Hi folks - didn't really know where best to post this - so I picked the "Forum Members Blogs" since I will probably add to this from time to time, and it would be nice to keep it all in one place I guess.

I had been looking for a "cheap" fiddle for two primary reasons - (a) something that I wouldn't care too much about if it got damaged by playing outside, and (b) something that I could seriously mess-with ( like taking it apart - yup - we're talking hide-glue here ) - and if I destroyed it - well - not a great loss really.

So, I had been keeping a watch on Ebay for - well - the last 6 or 7 months - and - then something appeared.  The seller was an "antiques" dealer - but also happened to play violin.   He supplied a good number of images - and I separately contacted him.

After some discussion - I went-ahead with the purchase - here's the current status - it is a LOT of fun already - 

Well, here we have my "Copy of Antonius Stradivarius, Made in Czecho-Slovakia"  - as stated on the label - fiddle.

Who is she: I have named her Yabé ( pronounced Yah-bay" - that's Ebay backwards and seems "mysterious" yet fitting )

Vital dimensions:  She is a 3/4 size.   Why did I get that - when my other three are 4/4?  Well, it doesn't really matter to me, fingering will rapidly adapt, and, besides - not only is she actually playable, it was so cheap it is an instrument to work on, mess with, take apart if I want to, play outside in any weather and simply not care too much if it sustains unexpected damage.   Absolutely ideal for what I want.

Cost?  £30.00 UK sterling, circa $38 USD.   Yup, mass produced thing - I got precisely what I was looking for!  ( LOL @"Copy of Strad....." etc )

Items received:  3/4 fiddle, lockable hard-case, no bow or rosin cake, 4 strings fitted (apparently new!  I don't know what they are, but they are steels) plus some individual strings (old, and tarnished) inside an old "Astrea E-string packet".   On receipt - bridge had been removed but strings re-tightened (enough to prevent SP moving, and not to full tension).  SP was in place.

Age: Pretty much uncertain, possibly 1920/30 or so.   The use of the hyphenated name in the country of origin on the label ( Czecho-Slovakia both names spelled with a leading capital letter) possibly suggests some time early-ish in the 20th century while the Czech and Slovak regions were uniting to ultimately be simply known as Czechoslovakia - but - my knowledge of history is not all that great.  Post USSR breakup - they are of course now two separate countries - but that's another story.

Condition: Violin - It has clearly been well used.  There are scrub-marks between f-holes where bridge has been re-positioned over time.   Numerous small indentations on both top and back plate.   Top plate has two "score/scratch marks" which would initially look like cracks - but they are not, they're just surface damage.   Back plate is single piece.  Tailpiece has single fine tuner.  Tail-gut is definitely not modern material - and is quite possibly actual gut.  Fingerboard is not ebony, but is clearly "ebonized" or "japanned"    The inside of the peg-box is "blacked" (i.e. not varnished).  Fingerboard shows "reasonable, but not excessive" signs of wear - there are no deep ridges or anything like that - and is also clearly not ebony.   From the wear-points on the fingerboard it's fairly clear that the player/s of this instrument over time largely played in first position!  The peg-box appears to have been reamed-out (signs of wooden-swarf on outside of peg holes) and the pegs fitted now are possibly oversize.  The other clue to this is that two of the pegs protrude right through the far-end of the peg-box, and of the two others one is flush with the far-side and the other actually only goes about 3/4 of the way into the far hole.   The sound-post has obviously been worked with in the past - there are visible "puncture-points" in the post where it has been stabbed by the location tool.   There are no signs of cracks or gaps anywhere.  However, I suspect that the top-plate has at some time been removed and replaced as there appears to be some unexpected extrusion of hide glue - what the reason for that would be - I can't tell (or, it could just as easily be a result of sloppy, mass-produced-factory manufacture, and has always been there - heck - it doesn't matter - I'm just describing it).  I'm planning to get a cheap USB endoscope/camera sometime and maybe have a look inside.  The strings - I have no idea what they are - other than that they appear to be "as-new" (and I mean modern - I'm trying to get in touch with the seller to figure out how these new and apparently unplayed strings got there...) and they are steel, but - there was an "Astrea" E-string packet in the case, with a couple of unidentified strings - oh - and - a single gut string oddly enough...   More about the interesting Astrea E-String packet and its contents a little bit later)

Condition: Case - some relatively minor damage to case - at the top corner it is coming apart.  Metal (steel I guess) clamp-locks and an actual key-operated lock (key was inside the case) are - well - not exactly "rusty" but have taken on that "burnished" look over time.  Same applies to a metal plate on the end, and it has the words "Made in Germany" stamped into it.

When was it last used.  Very hard to tell - but - on the Astrea string packet there are the handwritten words - "Set £3-15"   (and that is NOT the strings currently fitted).   This is slightly interesting - in the UK our monetary system changed in 1971 when we moved from having 12 pence to one shilling, and 20 shillings to the pound ( yes, really, 240 pennies to one pound ).  However, common sense prevailed in 1971 and we went "decimal" with 100 pence ( preferred instead of "pennies") to the pound.  Now - the notation "£3-15" suggests £3 pounds and 15 shillings.  Had that been written as a post-decimalisation price, it would have been written £3.15 - meaning 3 pounds and 15 pence (in fact,  3-pounds-and-15-shillings and zero-pennies in "old-money" would have been expressed as £3.75 following decimalisation).   This of course means absolutely nothing - that old packet could have just been left lying in the case.   What's more, the case may not even necessarily have belonged to the original violin - who knows...   So who really knows when she was last played.   Nonetheless - it is interesting to speculate 

Summary:  I'm a very happy chappy here.   I have a new-to-me fiddle.  It is "well-used" but it is actually playable as it stands.  It happens to be a 3/4 size - that is entirely unimportant - makes no difference to me.   It was as cheap-as-chips - a string-set-upgrade would cost as much again.   I knew precisely what I was buying, and I know precisely what I got for my money.   Welcome to my fiddle family, Yabé!   Falling in love with her already.....  Cool!

As soon as I get the opportunity, I'll post pics and sound / vid samples....

I'm on a roll with my new friend !!!!   Ace stuff...  it just doesn't get any better !