Violin labels - What do they mean?

Violin labels are a constant source of controversy here at A. Cavallo Violins, LLC. Are labels really worth anything?

A violin label is merely a piece of paper glued to the back of the violin that can be removed or covered up easily. Sometimes makers resort to signing the inside of the violin in various places before it is assembled (less easily faked), branding it or some makers make no attempt to label at all.

Here are some guidelines:

• Labels are only a starting point for determining who made an instrument, and since they are so easily faked they are not close to being the most reliable reference point.


• Labels often do not even reflect the origination of the instrument. If they are made in Germany, China or Italy they should say so, but often do not. In fact many have invented names like "Gustavo Barbiere" or "Antonio Viovare" or "August Sebastian Stainer" which sound like possible makers, but in reality are names dreamed up by a manufacturer or importer. Labels often reflect the sellers name as ours do, not claiming to be made in the shop. Some of the most deceptive practices we have seen are statements like "made with German Engineering " (translation: made in a less well regarded violin making location), "made in the European tradition," or "Fully Carved" (as in Machine carved!).


• It has been accepted common practice to re label instruments to protect competitors from exhausting a source of good instruments. Also instruments are usually set up in the shop they are sold in, so a violin made in the same workshop in Beijing may end up appearing and performing completely differently from retailer to retailer, so it is not really the same instrument after all.


• Re-labeling an instrument so that it can be sold for a much higher price would be one of the practices we have commonly seen in A. Cavallo Violins, LLC that we would consider unacceptable. Sometimes we have seen instruments sold for three times the price they would normally sell at because the buyer was unaware of what the instrument really was.

The moral of the story is labels are only skin deep. Be careful and deal with someone who guarantees what they sell, since it is impossible to understand the complexities of instrument valuation unless you are an expert!

Creepy Classics at the Holland Performing Arts Center

Creepy Classics
Conductor: Earnest Richardson
Sunday, October 28, 2007 2:00 pm.
Kiewet Concert Hall
The Holland Performing Arts Center

The Omaha Symphony starts its Family Concert Series on Sunday with a program called Creepy Classics.

"The performance features spooky music, trick-or-treating and scary surprises. Don’t forget to wear your costume for a frightfully delightful time. Come early to visit the Instrument Petting Zoo and to participate in fun lobby activities"

-Omaha Symphony

Classical music is often perceived to be the more "spiritual" genre but events like this help gives the image of an orchestra as fun and accessible. When else can you see an orchestra dress up in costume for the occasion instead of their usual penguin attire?

[Taken from Flicker vxla's photostream, Univ. of Chicago Halloween Concert]

[Purdue Symphony Orchestra’s annual Halloween family pops concert]

Well, I was going to blog today about different orchestras dressing up for Halloween. It seems to be an annual trend. Unfortunately, can't really find many in concert photos but did manage to stumble upon musicians dressed in spirit.

[ViolaCats, member of Ottawa's Divertimento]

[Taken from Flickr, AnnMarieCalhoun]

[Taken from Flickr, interrobang's photostream]

[Taken from Flickr, kristiecat's photostream]

And of course, my favorite...


[Taken from Flickr, Lenore Ramm's photostream]

Keep on playing, happy Halloween!

Indian Pegs, Tailpieces, Buttons, Frog Blancs, Chinrests, Endpins, etc...

Last Saturday, we finally received and did an inventory count 0f the latest batch of string instrument fittings from India. It's a tedious process of making sure the right part goes to each bin and accounting for the right enough amount on the P.O. Then the computers and Amazon need to be updated with the received stock.

At least the company does a good job shipping. None of the parts were broken and the items were organized according to numbering system on the boxes.

No new parts were ordered in the latest batch. However, the carved violinist cello tailpiece that we usually order looked like it had a new design. Even the boxwood version of it, well, features a woman! I actually like it:)Another item to note, our customized beta product, the light weight wooden tailpiece with built-in fine tuners, has arrived.


Now, I know a lot of makers, dealers, and teachers aren't too fond of a tailpiece with built-in tuners. If a tuner were to break, it's very hard to fix, so the customer may need to buy a whole new tailpiece to replace. Performance wise, the material is often indestructible but too heavy and creates an imbalance in the instrument's acoustics. Also, your aesthetic choices are pretty limited to industrial materials such as aluminum alloy.

Why don't people bother to invest in a better built-in fine tuner tailpiece? Some people just don't know that it can make a difference. For those that do know but still shrug and use those old models, it seems to be an issue of cost and time. They are cheap to manufacture and easy to expense from a shop's perspective. They also doesn't take away time from the teacher's lesson of having to tune the instrument every time for their still struggling student.

The best one we've seen out there on the market is the Wittner tailpiece. We admit it, we use them. They're especially good for the fractional size violins.

Having said that though, nothing sure beats the good acoustical sound that a wooden tailpiece can produce. Well, we may have found it. We will be rolling these out as a beta product on our line of Alessandro Fine Fittings. These tailpieces are custom designed and addresses many of the mechanical design, aesthetic, and cost issues that people have with built-in fine tuners.