Probing the Secrets of the Finest Fiddles

[David King]

Modern violins can be every bit as good as the best Strads. The myth persists and will persist as long as people continue to listen with their eyes and not their ears. Modern violins have a slightly longer scale length, the baroque violins are often referred to as "short neck". I happen to have a cheap, German short neck fiddle that never went under the knife, the scale length is about 323mm, the fingerboard is probably sycamore with a rosewood veneer and the bridge is paper thin and looks like a potato chip.
Listening to a Strad type instrument at close range isn't always a pleasant experience but from 15+ feet away they really start to kick some ass. Again 90% of the sound "quality" is the player (and the bow too). A badly played strad at close range is abysmal...

[frankfalbo]

Listening to a Strad type instrument at close range isn't always a pleasant experience but from 15+ feet away they really start to kick some ass. Again 90% of the sound "quality" is the player (and the bow too). A badly played strad at close range is abysmal...

Lots of parallels to our field. Think about a Marshall JCM800 with Vintage 30's. Poorly played, you put your ear against the speaker and you'll want to kill yourself. 15 feet away, and in good hands, it has made history. The inverse is also true. Some of the small, low wattage amps sound fantastic at medium volume, and great when miked, but can't push enough air for a bigger room, and all the bottom falls out. I'm usually more of a fan of the "close up" tone, and I figure the PA will do the rest, but in those times the hall WAS the PA, and the violin had to drive it. Likewise, even through the 70's and 80's, the stage amp was a bigger part of the sound as well. Today we like to have tonal bliss from the bedroom to the stage, which has changed things a lot. I think with pickups it helps to know if the end user is looking for the bedroom reaction or the half-stack with a full band reaction.

[RedHouse]

I read that Stradavarius soaked his pickup bobbins in a stream that was infested with bacteria.

Thanks Bruce, I just spewed my Pepsi through my nose laughing.

[JGundry]

Modern baroque pitch is 415 Hz. But yes, it has been all over the map, and was usually lower than 440Hz.

Yes this is true. There were different regional tunings before it was standardized. However it still holds true that baroque instruments were not designed to work with modern concert pitch and you can't really use a baroque instrument tuned to modern concert pitch without significant alterations.