I think I now have around 10 all of which were picked up at local flea markets or so called antique shops. Most were purchased for $200 or less but required me to do various kinds of cellar restoration work. I think $25 was the least I ever paid, that one had the front plate coming off at the time of purchase. I never got to hear any of these before purchase so it was kind of crap shoot to see what I really bought. I often fantasize about walking into a real fiddle shop and buying one that I can actually hear before purchasing.

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Originally posted by RichJ

I think I now have around 10 all of which were picked up at local flea markets or so called antique shops. Most were purchased for $200 or less but required me to do various kinds of cellar restoration work. I think $25 was the least I ever paid, that one had the front plate coming off at the time of purchase. I never got to hear any of these before purchase so it was kind of crap shoot to see what I really bought. I often fantasize about walking into a real fiddle shop and buying one that I can actually hear before purchasing.

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Should also have mentioned nearly all are what would be called German/ European trade fiddles, at least 100 years old or more. One is a pre-WW ll Japanese fiddle of about the same vintage.  

Same deal for me - i used to frequent country type auctions and flea markets and pick up fiddles needing work for peanuts. I think the lowest I paid was around $10 USD. LOL but many needed $100+ worth of parts and work, to get them playing. None were the "HOLY CRAP, WHAT A VIOLIN!" type after all was said and done. Trade fiddles need a lot of fettling before they actually sound decent and lots of the ones I had were of the 'soap box' type (meaning you sent in a few box tops from a washing soap package, and you got a fiddle for them). The kind with no or fake corner blocks and carved in bass bars.

The least I ever paid for a violin was $40 plus $10 for a bow (but that was in mid 70's dollars). I still have it and play it a lot. I've never liked the bow, but its stamped "Made in France" and my luthier told me its Pernambuco (nickel mounted though).
The most I ever paid for a fiddle was $120 for a later 19th century one by a respected German maker, which I also still have. I check online every once in a while and recently a violin by that maker, but a different model and in better condition, was offered for sale in a shop in LA for close to $10,000. It sold, but who knows for how much.
Have you ever tried to sell any of your auction/flea market finds? I had one I think I paid $50 for. It looked nice, but no matter what I tried I just couldn't get it to sound good. I even asked my luthier to try to regraduate the top. I think he took the top off, but he said it was really about right. I finally put it in a friend's music store on consignment, and in two weeks sombody bought it for 20 times what I paid for it (not counting some repairs).
I bought several of those at an auction and I was always amazed that "antique" dealers would buy unpromising fiddles, often in bad shape, for the same price as some pretty good ones. The one I've played the most was $70 - but that auction is long gone (as is my need for more fiddles!).

I just couldn't believe it was .50 hahaha. If it wasn't a pain uploading pics, I'd show ya lol

Yea what a deal - A cup of coffee costs 10x more than that these days!

$50 and I still play it. It's what I call The Ugly Fiddle. Has a great bluegrass voice. Best $50 I ever spent. Did get a new bridge made for it years after purchase, but that was because a found a luthier who is a set up genius. Photos included

Also, that fiddle is proof that cosmetics don't matter, in the end what matters is tone, projection (if you need that) and playability. I think most would have just passed it up, I just happened to know the person who had it and was able to play/jam with it for a full day before purchase.

Here ya go. $0.50

You found that for 50 cents?????

When my wife had a conniption fit over my incessant piano playing I went to a local music store and bought a cheap Chinese factory fiddle outfit (was it a couple hundred bucks?) so I could take my obsession with playing music into the backyard. Sure, I already had several guitars but I needed to feed my near insatiable music-playing jones. The fiddle sounded dry, soft and generally awful, but it was enough to make me realize that...hey...I like fiddling a lot! I've been chasing the fiddle dragon ever since.

I paid a friend $25 for a violin shaped object. I no longer recall much beyond its country of origin which was China. I do recall that the very same make and model has been used as an example on this very website, long may it wave, as an ideal example of a VSO. Well deserved. It's hanging over my bench at work and I play it occasionally because the acoustics are fun. The guy who had it was going to take it apart to play with tonewood. This instrument would defy any attempt at improving the setup. It might sound different, but would it sound good? It's perfect for what I have it for.

Eric - Where did your buddy find this? I can just picture a Goodwill store manager tearing out his hair and screaming "You idiot! I meant 50 DOLLARS, not 50 CENTS!"

Yup and I know you didn’t mean the “gifted” fiddles … but I am still playing on the one my mom bought me when I was 14. ( My fiddle is, hmm, now 127 years old! )

One of these days I will choose/buy myself my own instrument? But I’m quite used to this one…and just like when I was a kid, I still play in the bathroom ( to spare my spouse). I also like the garage … but it’s too cold these days!

I thought I was doing good when I found my cheapo Chinese viola for just under 200.00...lol.

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Originally posted by DougD

Have you ever tried to sell any of your auction/flea market finds? 

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I once bought a really nice 1962 14.5" Roth viola with no bridge for $40 at a salvage store.  Cost $150 or so for setup, then the shop that set it up called me a year later and offered $2k for it.  I don't play viola, so I let it go.  Always regretted it.  It sounded fantastic and it occurred to me right after I sold it how fine a 5-string fiddle it would have made.

I bought a 1975 Roth for $300 from something of a honky-tonk fiddler (in more ways than one) who was in a bind.  It was worth something when I bought it, but it's had an even tougher life since and has major repairs from some shade tree luthiers.

The really cheap ones that I've tried to work on have mostly wound up as pieces-parts or decorations.

Yep. 50 cents! We have this place nearby called the "50 Cent Bin" or something like. And yea, my buddy sends me a whole slew of photos of this thing. Right time at the right place I guess. I keep asking him if he's ready to sell...lol

That was a lucky find!

June, 2003. Musicians friend, Brand new, Cremona sv100 violin kit, for $80.
Took it to a luthier for Prims and a setup. He said I got lucky? Anyway, sv100 are $200 from Walmart now.
I play it every now and then. Not bad. But that's what started it for me.

One hears, it's not the fiddle. That's true, to a point. But you find, there is tone, but also ease of playing. Mostly in bows. Most any fiddle can be made to play easily. Can't say that about bows.

When I was in high school my father and I were asked to play for several Civil War reenactments. We wanted to find some old coffin cases that looked close enough to what would have been used in the period, so when we went to Galax over the summer, I asked around at the vendor tents and eventually found someone who had a few cases. He charged $20 a piece for them, and when I opened them to see the interiors, each one had a violin still inside. The vendor just shrugged and said “it would probably take me forever to get around to working on those violins anyway, so you can just have them if you want them.” I never set them up myself, either, though. I gave one to a friend who was getting into violin repair as a learning project. The other one is still in my workshop, but I haven’t spent any time on it because it’s a 3/4 and I don’t have much demand for fractional instruments among my clientele.

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Originally posted by The Violin Beautiful

When I was in high school my father and I were asked to play for several Civil War reenactments. We wanted to find some old coffin cases that looked close enough to what would have been used in the period, so when we went to Galax over the summer, I asked around at the vendor tents and eventually found someone who had a few cases. He charged $20 a piece for them, and when I opened them to see the interiors, each one had a violin still inside. The vendor just shrugged and said “it would probably take me forever to get around to working on those violins anyway, so you can just have them if you want them.” I never set them up myself, either, though. I gave one to a friend who was getting into violin repair as a learning project. The other one is still in my workshop, but I haven’t spent any time on it because it’s a 3/4 and I don’t have much demand for fractional instruments among my clientele.

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Ok here's something for you to try. Set it up with the bridge the same distance from the sound post but behind it and put on a set of 4/4 strings. 

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Originally posted by martyjoe

Ok here's something for you to try. Set it up with the bridge the same distance from the sound post but behind it and put on a set of 4/4 strings. 

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I assume you're suggesting that so the scale length is closer to that of a full size violin. I'd rather just set it up properly and sell it to a shop if I ever get around to it.

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Originally posted by Lonesome Fiddler

When my wife had a conniption fit over my incessant piano playing I went to a local music store and bought a cheap Chinese factory fiddle outfit (was it a couple hundred bucks?) so I could take my obsession with playing music into the backyard. Sure, I already had several guitars but I needed to feed my near insatiable music-playing jones. The fiddle sounded dry, soft and generally awful, but it was enough to make me realize that...hey...I like fiddling a lot! I've been chasing the fiddle dragon ever since.

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And oh yeah.  Not long ago I finally had the bucks and the opportunity to build a new house. To keep the peace with the spouse I had a special Piano Room put into the detached garage.  My ancient Turn-of-the-Twentieth Century Mason & Hamlin Upright fits just right.

I was given a fiddle in 70 or 71 and I swear the grain was painted on. I sounded like a cigar box. A friend got a Maggini copy at a yard sale for $4 and it had a poplar dowel in it. We fit a new sound post and it sounded terrible so we put the dowel back in. It sounded great.

I bought an eBay Chinese special for about 60 dollars in 2004. I tried most of the common things such as new strings and such. It always sounded harsh and scratchy. It did help me figure out that I really liked the fiddle. I ended up donating it to a Christian school fundraiser auction for the tax deduction. I went out and bought a decent student level instrument which I still have.