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JanJan2
Registered User
Posts: 203
(7/25/01 7:40:11 am)
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How does "sound"
affect the value of an instrument?
Last night was my first lesson since getting a Harmonie tailpiece
installed on my cello. As I've posted elsewhere, I was delighted
with what this did to the sound of my cello, but wondered how others
would percieve it.
Well, my teacher was absolutely bowled
over by the improvement! She really went on and on about it, and
finally said she felt I'd increased the value of my cello
significantly. Putting a dollar amount on the difference, she said
before my cello sounded like an 8K instrument, now closer to
20K!
So that got me thinking about the appraisal process and
how the sound of an instrument enters into it. It seems to me that
the sound is a subjective matter, not as quantifiable as the grade
of wood or the workmanship. So here's my hypothetical
question:
If you have 2 instruments by the same maker,
identical in materials, workmanship, and set up, but one has a
dramatically "better" sound than the other, will that instrument
fetch a higher price? Do you begin by asking for a higher price,
based on tonal characteristics?
Which leads me to ask does
this upgrade to my own instrument REALLY change it's value, whether
for insurance purposes or in the unlikely event I ever wish to sell
it?
Feedback/comments most welcome.
Janet |
Andrew
Victor
Registered
User
Posts: 361
(7/25/01 8:24:04
am)
Reply
|
Re: How does
"sound" affect the value of an instrument?
JanJan,
I recall the delight with which I played an old
cello, priced at $36,000 on the very day I selected my own $3,200
Ifshin Jay-Haide model (and got a 10% discound to bring the price
even lower) I actually prefered the one I bought (and I had 50 years
on cellos to form opinions about such things). Now with the addition
of the Bois d'Harmonie tailpiece and New Harmony endpin it plays and
sound even better - but it is probably worth the same - maybe plus
the cost delta of the new parts.
If sound determined value,
my carefully selected instruments might be worth millions (in my
opinion - I've played some that were) but as it is I don't know if
they are really worth insuring.
Buyers, with impetus from
dealers, determine value and as long as the finest violin makers
alive in the world today are selling their violins/violas for about
$20,000 and cellos for perhaps twice as much, even the finest
sounding factory instruments will remain in their much lower niche
except for the occassional buyer who is willing to splurge for
sound, even though the cost is unlikely to ever be
recouped.
Andy
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Dick500
Registered User
Posts: 104
(7/25/01 8:55:04 am)
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Value and
sound
A lot of factors go into determining the value of an instrument
including: whether the instrument is an antique or not, whether the
maker is dead or alive, whether the instrument was made by one
person or in a workshop setting, fame of the maker, country of
origin, condition, marketplace popularity, cost of the materials and
labor if an instrument is new, etc. Sound isn't on the list because
it is to be assumed that if an instrument is made from good
materials, on a good pattern, by a person capable of getting to the
individual characteristics of the wood, and then is set up and
adjusted well, then the instrument will sound good to somebody. Good
sound to one person is not necessarily good sound to another.
Therefore, the valuation criteria above avoid sound. However, it is
generally true that, all things being equal, more expensive
instruments (which are not being priced so because of "dead guy"
value) are capable of producing a broader range of dynamics and tone
colors than are less expensive instruments. "All things being equal"
means, for instance, that you would have to compare modern German
workshop cellos against other modern German workshop
cellos.
Now for the questions and answers:
What was
accomplished? What you have done by changing the tailpiece is played
with the set-up of the cello. Did it change the inherent sound of
the cello? Technically not since the cello had to have been capable
of making those sounds in the fist place. Did it change how the
cello is responding? Yes, that it did. Do you like it better now?
Obviously! Did it make the cello worth more money? Nope. Did it make
it easier to sell if you would so desire? Yes, if you find a
potential buyer who shares your taste. Did it increase the cello's
pleasure-value to you? Yes, because you will enjoy it more now--and
you can't put a price on that. Why didn't the cello sound like this
in the first place? Aaaah, well that's the tricky one. Maybe "they"
didn't know about the tailpiece. Maybe "they" have a rubber-stamp
set-up. Maybe "they" don't share your taste. Maybe it costs more
than "they" want to invest in the set-up of the cello and "they" are
leaving it up to you to add and pay for the fun customizing features
that will enhance performance (and now I will really date
myself--like mag wheels, dual-quad carburetors, big-block
high-compression engine, Muncie 4-speed box, racing cams, street
slicks, duals, glass packs, a steering wheel made out of welded
chain, and on and on--I admit it. I used to work in an auto parts
shop in the '70's). Maybe ...
Dick
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Todd
French 
Moderator
Posts: 218
(7/25/01 9:59:51 am)
Reply
 |
Re: Value and
sound
Dick is correct - you simply can't put a value on sound as it is so
completely subjective. In addition, if it were even possible to put
a price on sound production (discounting entirely the differences in
opinion and taste for particular tones and overtones), the price of
the instrument would change each month as the tone of the instrument
changes. While most instruments improve with age, some do not, and
require work in order to get them to sound as they had, or perhaps
even better. Luckily you and your teacher both agreed that the new
tailpiece improved the sound of your cello.
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drcello
Registered User
Posts: 520
(7/25/01 10:27:51 am)
Reply
| Edit
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Sometimes sound
doesn't matter...
I guarantee that if you find a genuine Strad cello in your attic,
in good shape, it will be worth a million dollars even if it sounds
like a $500 plywood cello.
Marshall C. St. John
drcello@vei.net
Wayside Presbyterian Church
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TerryM
Registered
User
Posts: 478
(7/25/01 11:17:23
am)
Reply
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Re: Sometimes
sound doesn't matter...
The criteria used to evaluate instruments by dealers/investors are,
for the most part, very different than the criteria used by the
musicians who play the instruments. I have seen instruments used by
professionals that certainly would not win awards based on their eye
appeal, but ah the sound they make...how can you put a price on
that?
Basing a price on the potential investment/resale
value is an entirely different game than pricing for the sound
quality. I do believe there are certain essentials that must be met
by any good instrument. It must respond well and evenly over the
range of the instrument and the quality of workmanship and materials
must also be high. Although not everyone may agree on what is the
best cello sound, I am sure we would be in better agreement about
what does not sound good. I firmly believe that if instruments were
valued and sold based on their sound quality that we would see a
very different selection of instruments at the high end of the price
scale.
When we begin to value something based on who
produced it, more so than what it was intended to do and what it was
made for, then we are collecting "works of art" and the *value* of
the instrument will be based less on musical qualities than on
appearance and other factors that have more to do with investment
and speculation. These factors should be part of the overall
evaluation, but not the sole criterion of value.
I think that
there are many fine sounding instruments out there that sound as
good as much higher priced instruments and that the relationship of
price to musical value is not a linear one, nor is there always a
correlation between the musical quality of any particular instrument
and its *value* as determined by those who have the most to gain by
assigning value to instruments.
Lastly, I think it is sad
that high quality instruments and bows that have appreciated so much
in terms of their *investment* potential have been taken, for the
most part, out of the hands of those for whom the instruments and
bows were created. The Bein and Fushi saga that was posted here a
while ago, really brought home how the market can be manipulated by
those that have the most to gain from this manipulation. The saddest
part for me was the vast collection of instruments that the
collector, who was at the heart of the saga, had sitting doing
nothing in his apartment. Instruments were created to play music,
not to sit neglected for years "appreciating" in "value".
Terry
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