Does anyone here like/ know about really really old violins?

Alright, here goes. My family has in its possession a very old violin. when I say really old we mean really old. As in, Renaissance old. According to sources its a fake stradivarius made by one of his students. It has the sticker and all. So, anyhow, even if said violin is a valuable piece of family history, we have been trying to get rid of it for a while now. I have even contemplated going to Las Vegas to that one antique shop in TV.

Anyhow, do you guys have any advice for that?

Oh yeah, incoming pictures.

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edited 20th Jun '12 3:54:07 PM by ElRigo

That's in pretty rough shape. But even if it was a student of Stradivarius, if they were using his methods and formulas it should still be worth a great deal. But don't ever take anything to a pawn shop unless it's junk you just want to dump. You'll get hosed because they have to make a profit on it. Get it properly appraised.

If you want to be entertained about Stradivarius, I suggest you read Brimstone.

Mail the violin to me. I'll, uh... appraise it. Yeah, that's the ticket.

月を見るたび思い出せ

It got appraised once. That is how we know where it comes from. The thing is, some IDIOT lost the original documents and since we are not...you know, exactly loaded we can't afford another appraising. We actively tried to auction it once before, that one time I was involved, but the whole thing just fell into pieces and my grandmother, being my grandmother, just backed out of the whole thing. My mother thinks the whole thing is relatively worthless, but I think there may be some serious money in it. I mean, enough to go on an awesome vacation, at the very least.

Wow brother, I did not know you were an antique expert.

edited 20th Jun '12 10:38:58 PM by ElRigo

Oh yeah, totally. I antique everything.

月を見るたび思い出せ

Just be careful if you do sell it.

edited 20th Jun '12 10:43:52 PM by DrunkGirlfriend

"I don't know how I do it. I'm like the Mr. Bean of sex." -Drunkscriblerian

Relax, I am way too smart to use paypal.

Have you tried contacting musical instrument stores? If it's in bad shape, they may know someone who can repair/refurbish it*

, and if it's really that old they might be willing to buy it from you.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

UPDATE.

Sent an Email to those guys from the history channel. If the whole thing is worth going to vegas I will consider taking the trip. If not, well, sucks to be me then.

Cool

And they answered.

Well?

"I don't know how I do it. I'm like the Mr. Bean of sex." -Drunkscriblerian

I failed to include some stuff. I will rewrite it when I feel like it.

As a student in the art of violin making I can tell you that...your violin is in really rough shape.

What? I've only done one semester.

I haven't learned enough to do any sort of appraising yet, but I can say that it's damaged enough that getting it repaired and set up to play will set you back a pretty penny. A couple thousand dollars or more pretty. And of course, instruments go for far more if you can play them.

edited 26th Jun '12 9:27:32 AM by CDRW

Agreed. I'm a violinist myself, and I can tell it's going to need a lot of repairs.

However, I ask that you please consider selling it to someone who works with violins. If it was truly made by a student of Stradivarius using his methods, it deserves to be played, not kept around as an antique (unless it turns out the violin is really not that good).

I'm working on it.