Chapter IX: The Expert Dealer

While there are numerous experts and dealers of great renown and unquestioned repute, there is no denying the existence of those who would do well to drop the “and” from this title and thus become what they really are, “Expert Dealers”--experts in acquiring old fiddles (usually of low grade), experts in advertising their praise, and experts in selling them.[I]

The first consideration of this type of dealer is to keep alive the interest in old fiddles--the type of old fiddle that is acquired for a few shillings and sold for as many pounds. New violins, even of the finest-tone quality, are nothing to him. They cannot be purchased cheaply, or sold at an extravagant price. The new violin has but one asset--Tone. Its value depends upon the quality of its tone and nothing else, while the old, even the very cheap old, is lifted above tone because it is a curio as well as a fiddle, although it may be downright flattery to say its tone is third rate.

This dealer has but one serious trouble, namely, to keep his patrons satisfied with the species of “tone” which, when the glamour of owning a “fine old violin” has worn off, begins to whine for attention. His ability to meet this issue really justifies his claim to the title of “expert.” He is full of advice regarding adjustment, alteration of bridge, post, bar, etc., or an exchange for another fiddle if these prove unavailing. Whatever he may advise it will not be to try a new violin. He does not realise the gulf that is fixed between himself and the purchaser of the instrument. His interest is centred in the sale of a fiddle, while those who patronise him are interested in the purchase of tone. This type of fiddle merchant sometimes admit, with cynical candour, that “people do not buy violins for their tone (_sic_) nowadays.” If so, the fault lies with the dealer rather than with the “people.”

But if violins are not bought for their tone, what are they purchased for? If the dealer and his patron were in agreement that a violin has no other mission than to pose, like a Chippendale chair, as a curiosity, the tone of the instrument may well be relegated to a secondary position. It can, like the chair, be used; from its time-stained interior a sound may be produced which, if it does nothing else, at least proclaims the thing to be a fiddle. And that is all it is bought for!

It is doubtless quite true that the majority of violins are not “bought for their tone nowadays;” but the only one perfectly aware of the fact is the dealer himself, and he is, perhaps, justified in making the statement, for _he_ knows what the instrument is bought for if the purchaser does not. It might have been more accurate to state that violins are not _sold_ for their tone, but for their age or appearance. It is only the dealer who buys an old fiddle simply because it is old.

This kind of dealer prospers because few people realise that fine tone is not to be acquired cheaply in an old violin; that age and tone are not synonymous terms. They are misled through the spell cast over all old fiddles by the masterpieces of Cremona. Tone of superfine quality seldom comes their way. It is rare their acquaintance with it is close enough, or frequent enough, for them to appreciate more than its superficial beauties. Age, or its simulation, is visible to the eye, and tone of some rare sort is therefore considered an assured thing. Their ideas are stronger than their ideals and their imagination superior to both, with the result that the progress of many talented students, and not a few good players, is seriously retarded through the use of some “genuine old” but poor-toned violin.

Opposed to this type of dealer are the _genuine_ dealers and experts, men of a vastly different class. It need hardly be said that, while the first are many the last are few. Still, they may be found in most great cities of the world, the two most famous houses being located in London. Here one may find all kinds of old violins and new ones as well, the last being, in most cases, produced in their own workshops. Through these houses have passed the most famous violins known, and there one may be sure of finding old instruments of fine tone and undoubted pedigree and repute. It is from _this_ kind of dealer that most of the world’s greatest players have purchased their instruments, and it is here they send them for adjustment or repair. As it is extremely hazardous for the ordinary buyer to rely upon his own judgment when purchasing an old violin, he cannot do better than place his wants in the hands of one of these specialists. In most cities and towns are also to be found reputable dealers and repairers. Their stock of old instruments is, however, necessarily limited.