Hi, i have just brought a violin which is "The Maidstone" By John G.Murdoch & Co Ltd London EC. for £70.00 UK pounds. It is pre-war but i dont know an exact date.

It is missing the bridge and has some scratches to the front and back.

Somebody has attempted to re-varnish the outer areas of the violin but it was very badly done, the strings need replacing as well.

1. Is it worth spending the money to get it re-varnished by a restorer?

2. Will the missing bridge affect the value?

3. What valuation could i expect to get for a fully restored "maidstone"?

1. Is it worth spending the money to get it re-varnished by a restorer?
-Yes, or you could try doing it yourself, it`s really not that hard. You just have to find wood varnish. You could save lots and lots of money.

2. Will the missing bridge affect the value?
-No, the bridge doesn`t matter that much.

3. What valuation could i expect to get for a fully restored "maidstone"?
-Not sure, so the name of which you said is in the violin?

2. Will the missing bridge affect the value?
-No, the bridge doesn`t matter that much.


-Even though without the bridge and strings, the violin is WORTHLESS.

Thanks for the replies, whilst i coulsd re-varnish myself, i feel it would be better done by a restorer as i dont want to have an adverse affect on the value.

As for the name inside its as i posted before, would this have any connection to "Murdoch & Murdoch" or is it a completely different company?

I purchased the Maidstone for the purpose of learning to play along side my six year old daughter, i wanted something old and with a mature sound and also something that will hold its value, hopefully i have picked a decent violin - Your thoughts on this though would be most appreciated

maidstones are a turn of the (19th-20th) century trade violin originating from germany. there are lots of them and by today`ds standards they`re not bad. Price for a fully restored one varies: we have never managed to get more than £200 on ebay and that took some doing and was for a bow and case as well. A specialist shop might get £300 or so for the violin. you won`t make any profit on it if you resell it, i`d suggest you just enjoy learning on it once it`s set up properly (expect to pay £100 or so)

Liz

Liz Ward,

Yes, but by the time (kickinpretty`s) 6-year-old daughter has a 6-year-old daughter of her own or granddaughter it would be worth a lot more. That`s because others just like it have been thrown away or damaged badly.

celloprof@hotmail.com is my working email the other one never worked.

.

i have a violin thats a 100 years old at least. if you refinish it it won`t have the best sound and it costs a lot just get a knew violin.

We have a French Medio Fino that needs refinished and put back together. I am not sure of the value and will refinishing it damage the sound?

Medio Finos are French trade violins, very cheaply made. Certainly not worth revarnishing. They don`t sound too bad though.

Liz

I have one with the same label for which I paid £250. I doubt you would get your money back unless you did the work yourself. They seem to go typically for about £200. Good luck!