but a hard disease to to fit with no cure in sight! There are literally so many used fiddles out there…what’s a person to do. I swear…my husband is a fiddle and bow junkie. I never know what UPS, FEDEX, USPS or any of the carriers coming to our back door will bring to the house. It’s sometimes like a BIG Box store in our kitchen…with an array of things arriving…accessories, cellos (rarely), music stands, books on violin making…well you get the idea…LOL.
I’m close to shutting down Ebay and taking his credit card away…..but I know that won’t work. I guess I’m just glad he doesn’t collect piano’s.
Mean while, back at the ranch…no word of WS and what interesting fiddle(s) he has seen or researched recently….maybe he’s up to his eye balls just playing music. : >)
Have a great day and stay tuned. Diane in SoCal

[Wafflestomper]

Hey Diane.
I’ve got an appointment to try out the Marconcini on Saturday.
We are supposed to be packing (wife got the job in Bozeman, MT) but I keep having these little “side projects”. She said, “I thought we weren’t going to anymore fiddle stores after the Barnabetti fiasco of 2016”

I figure while we are in Henderson, we may as well also swing back up through the center of town and talk to my boy Shen and see if he got any cools toys in from Cleveland to play with.

Thats where I’m at. Just trying as many different things as I can while I have the chance. May not be as many opportunities in Bozeman. Although I think Lisa Barrett is near Bozeman, haven’t seen her in many years. They always had really cool toys >:)

Other than that, Im wrapping up Blue River Waltz and might steal some of those licks from I Don’t Love Nobody next.

[DianeG]

Hello WS….Great that you get to try out the fiddle….not sure what they are asking for it but I’d give them an offer if it sounds like what your looking for. The two ebay listing that Bob found in a search history were both under $600. The other one on Ebay still has not sold because people are wise and do their research in the the Ebay history. See if they will take $600. If they want more than that…it would have to have one heck of a great tone on all 4 strings and no other problems. How about the setup as well….is the bridge set up to standard…not too thin or too thick. You should email Bob and ask him for measurements of the FB in relationship to the bridge, the after length for the tailpiece…than you can measure those when you go to look at it…take a mm ruler with you.
All those things should be set up correctly because they can run up later if they have to be fixed. Like the one on Ebay…we know who did the setup on it in San Diego…and it will not be good…so it is going to have to be redone. Let us know what happens. I have something to brag about….for Mother’s Day…Bob set up a fiddle that I bought 9 years ago for $100. There was something very special about this old fiddle that I like when I first played on it…beautiful tone…small and narrow fiddle probably a Baroque fiddle as it has a grafted neck and is about 180 years old….label says French…NOT. It’s German from the Tryrol alps, a historic area just above Italy. I’m learning the Blue River Waltz too…love that tune. Just signed up for Jay and Molly’s Ashokan Southern Week Fiddle camp in the Catskills of NY State…Southern week…Old-Time, Cajun….this will be my 11th year in a row. Stay tuned. Diane in SoCal

[DianeG]

OOPS….I think we are tailing about two different fiddles here. I thought you where going back to see the fiddle with the neck reset. This is the other one you mentioned. Let us know what you find out.
Stay tuned. Diane in SoCal

[Wafflestomper]

I was just at a restaurant when I saw your post… I was thinking “Wait a minute.. which fiddle are we talking about? The Ebay Barnabetti, the cursed Barnabetti or the Marconcini?”

So many etti’s and ini’s I get myself turned around.
Tomorrow I’m going to try the Macaroni.

My wife is coming with me.. I kinda hope I hate it. Or else it might result in a thorough butt-whoopin’.
She’s freakishly strong for someone 5’2″

[DianeG]

Well? How did it go with the Macaroni? LOL. Did it get loved or hated? Tell us about the tone.
Stay tuned. Diane in SoCal

[Wafflestomper]

Hey Diane.
I met with him on Saturday to try the violin. Really nice quirky little Italian guy. Retired from the LV Symphony, the guy could really play. Super nice guy though.. you could tell he really loved playing, and really loves his fiddles. Once he started he played for almost 10 minutes.. dude just got lost in it.

Jenny said I had this look in my eyes like “My turn! Gimme! Gimme!”

He finally forked it over, and I played a couple tunes. Dude was a little taken back that I was playing fiddle songs. Don’t think he expected that.. but he thought that was pretty neat and had about a million questions.

Then he had this look in his eyes like “Gimme Gimme!” so he played for another few minutes and we went back and forth. Told some war stories.

But on to the fiddle…

The varnish is really neat. A very rich brown with almost orange highlights. One small repair that looked well done. I could tell this guy was super OCD about his instruments, which made me happy.

The first thing I noticed was the volume of this thing. Much more punch than the others I’ve tried over the last couple months. The bowing was effortless, in fact, I had to back off of it a little.. already has me thinking I need a light bow (I use a coda Luma, as I’m afraid to take anything wood out of the house).

It seems very clear and precise. I played Black and White Rag, which is one of my muddier sounding songs (only due to my crappy playing and sausage like fingers), and I was able to immediately notice that the notes were much cleaner. It feels like a very “fast” fiddle in that regard.
Playing in 3rd position was much easier as well.. I even managed to do the double stop slides in Wednesday Night Waltz with out feeling like my ears were being attacked with a cheese grater.

He had a set of old Indfel strings on it, not sure which in particular.. they looked like the obviously needed changing.

It is much much brighter than I am used to. Not in a bad way, Im just noticing I have to play waltzes a little more conservatively, as I don’t have to work this fiddle quite so hard.
The G string was’nt quite as sweet as it was on the cursed Barnabetti, but it was cleaner, brighter and full of loud.

I could tell straight off that this fiddle would help my playing. I can focus less on trying to get certain “things” to sound right, and spend that energy doing other “things”… that doesn’t make sense, but its the only way I can explain it.

Not that what I’m playing now is horrible, its still a nice fiddle. This one is just different, and unique enough in its qualities, that I decided I wanted it. And he really wasn’t asking an exorbitant amount for what I feel the fiddle had to offer.

I met with him over a Starbucks the following day, told more war stories. I made him an offer and took it home.
He said he needed to sell some other ones.. I got the impression that his wife told him no more fiddles until you get rid of some of what you have.. (Funny, my wife told me the same thing).

Said he had a nice one that had to go for around 20k.
I told him I could only afford $200.
He laughed.
I laughed.
We all laughed.
Scooby-Doo ending.

Took it home and immediately swapped the old strings out for Helicores.
This was a mistake.
My left ear is going deaf.
Also will probably put a Gold E on it.

May have to find some strings on the warmer side. I’ll give them some time to break in though.
As far as the setup goes, I’ll play it for a bit then I’ll probably take it in to Juan to get it a physical.
I also might see about having him throw in some of those Wittner pegs you were talking about… Do you know if they have to be sized? Not sure if there is some kind of one size fits all measurement or how that works.

But all in all..
I give this fiddle a 7/10.
I thought after I took it home, I would reject all others. But it turns out I still love them too… just for different reasons.

I love it. But I guess really, the search never ends.
Too bad I’m not made of money.
Who needs food anyway 😀

—WF

• This reply was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by Wafflestomper.

[DianeG]

Wow….THANK YOU for a wonderful story. I had a GUT feeling that because your a crazy fiddle nerd you would come home with it and with your wife too! No trade in’s allowed. No butt whooping either…LOL.
I know you don’t know Bob from Adam….but you could send it down here and Bob will set it up for you as a fiddle. He works with a couple of fiddlers here in the San Diego region. Bob is very familiar with the Wittner fine tunes as he has installed probably 50 sets since they came out. DO NOT have someone put on Knilling geared pegs..originally designed and made by Peg Head. We have had problems with them in the past failing, they have some mechanical/design issues and are more expensive than the Wittners. The tuning mechanism is in the shaft of the peg…they are now called Perfection Pegs. I would advise to stay away from them. The Wittners on the other hand, have the tuning mechanism in the head of the peg. Look up Wittner Fine Tuners on google. Bob installs them for around $250 per fiddle…they include the pegs and the fit. Yes, they do come in sizes too…so you need someone who is knowledgeable in placing them and in the fit as well. Bob puts them in with a tiny drop of Crazy Glue to secure them. The Knillings have a thread so they screw in and if not placed in the correct way…you can turn them out…so they are left and right handed. People who are not familiar with putting them in can really mess up your tuning. I love my Wittner tuners I can cross tune in less than a minute and fine tune in 15 sec. You also do not need any fine tuners on the tailpiece so no muting from the 4 fine tuners on a tailpiece. So glad you got the fiddle. Here’s the new strings you might want to try….D’Addario’s new Kaplan line. Amo’s help to tone down a bright fiddle. Their Vivo’s help to brighten a dark fiddle. I have them on a wonderful old fiddle that Bob just set up for me…the Amo’s and wow…they are wonderful strings. I would also go with the Lenzner Goldbrokat…0.27 gauge string…Inexpensive and sweet. Let us know if you want to ship it down here or bring it down. : >)
Have a great day and stay tuned. Diane

[Wafflestomper]

I recently started to use those very same E strings, and I really like them. They are really sweet and don’t squawk at you if your aren’t exactly on point.

I will definately consider having Bob do the pegs, maybe even on a couple fiddles. Right now we are pretty focused on getting the wife up to Montana, so maybe towards the end of the summer I’ll just make a road trip. There’s a few things I want to do over there, and have some friends that live there as well, so I may just make a weekend or a 4 day trip or something.

Maybe I can have you show me some bows as well. Bows are mystifying to me, and I swear Ill never understand how one stick can play better than another stick.

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