5 ms·

> That's a wild assumption. FWIW A participant (of the 2010 study, not the follow-up you linked) did explain in a blog post that "[the Strads] were loaned with

by jm_l 10y ago

> That's a wild assumption. FWIW A participant (of the 2010 study, not the follow-up you linked) did explain in a blog post that "[the Strads] were loaned with the stipulation that they remain in the condition in which we received them -- precluding any tonal adjustments or even changing the strings" http://www.violinist.com/blog/laurie/20121/13039/ http://www.violinist.com/blog/laurie/20121/13039/

dahart 10y ago
Yeah, I would expect that (and thanks for the link!) - I'm loaning you something super expensive, please don't mess it up. But the comment above suggested the research could be biased and compromised by the owners not doing maintenance. Much lower probability of that.
- elihu 10y ago
  Perhaps I wasn't clear in my wording. The modern violins are probably all in top-notch condition -- if a violin wasn't in great condition, it probably wouldn't have been included in the study. The Strads, though, are in whatever condition they happen to be in at the time, which could be good or not so good, depending on whether the years and previous owners have been kind to the instrument. And if there's anything that ought to be fixed for maximum playability, it might not be possible to get permission to have it fixed. Not because the owners don't care about maintenance, but because the owners are more concerned about keeping it in as close to original condition than how good it plays right now. For instance, let's say there's a divot worn in the fingerboard from years of string friction. With a modern instrument, you'd just take it to a luthier and have him/her plane it down. With a Strad, you might consider how many times you can plane the fingerboard down before you have to replace it entirely, and whether or not the violin would lose value with a new fingerboard. And you might also say to yourself that that divot was worn into the fingerboard by <some famous 18th or 19th century musician> and who am I to erase that little bit of history? People can be sentimental about old instruments, and doing too many repairs may also be more harmful in the long run than only fixing what needs to be fixed and nothing more.

by jm_l 10y ago

dahart 10y ago

Yeah, I would expect that (and thanks for the link!) - I'm loaning you something super expensive, please don't mess it up. But the comment above suggested the research could be biased and compromised by the owners not doing maintenance. Much lower probability of that.

elihu 10y ago
Perhaps I wasn't clear in my wording. The modern violins are probably all in top-notch condition -- if a violin wasn't in great condition, it probably wouldn't have been included in the study. The Strads, though, are in whatever condition they happen to be in at the time, which could be good or not so good, depending on whether the years and previous owners have been kind to the instrument. And if there's anything that ought to be fixed for maximum playability, it might not be possible to get permission to have it fixed. Not because the owners don't care about maintenance, but because the owners are more concerned about keeping it in as close to original condition than how good it plays right now. For instance, let's say there's a divot worn in the fingerboard from years of string friction. With a modern instrument, you'd just take it to a luthier and have him/her plane it down. With a Strad, you might consider how many times you can plane the fingerboard down before you have to replace it entirely, and whether or not the violin would lose value with a new fingerboard. And you might also say to yourself that that divot was worn into the fingerboard by <some famous 18th or 19th century musician> and who am I to erase that little bit of history? People can be sentimental about old instruments, and doing too many repairs may also be more harmful in the long run than only fixing what needs to be fixed and nothing more.