Also keep in mind that Stradivari's did not come with big company or manufacturer logos on them, so many people perhaps did not know they were what they were modifying. As I know someone who was given a violin by an older relative as a kid, but did not know it until after they did stuff kids might do to instruments like carve their name in it and stand on it, that it it was a Stradivarius...

And lets face it, like the first baseball cards and comic books that came out, if those people back then knew what they would be worth today, they would have taken better care of them. I don't know how many of my friends grandparents and parents would regretfully tell us about all the old baseball cards they used to put in the spokes if their bikes so they could sound like motorbikes when they were kids...

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RAMA LAMA FA FA FA

Musical instruments are much akin to firearms......most require some modifications for an optimized man/machine interface. It generally takes around $400 in additional custom parts and precision smithing to render a Colt 1911 pistol mission-capable for my needs as a carry gun. About the same amount I spend for a typical Fender Stratocaster I reckon.

Arjay

No instrument is ever good enough. My 64 Gibson LG-0 is even getting tweaked.

if something can be made to play / sound better why not , go for it my 2 epis , lp and sg400 have had all the electronics replaced , rewired 50's style and new pups and bridges , they sure do sound sweet now next on my list is my old 89 mij strat , new pots and switch and i might try out a set of iron gear pups in her , but i won't be doing any mods that aren't needed , i like to keep them basic

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Hi Nevin: indeed!

Another aspect: people have put up endless different theories as to why they think these instruments sound good - most of which are demonstrably untrue. One of the very popular ones is "something special" about the varnish - and in violin circles folks maunder on about that to an extent that makes guitarists talking about nitrocellulose look like beginner's stuff.

And yet, very, very few of the surviving Strads and Guarneri actually have their original varnish, so any ideas about their makers' possessing magic varnish formulae are twaddle.

One Strad that is believed to be pretty much original is the one known as the "Messiah" in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England. They seldom allow it to be played, no doubt partly because when it has been played people have said it doesn't actually sound very good...

Cheers - C

All I know about them is that Larry Fine had one but I think Moe or Curley accidently smashed it.

I saw something on tv last night where they were taking Stradivarius instruments and doing something that looked like MRI or some kind of medical scans to measure and detail every thing inside and out to try to figure out why the tone was so special.

Larry Fine was actually an excellent violinist. He was good enough to be an orchestra pro. However, fortunately for us he chose a different path.

Bro-dave.

Seems like I had heard that he was a fine violinist. Their characters are so rich sometimes its hard to believe that they had regular lives. .

The Stooges were my all time favorite.

Wait. You know someone who was given multi-million dollar violin? Those are some circles you run in.

I thought my neighbor was crazy paying 75K for his daughter's violn but Strativarius is a whole diffrent world.

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AmDlx HSS
62 Hot Rod
Luke w/Piezo
Carvin Belair

I hope that this does not come across as cheeky, but I don't mod my instruments. I tend to be of the school of thought that they were built the way they are to sound that way. If I am looking fo a different sound then heck, why not just get a custom made one from the start. I am not in judgement of anyone who does mod their gear, to each his own. I just think that Fender got it right the first time..
ABS

I heard about it nearly 20 years ago, so perhaps I am getting confused. But I think the violin had been acquired from the relatives grandparents estate and that they weren't sure of how old it was or where it came from, so thats probably why this relative just gave it to their niece to play with as it was not in the greatest condition at that point, but probably much worse after the niece had it...

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RAMA LAMA FA FA FA

I know a guy that had a Cunetto Relic, then decided on a refin.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Hi again Nevin: my dad is a fiddle player and has a Strad copy built just before 1800 - though I don't recall what he's basing that dating upon. In fact, it ain't just a copy, it's a fake - it has a fake Stradavarius marking.

Still, a 200+ year old fake is still quite a nice instrument to have! Bit like owning a Tokai Springysound in the late twenty-second century...

Cheers - C

I'm not seeing much wisdom here, troop.

That issue M-9 pistol or M-4 carbine you're carrying -- are you absolutely convinced there aren't available mods that would render these weapons better tools for the job? How about body armor. Natick doesn't always "get it right". That's how the new "Interceptor" came to be. By your own logic, you'd still be jumping a T-10. Ready for that?

Just something to think about on a philosophical level when the subject of "mods" comes up.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY