Ole Bull violin with extra holes....
My grandmother recently gave me a violin that has been in the family for many years. It has something I had never seen before. Perhaps someone here can enlighten me. The scroll is bigger and has a row of 4 extra holes directly under the four pegs holding the strings. It says OLE BULL on the back of it and there is a typewritten paper inside it that says repaired by so and so (there is a name) and the date is 1887. It is in bad need of a cleaning but I am wondering if it is worth getting refurbished for my daughter to use. Any ideas?
Replies (12)
The Ole Bull marketing question is interesting.
I have the February 1927 Etude magazine that has an ad on page 155 for:
"Leopold Auer Violin Outfits"
The ad includes a picture of the violin outfit, and a very grouchy looking Auer, with the copy including such truths as this:
"Prof. Auer has personally selected and approved every article included in the three violin outfits that bear his name and a certificate, signed by the master, is furnished with every genuine Leopold Auer Violin Outfit"
The ad was placed by Carl Fischer.
Sorry if that is off topic, but I would be interested in learning if Ole Bull had a similar business deal, or if this is a unique Hardanger fiddle, perhaps an instrument of 19th century fan art. Very interesting...
Greetings,
interesting Ole Bul crops up now. By coinicdence I was searching thrugh free score .com (I think) today and downloaded the first work of his I have eever seen called `Polacca Guerriero.` Very good stuff in the Paginin vein. The guy clealry had an -awesome - technique. I speculated from some of the techniques he used that he probaly played on a very flat bridge by modern standards. Some of the sustained tremolos on four strings woudl probably not be possible on a modern instrument,
Cheer,s
Buri
Bure - you are of course correct regarding the bridge, Bull often used to end his pieces with that kind of playing, something Vieuxtemps tried to imitate.
Christine - it is probably an hardanger fiddle as Mara said, and it does not have to ornamented, it could be a hybrid violin, how long is the neck?
Anne - Ole bull was one of Europes most famous musicians when he died and a hero of Norway. He gave the norweigans the courage they needed to get independent from Sweden some 20 years after his death. So I would rather say that this violin is either in memory/honour of Bull (who died 7 years earlier) or in some way a a copy of one of his hardanger fiddles. I have never heard anywhere that he had any kind of connection to violins/fiddles makers for prodution of instruments, only for bridges.
Usually the violins branded Ole Bull on the back are low grade German amd not worth sinking too much money into. When you get a repair estimate, ask if it's worth doing
Buri, there are even more free downloads of Ole Bull music at imslp.org. As of now, they are:
El Agiaco Cubano
Bellone Polonaise
Marsch
The Mother's Prayer
A Mountain Vision
Also, Mattius, that is interesting about the tribute to Ole Bull in the marked violin. There is actually a state park in Pennsylvania called "Ole Bull State Park", in Stewardson. Around 150 years ago, Ole Bull bought a tract of land and tried to set up a Norwegian colony called Oleana. The colony didn't work, but the area is now open for tourists.
That is a very beautiful part of the US. My Godmother's family (not Norwegian. sorry) has been in that part of Pennsylvania for over 250 years. So maybe next time I visit, I'll take some pics of the park and post them for everybody! (After I learn how to use the camera, anyway...)
Okay, thank you for all the ideas. I have looked up Ole Bull and heard about the hardanger fiddle and wondered. Here's the thing, all the pictures I have seen of Hardanger fiddles have the extra pegs (strings) all in a row but my violin has the extra holes underneath the four holding the current strings. It makes the scroll about 1 1/2" high but not longer. I also read about German violins having the Ole Bull on the back sort of as a model perhaps.
As for the size of the neck it does seem very short. It is 5 1/4" from the body of the violin to the end of the fingerboard and 10" to the end of the scroll. The body of the violin is about 14" long.
If it is a hardanger, is it possible to play it without the extra 4 strings?
Sure--some Norwegian folk fiddlers use just four strings like on an ordinary violin. I'm still having trouble picturing this odd scroll though...
well, not a luthier here, but i would imagine sometimes peg holes are too worn out (too large to hold the original pegs) and a new set of 4 pegholes need to be drilled. if those old holes were not filled, as they usually are, there you are.
While this violin may not be worth a million dollars, it's worth something to you, and definitely worth conserving. Photographs would be a great help.
As most people have stated, it's probably a student grade hardanger or "drone" violin.
I don't know if I agree with the date of 1887 for a branded "Ole Bull", but I'd take your mothers word over mine.
As for the tuning pegs... in most cases, old tuning pegs are simply lost or broken/discarded. Before allowing anyone to tamper with the peg holes, you can purchase different diameter tuning pegs, and see which ones fit best. Pegs are fairly inexpensive, and it's easy to find pegs that match the look of the existing ones, unless they are very far from the norm (with special inlay/carving, which may exist in your case).
Without any photographs, my advice is simple conservation over restoration. Allow your daughter to use it if she really wants to. Why not?
Well actually I have no idea of the exact age of the violin, all I have is the note on the inside that states it was repaired in 1887. I would love to show pictures to see if anyone can tell me more about it but I don't know how to do that here. Someone else I talked to that did see it, thinks that perhaps the neck with the extra holes was added later onto an existing violin.
I think there is a Ole Bull Museum in Norway where they keep the archives, correspondence, music notetions, etc.. including his excellent
Gasparo da Salo violin. Maybe they can help you.
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September 7, 2007 at 04:06 AM · My immediate thought is maybe those holes are for extra pegs for sympathetic strings. Before you go "Whaaaaaa...?", you probably know that Ole Bull was a Norwegian virtuoso violinist of the 19th century. There is a wonderful Norwegian folk instrument called the Hardanger fiddle, which as far as I remember has at least eight strings, four of which vibrate sympathetically with the four that you actually play on, creating a really neat effect. Maybe this was a short-lived marketing gimmick: Ole Bull brand Norwegian folk violin! (but it's probably not a real Hardanger fiddle--for one, is it ornately decorated?)