Let’s see if this works.

ibb.co/GVZ9q2H
ibb.co/TvNstMy
ibb.co/nPVLLxT

Each of the links will show the pics.

ibb.co/GVZ9q2H

Here is the video

tiktok.com/t/ZTdsJoqNj/?k=1

Certainly appears to be French text - "...don & Fils" = (typical French-ending) name & Sons; "du" = of or from; "Poissonniere" = word derived from "fish", "fish-monger", maybe? maybe a street or neighbourhood name; "Paris" = ... hmmm - that one has me stumped ... !

I’m trying to figure out if it’s a French violin. It might be difficult but wanted opinions.

Thank you @oldscratch

I was going by the title of the thread .....

All is good and when looking at the title it is misleading. I knew the text was French but trying to see if it’s a French violin which is in question. Thank you @oldscratch for the help. :)

There are people here who can probably tell you, but you've made it a little hard to view the photos. It would be easier if you could post the photos to your page here and attach them to your post. Need to see scroll, ff holes, corners, etc. (I'm not one of the ones who would know). Its a nice looking back for sure.

It was a nightmare trying to upload again. I’ll login with the laptop see if that will work. Thank you!

The upload process doesn't seem very difficult to me, but there may be a restriction that you have to have a certain number of posts before it will let you do it.

Body corners look like it was BOB, Built on Back in Schoenbach, maybe varnished in Mirecourt. Nasty varnish. Can't see many pertinint details at all, but I'd spend what little money I had on something else. Body construction that I can see is not at all French from any time period whatsoever, but I have seen low-end German violins that do appear to have been varnished in Mirecourt.

FWIW - I watched the video. The player has some good skills, and should be pulling pretty good sound out of that violin, since it is set up with Dominant strings. I have pretty bad high frequency hearing loss, and even with her trained bow hand that violin hurt my ears badly, even on low volume, which is a pretty good indication it is a screech box and you'll never get it to sound even decent. You can find far better outfits for very little money.

Can we agree to disagree when it comes to the screech box comment? Yes, she does have a trained hand and plays professionally for an orchestra. But I do appreciate your comments.

about Labels...
mine says "Andreas Morelli" and "Antonius Stradivarius 1774" on the inside. But is it a priceless Italian instrument? Nope, it's a common German-made model from the 1920s! So French label doesn't necessarily mean it's French...?

NCnotes I was told that it wasn’t French and just wanted other opinions. This will be my second violin. Last one I owned was horrible and cheap $100.

Thank you for your response.

quote:

---

Originally posted by fiddler55

Can we agree to disagree when it comes to the screech box comment? Yes, she does have a trained hand and plays professionally for an orchestra. But I do appreciate your comments.

---

Sure. My thought as a pro who restores and sells fiddles for a living, is that she's pulling close to the best possible sound that it has in it, and compared to the thousands I've heard and worked with (and recorded hundreds) over the years, there are a lot better ones to be had for the money. I don't have to listen to it, though, and everyone is welcome to their own opinion, and nobody has to listen to me. Just offering one viewpoint, FWIW.

@KCFiddles I’m by far not an expert on violins. I stated to you that I appreciate your feedback. I’m curious since you are a professional, what would you value the violin with a KW Pernambuco bow?

I don't know what a KW pernambuco bow is, nor could I find any references to one.  Also, this is going to make me look like a real curmudgeon, but I can't put a value on that violin because I just wouldn't ever offer one like that to someone who I hoped to keep as a customer. I recently traded 25 violins like that to a guy who sells that sort of thing, in exchange for 3 decent trade violins and I felt like I came out WAY ahead!  I took a look around some old videos I shot a long time ago, and I still have this fiddle in a box in my basement.  It's very plain, and 29 years old, so it's gonna hold up OK. But you'll see what I mean about the sound. If you like it, I'll list it in the Classifieds with used case and carbon fiber bow for $350. 

You haven’t heard of pernambuco bows?

quote:

---

Originally posted by fiddledeedee3

 

---

Of course he has. I'm sure he means he hasn't heard of a KW bow.

The KW was a typo on my end. Apologies. Are they pretty decent bows that you know of?

Pernambuco is just the wood so it is hard to tell what the quality of a particular bow is without looking at it or at least knowing the maker. They can range in price from $70 to the tens of thousands. Personally, I would test several bows in your price range and pick the one you can get the best sound out of. If you are spending under $1,000 you typically can get a lot more bow for your money with carbon fiber bows. The other benefit of carbon fiber is that they are less delicate and can withstand changes in humidity much better. If you don't have the option locally to test different bows there are more than a few reputable sites online that will send you multiple at a time to try out...i.e Shar Music, Southwest Strings, and Johnson String Instruments.

quote:

---

Originally posted by rosinhead

Pernambuco is just the wood so it is hard to tell what the quality of a particular bow is without looking at it or at least knowing the maker. They can range in price from $70 to the tens of thousands. Personally, I would test several bows in your price range and pick the one you can get the best sound out of. If you are spending under $1,000 you typically can get a lot more bow for your money with carbon fiber bows. The other benefit of carbon fiber is that they are less delicate and can withstand changes in humidity much better. If you don't have the option locally to test different bows there are more than a few reputable sites online that will send you multiple at a time to try out...i.e Shar Music, Southwest Strings, and Johnson String Instruments.

---

I agree with this. Can't tell without knowing the maker, or, best, trying the bow.  I usually sell carbon fiber bows to beginners because they work consistently well, don't warp, and play well for fiddlers. Most of my pro clients are playing the pernambuco veneered bows I sell, because they have all the advantages of carbon fiber, plus a little warmer sound.

BTW, I went back and listened to that video again. The teacher's voice was badly distorted (huge treble boost) which should have given me a clue that the whole video was distorted, making the fiddle sound really awful. I was just paying attention to what I heard, and missed other clues. Hope your fiddle ended up sounding a whole lot better in real life. I always check my photos and demo videos against "real life", so it sometimes doesn't occur to me that other people don't do the same.

Yep OP told me that he/she made a recording with her phone, of a TikTok video...so who knows what it originally sounded like?!

The lady that sold to her/him, is a very good violinist so I don't think she could bring herself to sell anything harsh or horrible sounding to somebody...hopefully OP is happy with his/her (French?) fiddle.

(edited because unsure of pronouns!)