benhall.1 wrote:
whistlecollector wrote:
And some could be quite ordinary indeed!
They were made in Germany & sold through Sears. Some can be quite pricey as well.
Yes. Do you have any insight as to whether there was any difference in quality between the fiddles made while Ernst himself was alive and those made after his death?
Nothing in specific. I've got a few trade violins of this sort (on and off trying learn how to play) and have relied on
Violin Information as a resource on these older instruments. Much like the zillions of instruments being exported from China & Romania and so forth now, these were made in factories. The Schmidt was made in Markneukirchen, which was one of many string instrument making centers in Germany and Bohenia. Quality of wood and workmanship will naturally vary much more than a master made instrument.
It seems that those made after Ernst's death were made by one or the other of his sons. Both sons ended up in the US, so a later instrument would likely have been made in Germany & imported by them or (perhaps) made in the US. I don't know if they set up a factory here or not. Either way, I suspect that no matter who oversaw the making, quality would come down to the skill of the factory workers and the quality of the woods and glues used. My hope is that the OP has gotten himself a real gem!
Reading the Sears catalogs of the day is pretty interesting, too. I have the 1897 & 1908 editions, and reading the blurbs is a lot like looking through Ebay ads now (with the exception that Ebay cuts out the middleman, and makers can sell direct to consumers). They sell violins from less than two dollars all the way up to $69. A pretty impressive range of models and qualities. Sadly, they almost never name the actual maker of the instruments. They might hint at a general region, though. The focus is almost universally on the colour and quality of the finish. Almost all the instruments are described as having some variation of superb tone quality (which in my mind is why you would choose one violin over another!); and all descriptions are exceptionally vague. But at least they let you try an instrument before committing to buy.
I find it interesting to note that the $1.85 models are often described as having a "surprizing tone". Perhaps "surprising" that they even make a tone?
I'm not complaining, though! I have a "Salzard" labelled violin that was probably sold through Sears and that's one of their $1.85 models. I know my grandfather played a "Stradivarius" (made in Czechoslovakia) and my grandmother's brother played something similar, which did service for many dances and parties over the years. I have, in addition to the Salzard, a couple "Stradivarius" in different sizes, the violin-mandolin, and continuing the factory violin tradition, a modern Song five string from China. As near as I can tell, it sounds perfectly fine and is well made.
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