DBT of Violins: Stradivarious Vs. New

[GO-NAD!]

Very interesting, when you consider that Stradivarius' instruments sell for several million dollars!

The Strad - Blind test backs new makers - 03 January 2012

 

[markw]

This just proves that a well known name and a mystique can be quite valuable, sometimes moreso than actual performance can justify.

Can you think of a very expensive watch that everyone lusts over that doesn't keep time any better than ones costing less than 1% of it's cost?

 

[billy p]

This just proves that a well known name and a mystique can be quite valuable, sometimes moreso than actual performance can justify.

Can you think of a very expensive watch that everyone lusts over that doesn't keep time any better than ones costing less than 1% of it's cost?

Actually the watch in question doesn't even keep accurate time and your right it's way overvalued much like the Strad.....IMHO.

 

[TLS Guy]

Very interesting, when you consider that Stradivarius' instruments sell for several million dollars!

The Strad - Blind test backs new makers - 03 January 2012

I'm not surprised by this. There are now some very good violin makers, especially in the US.

I recently read this really interesting book.

It is an easy and interesting read. I found it fascinating and highly informative about a subject hitherto surrounded in mystery.

 

[GO-NAD!]

Actually the watch in question doesn't even keep accurate time and your right it's way overvalued much like the Strad.....IMHO.

I like the watch analogy. There's just one difference to keep in mind. I think that even watch aficionados will acknowledge that expensive mechanical timepieces are not as accurate or reliable as a cheap modern digital watch. Whereas, there is a mystique surrounding Stradivarius that somehow, he was able to produce a quality of sound that nobody else has been able to capture. Maybe, "back in the day", his instruments were superior to his contemporaries' products. But it seems that is no longer true - if indeed, it ever was.

 

[TLS Guy]

I like the watch analogy. There's just one difference to keep in mind. I think that even watch aficionados will acknowledge that expensive mechanical timepieces are not as accurate or reliable as a cheap modern digital watch. Whereas, there is a mystique surrounding Stradivarius that somehow, he was able to produce a quality of sound that nobody else has been able to capture. Maybe, "back in the day", his instruments were superior to his contemporaries' products. But it seems that is no longer true - if indeed, it ever was.

The problem is: - What is a Strad? The instruments have been restrung, and revoiced many times since they were built. This has been done largely to increase the output for today's larger concert halls and Orchestras. The original Strads and Guaneris would have had much less output than in their present forms.

However the old masters have been the the teachers of the handful of modern masters. It is only comparatively recently that real craftsmanship has returned to the building of stringed instruments.

Another interesting thing is that after intensive study, especially at MIT, no one really knows exactly how a violin works acoustically. It still holds a lot of mysteries.