Archived Instruments

A selection of interesting instruments that have previously been sold by Emmett Violins.

Violins

<£1500

Eastern European Stradivari copy, c.1960

Professionally set up with solid ebony fittings and a hand cut bridge fitted to the instrument.

Klingenthal, German c.1850

This instrument has a one piece back, and has been thoroughly reworked, the top plate having been rethicknessed and tuned with an improved bass bar.

Czech Stainer copy 1930

A good entry-level instrument professionally set up in the workshop here.

£1500-£3000

Mittenwald c.1860 

Labelled as an Andrea Guarneri, in truth closer to a Stradivari model. A one piece back of flamed bird’s-eye maple bearing the distinctive ‘crackled’ varnish one would expect of these instruments.

Jerome Thibouville-Lamy French c.1910

A better quality French trade instrument, probably the Stradivari IV model listed in the JTL catalogue of 1912. A repair to a bass bar crack has been carried out in the workshop, and the whole instrument has been thoroughly reworked to bring it to optimum playing condition.

£3000 – £5000

C.J.Emmett 2011

This instrument is modelled after the Guarneri ‘del Gesu’ ‘Soil’ of 1733. It has a stop length of 193mm making it ideally suited to players with smaller hands, and was selected by the Allegri quartet for its tone quality at their Newark Violin School concert.

A.J. Roberts, England, c.1916

A small instrument with a surprisingly full and rounded tone. Labelled as made by The British Guild of Violin Makers, this instrument is stamped internally with the initials B.B., possibly referring to a Benjamin Banks model, and also marked faintly A.J. so is most likely the work of the Guild’s founder A.J. Roberts. The original post and bridge, marked with the group’s emblem is also available.

Mathias Neuner, Mittenwald, c.1870 

The label dates it to 1801, but this violin is more likely to be the work of the grandson of the same name. The varnish appears to be of a typical Mittenwald dark hue, but is a remarkable transparent dark red when seen up close. A new bass bar has been fitted and the tone is extremely powerful and viola-like on the lower strings.

Violas

£3000-£5000

C.J.Emmett 2012

An instrument made to my own design, combining the width and hence tone of a larger instrument with a 400mm (15 ¾”) back length. This instrument was selected by the Allegri quartet for its tone quality at their Newark School concert.

£5000-

C.J.Emmett 2013

An instrument made to my own design, combining the width and hence tone of a larger instrument with a 400mm (15 ¾”) back length. This instrument has a rich and complex depth of sound.