Chapter VIII: A Double-Barrelled Theory

A frequent contention against the new violin, especially when its high-tone quality is so overwhelmingly apparent as to confound even the unreasonably prejudiced, is the statement that this fine tone will disappear in time. This appears strange when we remember it comes from those who say tone is found only in the old violin! According to this theory age seems a most accommodating adjunct. It not only gives tone, but takes it away also--it all depends upon whether the maker is dead or not! But the seeker of tone need not be alarmed when such double-barrelled wisdom is solemnly imparted. The tone of the great new violins is absolutely permanent. It does not owe its origin to age, or to anything that time can alter any further than it can alter the tone of any other great violin. Its continued existence is subject to the same conditions as govern the existence, or tone-life, of the finest old Italian instruments. If time influences it at all it is only to make it better. Whatever effect age may have upon a fiddle constructed of green wood, upon the factory-made article, or upon those unsuitably varnished, where it is conceivable something unexpected may occur to the sound such instruments are capable of emitting, nothing of this sort happens to violins constructed by either old or new masters of tonal art.

This tone-disappearing theory is not only ridiculous, it is mean. Unable to deny tone as a patent and present fact in a new violin, suspicion must be created and the possessor frightened with the bogey of its ultimate and certain loss. The tone-seeker’s interest must be struck in the tenderest spot. Even if not immediately effective, the seed of suspicion is sown, with the result that (in effect) the tone-lover sits at the bedside of his (supposed) ailing fiddle applying home remedies and patent nostrums without avail. At last the doctor, usually a quack, is sent for and, without more ado, gives the tone its _coup de grâce_. But this need no longer be the case. Fortified with knowledge and fully aware of the purpose for which this entirely false theory is advanced, the new violin possessing fine tone may be treasured with confidence in the permanency of its brilliant voice.