Any Fiddle experts

**MANDOLINMYSTER** · Aug-15-2005, 4:32pm

Hey folks,

I just came upon a really nice old fiddle that has caught the attention of my luthier. He is not a violin expert but
thinks I should do some research on it. It has no makers marks that we can see, appears to be American or English one guy thought. And the back, sides, and neck are Mahogany.
Bone tuning pegs,end pin and saddle thing. rosewood finger board. If anyone can suggest a web site of fiddle geeks I'd like to know.

**Jim M.** · Aug-15-2005, 5:15pm

"Bone tuning pegs" reminds me of "Dreadful Wind & Rain". Beautiful tune but gruesome lyrics.

maestronet.com and fiddleforum.com are two sites that come to mind, but neither is as good as the Cafe. Another source could be the Fiddle-L listserv, which has a lot of knowledgeable folks on the list.

Are you trying to value the fiddle, or do you just want more information about it? Either way, you need to take it to a fiddle/violin expert to have them examine it in person. It will be near impossible to get any valuable information from the Internet.

Keep in mind that there have been a lot more violins made by a lot more different makers, over a much longer period of time than mandolins. You may have something that nobody will be able to identify with any certainty. I have four old fiddles, three even have labels, and they have been examined by several experts. I know one is probably 19th century Italian, and the others are probably German/Austrian, one is probably 19th century and the other are two are probably early 20th century, and that's about all I've been able to find out.

**Stephen Perry** · Aug-15-2005, 7:15pm

I've not looked at a mahogany fiddle that had any punch at all. Maple seems the thing to have. Maybe poplar for a mellow thing.

**pushinforty** · Aug-15-2005, 7:30pm

I agree with Gianna - mahogany back and sides will almost certtainly make this fiddle less than valuable. I can't imagine a mahogany instrument being worth more than a couple of hundred dollars street value. The carving of the scroll and the points (tips of the upper and lower bouts) are typically good clues to the quality of the maker. That said, if you like the sound, all you have to ask yourself is what it's worth to you.

**MANDOLINMYSTER** · Aug-15-2005, 8:41pm

Thanks for the reply folks, I did not mention that the violin is from the early 1800's so I thought with the mahogany it might be something special, I have never seen mahogany used on a fiddle.

**Fred_Murtz** · Aug-15-2005, 10:00pm

I inherited my wife's great-great-grandfather's fiddle. Its at least 150 years old and has big inlays on the back of the body. My hopes of early retirement were quenched when I took it to a reputable violin shop where they said they'd seen quite of few of these older fiddles and no, I couldn't retire quite yet.