# Deal of the CENTURY



## stonzthro (Jan 29, 2011)

Saw this on Craig's list - you might make a couple million on a deal like this...


I have a Stradavarius FULL size wood Cello. It is in very good shape. The pictures do not do justice of how beautiful it is, needs to be polished. The tag on the inside reads Anonio Stadivarius from 1714. I have not been able to get an exact appraisal of the instrument yet, but I am asking $3500.00 willing to consider offers. It is a beautiful instrument, emits the most amazing, soaring sound and is very old, but very well kept and absolutely needs to be sold to someone that will appreciate its beauty, and precious antique originality.......
If you are interested, please email any questions, contact info, and the best time to reach you, and I will get back to you as soon as possible!
SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY PLEASE....
Thank you!!

[/img]


----------



## snowleopard (Jan 29, 2011)

It's either: 

• A fake, a replica. 

• A sham. 

• Posted by someone ignorant. 

• Sold by now. 


http://www.nysun.com/arts/rare-cello-ex ... ion/83553/


----------



## Hannes_F (Jan 29, 2011)

The name of Antonio Stradivari is the most copied in string instrument making. It is easy, just print a paper label and glue it in. If you would collect all violins that are _certified _by experts to be made by him you get a large number certainly higher than what he was able to build in life. Take that by ten or hundred thousand and you have the number of copies.

The situation is so bad that some luthiers suggest to destroy any paper labels in violins because more than half of them have absolutely no evidence and an expert can judge the value of an instrument without that, too.

Regarding the photos it could be in the sub 1k range, so labeling it a Strad and getting 3k5 seems to be a good deal - for the vendor.


----------



## snowleopard (Jan 29, 2011)

That link I supplied I thought showed just how absurdly rare the real things really are, and why I felt this was a fake or replica from someone who didn't know better. But I didn't realize what Hans wrote about replicas until I looked it up. This link here says it all: 

http://www.holeintheweb.com/drp/bhd/StradivariusViolins.htm

And oh, history has a habit of repeating itself: 

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?59216-Stradivarious-violin-15000

o/~


----------



## rgames (Jan 29, 2011)

I think the fact that some string players use $2M instruments is clear evidence that they're paid too much 

I'm a clarinetist. I know a lot of clarinetists. I think if you add up the money spent on *every* clarinet in *every* major orchestra you'll still be under $2M.

I guess string players are just insecure 

rgames


----------



## Nick Batzdorf (Jan 29, 2011)

Amazing. I just bought another Strad from a Nigerian prince who was in dire straights and didn't know to launder his money.


----------



## wst3 (Jan 29, 2011)

rgames @ Sat Jan 29 said:


> I think the fact that some string players use $2M instruments is clear evidence that they're paid too much
> 
> I'm a clarinetist. I know a lot of clarinetists. I think if you add up the money spent on *every* clarinet in *every* major orchestra you'll still be under $2M.
> 
> ...



I don't know about insecure, but certainly there is pressure to purchase and play some silly expensive instruments. Sometimes the price reflects a previous owner, sometimes it is the maker, sometimes it is some other bit of history associated with the instrument. I've never heard a Strad up close and personal, but I have heard some really fine (and I'd assume expensive) instruments, and in the right hands they sound amazing, and even in the wrong hands they sound pretty darned good.

In contrast, a student class instrument can sound pretty darned good in the right hands!

I don't know much about clarinets, butò W   $Ù W   $€\ W   $ W   $È W   $”£ W   $• W   $•$ W   $•? W   $¥V W   $¥’ W   $¨y W   $¨ W   $©ê W   $ª W   $ªb W   $ªk W   $Ã5 W   $Ãƒ W   $Ø– W   $Ø¢ W   $Ý\ W   $Ým W   $Ý› W   $Ý± W   $å~ W   $å« W   $æM W   $æg W   $ñÅ W   $ñô W   $õ
 W   $õ W   % · W   %F W   %Ê W   %Ì W   %ý W   %c W   %ä W   %n W   %	ì


----------



## Nick Batzdorf (Jan 29, 2011)

Depends on the condition of the installation, Kays.


----------



## snowleopard (Jan 29, 2011)

I don't know about that, but take a look at dolts like me, willing to consider dropping $5k plus for an old Synclavier, when I know I can get more sounds, more versatile sounds, and mostly superior sounds out of a laptop running some good plug-ins.

Of course, maybe in 20-50 years when there are no Synclavier parts left, there will be but a few dozen people on the planet that own them, and people will oooh and aahhh at them, regardless of the sound, and the price will go back up to $100,000. 

8)


----------



## Ed (Jan 29, 2011)

the question is did it have icky animal products in it


----------



## rgames (Jan 29, 2011)

stonzthro @ Sat Jan 29 said:


> for some reason winds and brass haven't really made that transition (that I know of).


I'll tell you why: we know better 

rgames


----------



## wst3 (Jan 29, 2011)

snowleopard @ Sat Jan 29 said:


> I don't know about that, but take a look at dolts like me, willing to consider dropping $5k plus for an old Synclavier, when I know I can get more sounds, more versatile sounds, and mostly superior sounds out of a laptop running some good plug-ins.


That's frightening... cause I understand completely. While it might not be the most practical purchase, sometimes that doesn't have to be the main factor, there's a cool factor, or a history factor... I understand completely, I'd love to have one too.

aside - I worked as a studio tech for a while, and I've done some circuit design work over the years, so I had the need for some specialized test equipment. I have now what amounts to a museum of older audio test sets. I can use them, but there are much better choices today, and the whole laptop test bench really isn't that far off. But I like them. A couple of years ago I even bought an odd test set from a guy in England - I didn't absolutely need it, but it was a piece of audio test history, and it does do some things that other test sets don't, and it was the first specialized test set I ever used, even though I could not afford it when it was in production.

And I use the same 'logic' when it comes to microphones, guitar amplifiers, stomp boxes, some rack mount processors and even old synthesizers (think ARP 2600 and Korg MS-20, and even sillier stuff like the SCI 700 and 800). 

[quote="snowleopard]Of course, maybe in 20-50 years when there are no Synclavier parts left, there will be but a few dozen people on the planet that own them, and people will oooh and aahhh at them, regardless of the sound, and the price will go back up to $100,000. [/quote]
That's the downside of course... parts, and people that can repair them. But by then you'll have had a lot of fun with it!

$5K for a working Synclavier eh??? Wish I hadn't read that<G>!


----------



## José Herring (Jan 29, 2011)

Nick Batzdorf @ Sat Jan 29 said:


> Amazing. I just bought another Strad from a Nigerian prince who was in dire straights and didn't know to launder his money.



Thanks for the help buddy


----------



## Ned Bouhalassa (Jan 30, 2011)

And this is why I've been collecting original, 1st editions of Steinberg's Neon, the first, mouse-made VI. Just look at the detail of the graphics, the care that must have gone into the choice of colours, fonts. These will go for millions in the future, trust me!


----------



## cc64 (Jan 30, 2011)

yeah Ned, and wasn't there a rumour about them using blood to get that nice 8 bit red mahogany finish?


----------



## Ned Bouhalassa (Jan 30, 2011)

:lol:


----------



## Hannes_F (Jan 30, 2011)

The fact that collectors are driving the prices for string instruments makes me angry. Since years. No, since decades. I can't change it but I bemoan it on my own behalf and in that of other working string players.


----------



## wst3 (Jan 30, 2011)

Hannes_F @ Sun Jan 30 said:


> The fact that collectors are driving the prices for string instruments makes me angry. Since years. No, since decades. I can't change it but I bemoan it on my own behalf and in that of other working string players.



Not that it helps, but this is a problem for guitar players as well... some really magnificent instruments sit in glass cases, never to be played again. That's probably the worst part, but that these collectors have driven the price for a good instrument beyond the reach of serious players is equally distressing. These are not simply works of art - they were meant to be played, meant to be heard!

There is another class of instruments that are beyond reach - these are instruments that have been in the family for generations, and the current generation may not play them, but they value them for sentimental reasons. I don't have a problem with that, surprisingly, as at least these instruments are still brought out and played. We have a friend who has an amazingly well kept pre-war Martin D-28. This is the real deal, the reason guitar players lust after such instruments. I get to play it once or twice a year - my fee for playing it is simply restringing it<G>! I hope that one of the current grandchildren becomes interested in guitar, and the D-28 comes out of retirement, but even if it doesn't, at least it gets some playing time.

I went to a guitar workshop a couple of years ago. I was a little embarrassed that I was bringing a hand-made guitar that cost (to me) a small fortune, thought I might look a bit pretentious. I shouldn't have worried, mine was by far the cheapest instrument in the room... some of the other instruments had the ability to sound better than mine, but dang, the owner's could not play them. The instructor played a couple of them during breaks, and oh-boy, these guitars just sang! Most of the class were collectors, and I suppose I should give them credit for at least trying to learn to play, but I found it depressing that all these gorgeous guitars were owned by people that could not play them. And we're not talking about folks who could play, but weren't world class A-listers, we're talking folks that had difficulty with the basic open position chords playing $5K or more guitars!

I've heard the argument that if rich folks did not buy expensive guitars then the smaller luthiers wouldn't be able to build guitars for players. Perhaps that's true, but it's still a sad state of affairs.

Oh, and then there are the clueless "me-too" collectors - heaven help us. I took an old electric guitar to a guitar show, just to see if it was worth anything. I don't play it often, and thought I might use the proceeds to get something I'd play more. A couple of collectors offered me insane amounts of money - clearly far more than the guitar was worth by any reasonable standard. I turned them down because, well, I was insulted, or annoyed, or something that they hadn't even bothered to do their homework first. When I was 17 I had refinished the guitar because the original finish was in horrible shape. I didn't bother to try to re-create the original finish, just left it natural. One of the collectors told me my guitar was the never-before-seen, and one-of-a-kind blonde, and as such it was worth a mint. Probably should have taken advantage of his ignorance, but couldn't consign the guitar to a glass case.

OK, clearly you've hit one of my pet peeves - people that collect instruments for the sake of collecting instruments bother me. Players should have access to these instruments... and I think it is even more critical for the orchestral instruments than it is for guitars - I just happen to be sensitive about guitars<G>!


----------



## Mike Connelly (Jan 31, 2011)

stonzthro @ Sat Jan 29 said:


> Strangely, fine string instruments have moved into the investment realm, but for some reason winds and brass haven't really made that transition (that I know of).



I assume it's because there are people that feel that none of the newer string instruments are as good as those old ones. For the most part it seems like you can get a brand new wind or brass instrument that's as good as any older one (with a few exceptions, like the guys who like the Selmer Mark VI sax better than any of the ones after it).


----------

