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coffeesp00ns  ·  3910 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Blind-tested soloists unable to tell Stradivarius violins from modern instruments

this conversation has been going on for a long, long time, and I don't think it will ever end. there's too much magic around a "Strad" and too many people have too much money invested in them to believe that they're anything other than tools.

As a bassist, I'm pretty lucky in that there is no "Strad" and even the most expensive basses pale in comparison to the price of fine old violins. That said, I have played a Maggini bass from c. 1640, which was a pleasure to play. It was definitely a goofy instrument, and it showed its age, but it sounded beautiful.