I've noticed that virtually all the student level violins I see for sale, lets say the $300-600 range have very plain looking maple backs. If one were to see a violin with a beautifully flamed maple back would that indicate that it might be a higher level instrument? I don't know if that look would appearance would affect quality of sound or not. But, nicely flamed tonewood might cost more so I wonder if a builder would only include it on a higher level instrument.
Not only does it look nice and I suppose cost more, it's much harder to work with. You could find Chinese instruments with flamed backs that may or may not be in that price range. They also may or may not be "better" instruments.
Yita Music on ebay has some nice violins in this price range with nice flaming on the back. Also pay attention to the fit of the pegs.
The closeness, uniformity of the grain, and carving is a far better indication of how a fiddle is going to sound, than the fanciness of the grain on the back and ribs etc. Plain and well made is far better than fancy made. (Like a mother of pearl guitar with a wooden inlay). Both is best. if the maker knows what they are doing
Apparently 12+ growth rings/inch is good on the top plate?
I had an old French fiddle that lacked any fancy grain but had a very sweet and even sound. It was almost yellow and it just didn't look great. Boy howdy that thing sang out.
Fancy or high grade wood can sometimes mean a really good fiddle, but looks can be deceiving. Really cheap China fiddles sometimes have flames actually painted on and the purfling likewise painted on. But cheaply made factory fiddles, made with good wood are out there too. The cost of the wood being secondary to the time and effort used to pop them off an assembly line. I had a fiddle one time where fake scroll and neck splices were added, ostensibly to give the impression that it was a good instrument (those splices are very difficult and expensive). But an Exacto knife and some India ink are pretty cheap! Violins unfortunately don't have the same brand name recognition that guitars, banjos and horns do. Theres no Gibson Mastertone or Martin D45's in the fiddle world.
The amount of flame in a piece of wood is not an indicator of the quality of construction, nor is the wood choice in general. Quality of build is determined by the workman’s skills with the tools, the execution of the arching, the cleanness of the work, the feel in the hand, and the attention to detail. Wood selection is another matter. It’s not uncommon to come across professionally made violins that have wood in them that is not particularly flashy.
There are terrible violins made with stunning wood and there are excellent violins made with rather boring wood. One thing that tends to be more common among good violins, though, is how well the wood is quartered. Factories don’t care about that sort of thing if the wood looks pretty enough. In any case, it’s much easier to buy nice wood than it is to learn what to do with it.
Flamed wood is a little trickier to work than plain wood because it tends to be a little harder, but it’s not that much of an issue. Since players do often buy with their eyes (as much as they may protest to the contrary), makers have a lot of incentive to use wood that has more figure in it. However, if you look at a lot of old violins, you come across plenty of exceptions. The old Italian makers would often use oppio as an alternative wood for backs when good maple was scarce, and while it had a more plain appearance, it functioned well.
Everyone likes the look of a back with deep flames that have a beautiful chatoyance, and that is why the most expensive wood tends to have this quality (among others like age, split, density, and grain regularity). It’s completely understandable to be attracted to the aesthetics of an impressive piece of wood, but if you want to judge the quality of construction, you have to force yourself to look beyond the wood selection and consider the workmanship that’s been applied to the wood. I’ll add that a maker who has a knack for varnishing can do wonderful things with a boring piece of wood.
I like when the back of the neck is flamed!
No, often the opposite. The quality of the wood, and particularly the age has more to do with the sound and projection of the violin. The fineness of the grain of the top plate, and the graduated thicknesses contribute to the overall sound, as well as the correct placement of the mechanics of the sound post, bass bar etc
Ability to see the overall quality will tell you a lot, no one would spend the time required to make a masterfull work on an inferior piece of wood.
