4/4 Violin hunting

[Kutik73]

We've started hunting for a 4/4 violin for DS. We have visited two luthiers so far and each let us take one home. We can keep one for a week and another for two weeks.

DS likes one in particular and it costs £5500 for the violin alone. I know the price is not always mirrored to the quality of the sounds. It only makes difficult to judge as I don't play any instrument. So I did a bit of research and accidentally found the same violin being sold back in October for £1200-1800. It's auctioned so the exact selling price was not displayed. Looking at the photo, it has the same marks and scars so it's definitely the same violin we have here.

I can see the bridge, chin rest, and tuners has been replaced. But the selling notes stated the condition as excellent so I assume major work wasn't required by the luthier. But I don't know.

Surely luthiers have to make money so I understand it's common practice for them to buy something cheaper and add some work and sell at a higher price. But more than doubling the bought price sound quite a lot, especially it seemed to be in great conditions already.

Should I be careful or can I trust the luthier? I hope he is not pricing unnecessarily high... Any input/advice/sharing experiences would be greatly appreciated!

I'm obsessed with not having things on my piano. It's my piano.

Granny, it has to be easy access to DS therefore left on the piano. But your comments made me think I must review the safety! Thank you!

NeverEver, DS is only musician in our household so no one complain about whatever on the piano (apart from the tuner maybe). However no one can touch my painting kit and so can DH's road bike.

Kutik, it takes 5 seconds to open a violin case, 5 seconds to fit the rest. I'm being generous.Tighten the bow, tune, all ready to go in less than a minute. So he saves 10 seconds. I have violins downstairs that cost a fraction of your DS's but they are all safe in their cases. My colleague experienced a burst pipe in the cold weather recently. His house was largely ruined with water pouring out of the ceiling and down the walls What if you had a fire? A case would offer some protection or you could grab it and run. Sorry for all the catastrophising!

Granny, before writing this post, I swiftly packed the violin in a case...

DS's violin is on the piano, with the shoulder rest permanently fixed to it. However, he takes a good couple of minutes to get ready!! I must show him your post...

Talking about fire, I remember Nicola Benedetti once said if her home caught fire and she could only take one item, her cat would be left behind for violin....
.

The reasonable violin case I mentioned earlier is Pedi. It wasn't a soft case actually. I was told it's a hard case with soft fabric on the outer.

I've never heard of a soft violin case. Do you mean a padded outside? I'm glad you used the case last night. DS will speed up with practise!

Ah, you caught a novice in me! Yes I meant cushioned (softer to touch!). Every time I said 'soft' I was reminded they were all actually 'hard' by luthiers/dealers/shop assistants...

I hope DS will speed up. He moves in slow motion for any getting ready. Once he starts he is not too bad though.. Hopefully maturity will help...

I don't quite see the purpose of a padded case and could imagine it suffering in hard use. Then, I've never looked at one and I'm a dinosaur. Surely the padding inside and the overall strength are what's important, together with comfort in use. By the way, airlines are starting to understand that musical instruments are precious and must be allowed as hand baggage in addition to the normal allowance. The Musicians' Union has worked hard on this. It's good to have a clear idea of the rules, written down if poss to show to any awkward airline staff at the boarding gate.

We had to change airlines at the last minute last year as the airline we initially booked had zero policy for musicians. Now I always check their policy before paying. This summer we are flying with an airline who let musicians to take their instrument in AS LONG AS the case doesn't exceed their allowed max size. If we had bought an oblong it wouldn't have been allowed to take in...

Are they calculating the case size by its volume, regardless of its longest dimension? I only ask because the max length of a carry-on bag is 54 or 55 cm, where a violin bow is 75, so any violin case must be 80cm long at a minimum, whatever shape it might be.

Total length of all the sides. Oblongs easily exceed it but shaped ones are safe.

I can see you are well clued up on all this but the MU have a useful page about it if you need updates.

BAM has a model specially made for flights which bows cannot be fitted so you need a bow case separately. Not a great idea for younger kids to use daily. I can imagine they forget bow! Gewa Air was the next slimiest and lightest and you can still pack two bows. It fits our bill.

Actually printing MU page just in case would be a good idea. Not all the air attendants are up to date and aware of all the new policies. I travelled without passport once because I was allowed illegally due to an airline's ill education of the stuff.

I'll have a good read tonight Granny.

Stuff = staff...

Is there space for a shoulder rest in a shaped case?

I'd heard about a violin case with no room for bows! Sounds barmy to me. Do they put bows into their hold luggage?
Never, that's one of those "it all depends" questions. You could only find out by trying before buying. My experience is that it can work, but might involve the rest being crammed under, over, or beside the neck in which case (!) careful packing with a duster to protect the violin is essential.

NeverEver, we tested out before purchasing. DS's shoulder rest is not foldable but not one of those massive ones neither. It fits just, and it doesn't move around as the case comes with magic tapes to keep a shoulder rest to stay in place. We put cloth on top to avoid any rubbing/scratching. DS also carries a pencil, mute, ear plugs, rosin and spare strings in the case.

Granny, yes apparently you pack your bows in a bow case and it goes to the suitcase!

Ok, well! Perhaps you couldn't risk taking your best bows, then, in case the airline lost your suitcase. You can't take ivory or tortoiseshell items into the US now anyway, which would rule out many of the finest bows and any historic piano, but let's not get into that.

I am quite puzzled about the shaped versus oblong case question and I apologise to anyone previously following this thread who has fallen asleep. Firstly, how do you measure the dimensions of a shaped case? Across the thick end, the depth and the length? Or somewhere in the middle to get an average?
A standard cabin bag is 56×45×25. That's about the biggest I can find; there are so many various versions. The sides added together come to 126cm. The volume (sides multiplied together) is 63 litres.
I looked up an oblong violin case at random, a cheap one, Muzip. The sides are 81,15,30, which added together total 126, the same as the cabin bag. But multiplied those figures give 36.45 litres, much less than the cabin bag. So by my calculations an oblong case should be allowed. I know you have already chosen a case, and I'm not here to rock the boat but this info might be useful to others.

Granny, I am sure oblong should be allowed by some airlines. But this particular airline specifies it has to be within their set total of L + W + D of the case (sorry don't have the precise details right now!) and thank to the shaped body, our case was just within their specified total length. So I figured oblong couldn't have made it. Volume is not the consideration.

Or I may have misunderstood!

The variation in permitted cabin bag size among the different airlines is bewildering. All the same I have never heard that you can't take an oblong violin case on to a plane. I have travelled with our orchestra many times but don't know if special arrangements were made for us. I think it would be common knowledge though, if oblong cases were banned.

Granny, it's not that oblong cases are banned. Just the allowed total length of this particular airliner is not great, I thought any case larger than DS's case would be out.

I'll give it a rest now!