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Location: Frozen Tundra of Minnesota | The Only Playable Stradivarius Guitar:
http://forgottenguitar.com/2016/02/04/the-only-playable-stradivariu... |
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Location: undisclosed | Nancy that is so cool. I'm into old instruments but didn't know about Stradivari guitars. There is a bond between violinists and guitars, Paganini also played guitar, that would have been something to hear. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Tanks for sharing this, Nancy. I also am enlightened by the second comment posted with the video. |
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Posts: 1713
Location: Frozen Tundra of Minnesota | I was hoping to find a picture or two where we could really *see* the guitar itself, now that we have heard it:
http://www.sabionari.com/Home.html
and here you can see the front AND the back:
https://thedutchluthier.wordpress.com/2015/08/30/antonio-stradivari-...
I am glad you enjoy the History Lesson too, I had no idea that Stadivarius ever made Guitars (and there were darned few of them it seems), and that one survived in a playable condition for Centuries, is beyond Remarkable!
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Some years ago, we sang a symphony concert with a famous violin player touring from China. She was playing a very famous Stradivarius that was owned by a museum in China. The violinist was so treasured by the people managing the museum that she was loaned this particular instrument for life. Its value was estimated to be in the multi-millions. I was friends with many of our symphony's musicians and I once asked one of the violinists how many instruments he owned and what was their value? He said he owned four, and that his best violin was the one he was holding, which he regularly played for concerts. He said it was Italian made, about 100 years old, and as violins go, about mid-pack in quality for professional symphony ensemble violinists. He said he paid $70,000 for it after he graduated from music school. I did not recognize the maker, but it was not a Stradivarius. We get off pretty darn easy with guitars. |
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Location: NJ | very cool |
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Location: Frozen Tundra of Minnesota | ProfessorBB - 2016-02-06 2:44 PM
Some years ago, we sang a symphony concert with a famous violin player touring from China. She was playing a very famous Stradivarius that was owned by a museum in China. The violinist was so treasured by the people managing the museum that she was loaned this particular instrument for life. Its value was estimated to be in the multi-millions. I was friends with many of our symphony's musicians and I once asked one of the violinists how many instruments he owned and what was their value? He said he owned four, and that his best violin was the one he was holding, which he regularly played for concerts. He said it was Italian made, about 100 years old, and as violins go, about mid-pack in quality for professional symphony ensemble violinists. He said he paid $70,000 for it after he graduated from music school. I did not recognize the maker, but it was not a Stradivarius. We get off pretty darn easy with guitars.
How Incredible! So you got to hear one being played in Real Life (not whatever your TV sounds like)!!! That has to compare with seeing Mikhail Baryshnikov dance in real life! What a Special Memory!!!
That really does put our Guitar prices in perspective... We are so excited to have Ovations that are 40 years old and look and sound so great - these pieces are CENTURIES old, and still play the best!
I will never own a Stadivarius, nor would I want too, I think you need to *earn that right*, but I really am very proud of my Ovations that are 40 and look and sound so good! (And as afraid as I was to play an Adamas, could you imagine the Xanax I would have to take to simply hold a Stradivarius???)
Edited by Nancy 2016-02-06 5:25 PM
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Speaking of Violins...
As a street musician I am always amazed by how Loud violins are.
This is a teeny tiny wooden instrument, but you can hear them a block away.
I discussed this with "Chuck" at Apple Music and we babbled about mid-range tonal frequencies and all that stuff... but I still find the sound produced by a tiny instrument incredible.
I also appreciate the museums and other owners of Stradivarius violins who lend them to artists so that they can be played, cuz that is how those instrument stay "good".
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Nancy - 2016-02-06 3:23 PM
(And as afraid as I was to play an Adamas, could you imagine the Xanax I would have to take to simply hold a Stradivarius???)
Yeah... At OFC Gatherings I have actually been allowed to play Original Slotheads. Wow.
As well as OFC 1&2 guitars... and yeah. I have been a little paranoid.
Make sure that there are no buttons or belt-buckles to scratch anything.
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| Old Man Arthur - 2016-02-06 5:55 PM
Speaking of Violins...
As a street musician I am always amazed by how Loud violins are.
This is a teeny tiny wooden instrument, but you can hear them a block away.
I discussed this with "Chuck" at Apple Music and we babbled about mid-range tonal frequencies and all that stuff... but I still find the sound produced by a tiny instrument incredible.
I used to work near an intesection where there was an erhu player (Chinese violin). The soundbox is about the size of a large coffee cup, and it was LOUD. |
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Location: Canberra, Australia | Let's hope that Quentin Tarantino doesn't ask to borrow it for his next movie, after what Kurt Russell did to a 145 year old Martin guitar during the production of the Hateful Eight. |
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Posts: 359
Location: undisclosed | Here are a few interesting things about old violins.
1 In blind fold testing with new instruments most professional players pick the new instrument as sounding the best. There is a lot of hype and fanfare associated with these instruments because of their rarity and provenance but in terms of performance other things will do the job as well if not better. I have a old fiddle (around 200, a gypsy instrument hated by classical aficionados) that sounds great, however wood that seasoned responds quickly to changes in humidity and so isn't as stable keeping in tune.
2 The shocking truth about Strads is that while many have survived a high number of them have been ruined. The early models were built to the baroque model with a shallow neck angle, these were then converted later on with varying degrees of success by various lutheriers to the steeper angle that produced more volume. Then there was the hot rodding period way back when many repairmen shaved tops and backs for more response but which made for a shortened playing life. More string tension + thinner wood = pedigreed wall hanger.
3 Some of the surviving playable pieces are kept in museums, largely unplayed which is terrible for the tone and health of a violin. If you want to preserve a instrument you'll do the best job by using it and keeping it maintained in playing condition. If this happens it will last for hundreds of years. |
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Non-Ovation, but really Interesting!
