My grandfather just died a left this violin that he says has been in the family since the 1750`s and gave it to me for some reason. I wouldn`t want to let down the line and it would suck to simply throw it in the attic, so I`m trying to learn how to use it, I`m 17 years old. When i try to play then thing (and i mean i REALLY try), i can`t even make the string vibrate!. I run the bow accross the strings and i get this faint squeek but it is so quite that it wouldn`t wake up a sleeping child if he was sleeping in the same room. I`ve tighten the bow like I was told and rubbed that weird stone accross the bowstrings to make it resound more but still i hardly ever get anything out of it. any advice or website url`s you can direct me to?
eterinal gratful
- Balif Wolfgang Speilzinshòunk V

Hi! First thing`s first. That wierd stone thing that you`re talking about is called rosin. Plus, do you know how much to tighten your bow? If not, you need to tighten it just enough so that a pencil can slide between the bow and the bowhair. When you put the bow to the violin, press the bow little onto the string you wanna play, then glide it firmly and don`t be afraid to use a lot of bow! Don`t just barely glide it, GLIDE it, you get what I`m saying? I hope I helped. If you have any questins, ask me!

nah still nothing. i followed all of you advice and it still wont make a singal sound

Do you have an orchestra teacher at your school? Ask them! They should be able to help you out, because it`s hard to help when I can`t examine the instrument myself.

thank you very much, thats actually a very good idea. Im not in school but I think i know someoen that can help

hey i got it, not enough resin on the hair to make it vibrate was the problem. the teacher said this violin hadn`t been used in years and head some strange stuff LIKE resin on the hair

Dont ever sell your violin because they can be worth A LOT OF MONEY!!!!! Get it appraised by an antique dealer that specializes in instruments. Violins are worth a lot of money, especially ones that are over 253 years old, worth several thousands of dollars. Your grandfather probably gave it to you for this reason, plus to keep it in your family. DOES THE VIOLIN HAVE AN INSCRIPTION INSIDE LIKE WHO MADE IT AND WHAT EXACT YEAR IT WAS MADE?

You might have oil on your bow hair I suggest you wash it with water.
Oh yah if you don`t want that violin you can give it to me

Hey i looked inside the "rib" of this thing and there is a WHOLE BUNCH of crazy french or... some language writting EVERYWHERE inside it. i can`t make out any of it but let me clean it or try to make it out then report back

Okay I washed it up with this crap my grandfather had in his trunk he left behind and afterwards i could make out that it says in only the faintest of inscriptions the following, (sorry if i didn`t spell this correctly!)
first it says = "(unreadable)Cremona" at the bottom of it. (i tried for an hour to make out the words before "Cremona" but its too old. I think that must have been the guy who made the violin.
then furhter up it has this big line of french words that say = "Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno 1729" but it has wierd french apostropy`s and what not in it that i can`t reproduce in this chat window, and does that mean my violin is older then 1750? My grandfather said it was from 1750 or somewhere around there.
and the final Inscription reads =
"BWS II" "BWSIII" "BWSIV" which is the initials my family gives to the oldest son and also mine.

anyway, thank you very much for helping me. I have now gotten the damn thing to make a sound, but the violin smells alot better then it sounds when in my hands.

Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno 1729
Cremona- A town in Italy


--Antonius Stradivarius Violins are soo rare, that yours can`t possible be one (one in a million chance). Yours is a copy, but copys can also be worth somewhere in the $3000 range (the actual one is worth around the million dollar range). It`s funny, even copys of the Stradivarius can be like 100 or 200 years old.

Violins Bearing a Stradivarius Label

Antonio Stradivari was born in 1644, and established his shop in Cremona, Italy, where he remained active until his death in 1737. His interpretation of geometry and design for the violin has served as a conceptual model for violin makers for more than 250 years.

Stradivari also made harps, guitars, violas, and cellos--more than 1,100 instruments in all, by current estimate. About 650 of these instruments survive today. In addition, thousands of violins have been made in tribute to Stradivari, copying his model and bearing labels that read "Stradivarius." Therefore, the presence of a Stradivarius label in a violin has no bearing on whether the instrument is a genuine work of Stradivari himself.

The usual label, whether genuine or false, uses the Latin inscription Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno [date]. This inscription indicates the maker (Antonio Stradivari), the town (Cremona), and "made in the year," followed by a date that is either printed or handwritten. Copies made after 1891 may also have a country of origin printed in English at the bottom of the label, such as "Made in Czechoslovakia," or simply "Germany." Such identification was required after 1891 by United States regulations on imported goods.

Thousands upon thousands of violins were made in the 19th century as inexpensive copies of the products of great Italian masters of the 17th and 18th centuries. Affixing a label with the master’s name was not intended to deceive the purchaser but rather to indicate the model around which an instrument was designed. At that time, the purchaser knew he was buying an inexpensive violin and accepted the label as a reference to its derivation. As people rediscover these instruments today, the knowledge of where they came from is lost, and the labels can be misleading.

A violin`s authenticity (i.e., whether it is the product of the maker whose label or signature it bears) can only be determined through comparative study of design, model wood characteristics, and varnish texture. This expertise is gained through examination of hundreds or even thousands of instruments, and there is no substitute for an experienced eye.

Stradivarius Instruments at the Smithsonian

The Smithsonian`s National Museum of American History has the 1701 "Servais" cello made by Stradivari, uniquely famous for its state of preservation and musical excellence. It takes its name from the 19th-century Belgian, Adrien Francois Servais (1807-1866), who played this cello. Since December 1987, the exhibition of the Herbert R. Axelrod Stradivarius Quartet of ornamented instruments has been on view in our Hall of Musical Instruments, where the "Servais" can also be seen. These instruments can be heard in concerts and on Smithsonian recordings. From time to time, other Stradivarius instruments may be exhibited.

oh hey thats cool whatever =), I really don`t have a clue of what it is but you sound like you know what your talking about and thanks for the information btw, Prolly just a replica. Either way I wouldn`t sell it

Hey this is Bali. (Just say Bail =P) (the guy with his grandfather`s violin)
Anyway, the bow`s hair is absolutly BROWN, almost in line with this rosin stone`s amber color. Is there anyway I can clean this thing? I`ve regrettably touched my hands all about the hair before I had the wisedom to know not too, and the bow`s hair(as I have been told) was the original hair from the bow which CAME with the violin. I have other bows but how would one go about to correct this delima?

Most grateful and indebted for all your experienced and knowledgeable assistance, (far meantionably is my thanks to Sean)
= Balif Wolfgang Speilzinshòunk V

The bow hair is brown!? It`s is suppose to be white! Violins can last a long time and so can the bow, but not the horse hair on the bow!! The reason why you are not getting much sound is because the horse hair is bad. Put new horse hair on your bow. :-)

I mean go to a music store and have the people their put new horse hair on the bow because they have the necessary tools.