[rquantz]

The classical world is more diverse than people seem to think. Most string players I know play on modern instruments, made within the last hundred years. Likewise actual musicians don't idolize young prodigies – both of these things are marketing phenomena that the actual artists generally oppose.

That said, the idea that there's no difference between a great old instrument and a modern one is just as fallacious. Perhaps as a not great violinist you never got to the point where you got to find out, but there are qualities of an instrument that have nothing to do with sound. The fact that a Strad costs $5 million and an Iizuka costs $27,000 is ludicrous, yes. But the great old instruments are still around for a reason.

[iheartmemcache]

30k for a hand-crafted instrument that you'll use professionally is quite reasonable. A skilled laborer spent somewhere between building that instrument for ranging between ~3 -> 18 months. Every stroke of his chisel was dedicated to the production of that instrument. Every pull of his rasp. As a (subpar for the time I've spent in the shop, but acceptable compared to the average bear) woodworker, I can respect the labor that went into it. I'm not saying that everyone should buy at that level (e.g 30k), but if you're going to pay $150k for an education at Julliard or Berklee, $30k isn't unreasonable for something you're professionally going into. (For the hobbyist or student, you can "almost-there" apprentice-crafted string instruments for under 10k that will have proper action which won't contribute to bad-form habits.) I'd imagine most people here have spent well over that on Macbooks and iPhones alone, which are hobby purchases that have lost 80% of their value within 3 years. You can retain most of the value on a good instrument[1] and if you're lucky it might even appreciate in value[2].

I think it's commonly accepted amongst collectors that you're buying a Strad because it's a Strad. They're not buying it for it's sound any more than one would buy an 1894 Patek Philippe because it keeps time. (A 20 dollar quartz Timex does just as well.) You're buying a piece of history. A piece of art. In the case of a watch, you're buying a piece of a combination between history/art and engineering. Watch this[3] to see the engineering beauty in it all. If you're further interested, watch this traditionally trained German[4] to see how delicate[5], how precise, how intricate his movements are, despite having lost the steady hand he had at 35, he regains the fluid motion in certain strokes.

[1] Humidity control, minimize temperature fluxuation, peg maintenance, etc. Just the basics - you don't have to baby it, but obviously don't neglect it either.

[2] I don't know what the current scene is like, but take the 1960s Yamaha FG180's which were basically thought of "junkers" you'd buy your 8 year old for Christmas. A mint Red Label with no neck warpage can get 3 or 4k easily.

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OViP9AR2HE

[4] Or Swiss (?) I don't know German well enough to distinguish regional accents, so he could be from the German-speaking region of Switzerland.

[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkGygB7BMsQ

[rquantz]

In case it wasn't clear, I was referring to the price difference as ludicrous. I have an Iizuka viola and it's worth every penny.

[duaneb]

> but there are qualities of an instrument that have nothing to do with sound.

To what are you referring? I was under the impression they were so prestigious as works of art and history, not necessarily as better violins.