Inquiry about a violin

Your Question:

I purchased a violin over 20 years ago from the Weaver Violin Shop in Maryland.  I am now considering whether to donate or sell it.  None of the dealers whom I have spoken to have been able to tell me anything about my violin.  I have attached photos of it in the hope that maybe you have more information.

Any information that you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

Label

My Answer:

My first thought is to ask you if you have contacted The Violin House of Weaver.  The folks at Weaver, including Bill Weaver, are very nice, friendly and helpful people.  They may be familiar with this instrument or have records of your purchase.  In addition they may be able to give you the current market value of this instrument.

I can't make out the first name of the maker from the photo of the label and in reality this may be a "trade name" rather than an actual maker. 

Scroll

The violin appears to be a good quality student grade instrument.  The reason that I am saying student grade is because it looks like it has Caspari pegs, which are a mechanical peg.  They are great when they work properly but in time the bushings tend to come unglued and in many cases the outer shaft of the peg can crack thus causing tuning problems.  The disadvantage to these pegs is that they add quite a bit of weight to the scroll and if you have traditional (friction) pegs fit to the instrument the peg holes will have to be bushed (filled in with new wood and re-drilled and shaped to accommodate new pegs with a smaller shaft).  Depending on the violin shop that does the work this can be rather expensive in relation to the quality of the violin.

Front

The Wittner tailpiece with built in fine tuners and the plastic chinrest also give the appearance of a student quality instrument.  

Back

Overall impression:  The violin appears to be a well made instrument in good condition.  I don't see any obvious cracks or damage, although the photos don't allow enough detail.  I don't doubt that it is German.

This violin would make an excellent donation to a school or teaching studio and would be quite serviceable for an advancing student.  Without better detail it is hard to put a value on this instrument but I would place it around $1,000.00.  Again, it would make sense to check with the shop that you purchased it from.  Good luck with your decision.