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W W Oaks?
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R Mac
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 7:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

One of the reasons I posted this thread was to see if anyone knew whether Oakes could in fact produce a good fiddle, or whether he was a "legend in his own mind".


As luck would have it, there is currently a fiddle on Ebay that was "reconstructed" by Oakes in 1903. The listing includes a sound bite.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fine-Old-Violin-Markneukirchen-Repair-Label-W-W-Oaks-Seattle-Washington-1903-/230941601153?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35c5312d81

It sounds good to me, but I hasten to say that I do not have a very critical ear. What do y'all think?

Mac
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jacobyfineviolins
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 7:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sounds pretty good, Mac. It also looks freshly overcoated in the photos; everything but the label seems a bit clean. No point in noting it, just thought it was odd for a violin that was reworked 110 years ago: that could be a brand new Romanian white with fresh varnish on it, to my eye.
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Janito
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 9:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

R Mac wrote:


As luck would have it, there is currently a fiddle on Ebay that was "reconstructed" by Oakes in 1903. The listing includes a sound bite.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fine-Old-Violin-Markneukirchen-Repair-Label-W-W-Oaks-Seattle-Washington-1903-/230941601153?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35c5312d81



If Oaks handcrafted the nut, he made a pig's ear of it.
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R Mac
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 12:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Janito wrote:


If Oaks handcrafted the nut, he made a pig's ear of it.


Janito,

It is true. The nut is ill done.

How do you feel about the way the instrument sounds? What do you think about the attribution?

Mac
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jacobyfineviolins
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 3:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey Mac. I'll buy lunch next time if you put photos of your HexaFiddle up.
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R Mac
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 4:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jacobyfineviolins wrote:
Hey Mac. I'll buy lunch next time if you put photos of your HexaFiddle up.


Please Chris! Don't "out" me, dude. I don't think these folks are ready to know about the weird stuff I collect.....

Mac
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ctviolin
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 5:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

R Mac wrote:
jacobyfineviolins wrote:
Hey Mac. I'll buy lunch next time if you put photos of your HexaFiddle up.


Please Chris! Don't "out" me, dude. I don't think these folks are ready to know about the weird stuff I collect.....

Mac


Too late - your'e out.

Weird stuff is a whole nother side to violins, that most of us are really interested in...

So come-on, give it up lets see some oddities!
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R Mac
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 5:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

CT,

It does my heart good to hear that this is a safe and supportive environment where odd fiddles and those who love them may flourish.

Let my assure you that my "weird fiddles" will get their own threads as they come to the bench.

Mac
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Janito
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 5:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[quote="R Mac"]
Janito wrote:


How do you feel about the way the instrument sounds? What do you think about the attribution?



I am but a worm, so no opinions.
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Michael Darnton
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 8:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can worm out, too: I don't evaluate violins from recordings. Especially home made ones! Even commercial recordings don't sound like violins to me.
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R Mac
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 2:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jacobyfineviolins wrote:
Sounds pretty good, Mac. It also looks freshly overcoated in the photos; everything but the label seems a bit clean. No point in noting it, just thought it was odd for a violin that was reworked 110 years ago: that could be a brand new Romanian white with fresh varnish on it, to my eye.


I suppose I am showing a naively optimistic trust in the label. I presumed that the fiddle had received its fresh varnish recently, but that Oakes had in fact reworked it in '03.

I guess the label might just as easily have come from a junker, or was purchased as a "repro" label from an Ebay vendor. Perhaps this is why con-artists always pick me out of a crowd.

Where can one find solid ground in this field to put ones feet? Every where I turn I find a quagmire.

Mac
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R Mac
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 2:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[quote="Janito"]
R Mac wrote:
Janito wrote:


How do you feel about the way the instrument sounds? What do you think about the attribution?



I am but a worm, so no opinions.


Michael Darnton wrote:
I can worm out, too: I don't evaluate violins from recordings. Especially home made ones! Even commercial recordings don't sound like violins to me.


Aw, c'm on guys! I was count'n on ya's.

Mac
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ctviolin
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 9:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

R Mac wrote:


Aw, c'm on guys! I was count'n on ya's.

Mac


Interesting.

I think you'll find that many people won't really comment about something like this.

Which is interesting, because music shops often have a player play many violins from different price ranges online, thinking that everybody will be able to see immediately the difference between the different priced violins.

Almost always the only difference (I find) is (if the player is the same player, and a decent player, playing the same riff), usually virtually unnoticeable.
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Last edited by ctviolin on Mon Mar 11, 2013 10:03 pm; edited 1 time in total
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R Mac
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 10:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm sorry if I put you guys on the spot. I guess this must be the sort of stuff better opined on over a beer than in a public forum.

Mea culpa,
Mac
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Michael Darnton
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 10:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's not being on the spot--no one minds about that. It's very hard to tell much about violins from recordings and photos. You can sort of tell from pix if you're looking at a gross fake, but not much else. Recordings usually tell you more about the player than the violin. If I can listen to a whole movement of a concerto, I can tell if I hate something, that's about all. IF the player is actually good. The kind of recordings you get on ebay--bad players playing bad instruments. . . . I haven't listened, but I know it's awful. :-)
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