Message: I found your web site more informative than any other I have gone to. The violin I have, has a sticker inside. It says Dommicus Montagnana Sub Signo Cremonae Venetia 17 made in Germany. Is it worth restoring? It is in very good shape. Needs stings and bows need it too.
The Violin Dealer: When I try to enlarge the photos to see better detail they get too pixelated to see very well. From what I can tell it looks like the violin has two rather large top cracks. One of the cracks looks to be a bass bar (inside the violin) crack. Those are difficult to fix and the repair usually involves removing the top of the violin to do the repair. If I am correct about the top cracks then I would say that the repairs would exceed the value of the instrument. In addition, I'm not convinced that the fingerboard is ebony. If a violin has an ebony fingerboard that gives a good indication of quality. The violin also needs a new set of pegs in addition to set up work, bridge, sound post, strings, etc. This violin appears to be a Germany made copy of a Montagnana (pre-World War II) made circa 1900 - 1920. When this violin was new it probably sold for $10-$15. In today's market (in the midwest, USA) in excellent condition it would be worth $300-$700. Depending on the shop that did the restoration for you, the repairs could run $1,000 to $3,000 or more.
I can't see enough detail on the bows but I'd guess that the bow in the bottom bow holder is an inexpensive brazilwood bow with a half-mounted frog. It might be worth doing a rehair on it if there is no or minimal warping in the stick. This bow could have a a value of $100-$150 in good condition. The bow in the top bow holder could either be a pernambuco (type of wood) bow or an inexpensive Japanese cherrywood bow. If it is a pernambuco bow, depending upon condition it might be worthwhile to put into playing condition and could be worth $200-$300. If it is stamped Japan and is cherrywood, then generally those bows have little value today, and I would not recommend having a rehair or any other work done on it.
