I don't know what a Stradivarius is!!!!!!!! But I do know someone who plays the violin. A pro I say!

I know of one person (a professional musician) who owns an original. It has been documented and appraised by one of the foremost experts on Stradivarius. Many (thousands and thousands) of German and Italian made "factory quality" violins were exported to the US in the 1880-1930 period. Many of these, in an effort to sell them better, had labels inside on the back that says "Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno 1720" (or words to that effect). It seems authentic enough, right? The ink is old faded brown ink, and the paper is old yellowed paper. A masterpiece!! They are worth from $150-500., depending on the quality of the violin as a L. 19-E. 20th century instrument. What people don't realize is that all 650 of the surviving Stradivarius instruments have been accounted for! Discovering a "missing" Stradivarius is pretty much impossible, if not totally impossible. Stradivarius never put labels in his violins for one thing. So if you know someone who has one, unless it has been authenticated by an expert on Stradivarius, I wouldn't believe it was real until it had that authentication. People love to think they have discovered a hidden masterpiece worth (in this case) $50,000-$3 million! But it simply is not that easy.

Yes, I own a Stradivarius. Check out the picture of the authentic label and the partially obliterated symbol inside the back. This violin was restored by one of the best restoration experts who ever lived. With the exception of the modern bass bar, the restoration/repair work, and highly worn varnish, it is in original condition. Not only is it a beautiful violin, it produces the most brilliant and powerful tone one can imagine. The "grand" pattern violins of Antonio Stradivari are even longer and broader than those constructed around the "G" mould, and is the type best suited for concert performances. This particular violin is Stradivari's outstanding example of the year 1719.

Petrusromanus, Your observations are correct!! I am also in possession of a very fine (circa 1741) Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu. You see, I've been privately collecting violins for more than 30 years. Connoisseurship comes with the territory, but only through the experience of historical research and by studying examples of the Greatest Cremonese Masters. Training one eyes on the original then enables one to recognize what they look like. In every way these makers instruments are strikingly different from the common everyday class of factory productions and even those later makers who may have even possibly been trained by the masters. No two instruments are exactly alike. Even if constructed during the same period instruments can appear quite different from the one immediately before, or after. These masters were always experimenting and searching for the ultimate combination of several factors, including their varnishes. Hence we find measurable differences in the sizes of their models, yet the proportional relationships remain constant. Attached are back and front views of the del Gesu. Enjoy!! I've even added a close up of the front for you.

Hey.. just been surfing around the web recently and i came across this blog.. interesting! i wonder if any of you will still see this since its been a year since the last post.. i have this violin which i have owned for about 10 years and its only recently i discover that on the inside it carries the exact same kind of label as the ones posted above.. after reading thru tonnes of information about Stradivarius violins i understand the chance of havin real one is pretty much none, so my question is for fiddlin'around, how did u know yours was a real strad? and for everyone else, where can i go perhaps to get some expert advice on the violin?

I'm not sure about this, so I'd like your opinion about this violin we found at grandpa's place.

I don't own any, but here you can find a list of Stradivari instruments with some of their owners: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stradivarius#Stradivari_instruments The German violin virtuoso Anne-Sophie Mutter uses two of them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne-Sophie_Mutter