stradivarius violins fail another blind test

[Paikon]

Originally Posted by ecguitar44

The point of the experiment wasn't just to "pick your favorite violin"...it was also "pick which one is the Stradivari."

They failed to identify the Stradivari.

That has nothing to do with the subjectiveness of preference.

"The violinists were also unable to tell whether an instrument was new or antique by playing it, even though seven of them regularly play antique violins."

Read the link again my friend.
"In the equivalent of a blind taste test, 10 "renowned" violinists tended to prefer new violins over Stradivarius violins after playing them without being able to see them, a new study has found.

"No matter how results are tallied, it is clear that, among these players and these instruments, there is an overall preference for the new," said the study that will be published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."

[ecguitar44]

Originally Posted by Paikon

Read the link again my friend.
"In the equivalent of a blind taste test, 10 "renowned" violinists tended to prefer new violins over Stradivarius violins after playing them without being able to see them, a new study has found.

"No matter how results are tallied, it is clear that, among these players and these instruments, there is an overall preference for the new," said the study that will be published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."

Read MY posts again. I said "it's not JUST about preference." There are 2 aspects to the study. Preference and identification.

Yes..they preferred the "new" violins. That's subjective. Not particularly scientific. The other part is that they were UNABLE TO IDENTIFY THE STRADIVARI violins.

"The violinists were also unable to tell whether an instrument was new or antique by playing it, even though seven of them regularly play antique violins."

Notice that quote doesn't say anything about preference.

2 parts to the study.

One is preference.

One is identification.

They failed to identify the violins.

That has nothing to do with preference.

[Paikon]

IMHO to identify a Stradivarius you must be a Stradivarius player...and again IMHO when these people preferred new violins how you would expect the to be able to identify a Stradivarius.
Anyway , this is just a theoretical argument.

[Slothead56]

The study failed to mention the new violins were Zagerized....

[ecguitar44]

Originally Posted by Paikon

IMHO to identify a Stradivarius you must be a Stradivarius player...and again IMHO when these people preferred new violins how you would expect the to be able to identify a Stradivarius.
Anyway , this is just a theoretical argument.

The study shows that the violins are indistinguishable from each other.

If you have to be a regular player of a Stradivari to identify one...then I'd argue they're not particularly different from any other modern violins.

Which makes one wonder why they're so revered if only a handful of players (those that play Stradivari instruments) are capable of hearing any difference between them and other guitars.

Usually an instrument that is so "great" should be immediately recognizable by a general audience. At least to be worth $45,000,000 you'd think it would be at least a LITTLE bit better than the others.

Very similar to when it was discovered that Tony Rice recorded Manzanita with an Ovation.

[SongwriterFan]

Originally Posted by ecguitar44

Which makes one wonder why they're so revered . .

They're old . . . they survived . . . and they're RARE.

[Paikon]

The value of an instrument as an instrument is different from its value in the market.

[ecguitar44]

Originally Posted by SongwriterFan

They're old . . . they survived . . . and they're RARE.

So are lots of things from that period. There are harpsichords, clarinets, violins, lutes, etc. that have survived. Those instruments don't carry the reverence that Stradivari instruments do. And they're not studied in insane detail to try to determine "what makes them so great"...

There is some amount of acceptance that the Stradivari's sound "better" to the point of having books and papers dedicated to the study. At the end of the day, it's been shown over and over that "experts" can't pick a Stradivari out of a lineup.

Originally Posted by SongwriterFan

They're old . . . they survived . . . and they're RARE.

Originally Posted by Paikon

The value of an instrument as an instrument is different from its value in the market.

Exactly.....

[MrKellyGraham]

There was a better link in the "Science says..." thread. But since no one replied to that one....

http://news.sciencemag.org/brain-beh...modern-fiddles

Note: One of the testers played a Stradivarius for 6 years and still couldn't pick 'em out of the lineup....

[ecguitar44]

Originally Posted by MrKellyGraham

Note: One of the testers played a Stradivarius for 6 years and still couldn't pick 'em out of the lineup....

Not surprised...

[Paikon]

Originally Posted by MrKellyGraham

Note: One of the testers played a Stradivarius for 6 years and still couldn't pick 'em out of the lineup....

There are three videos of Torres guitars from late 19th century. Made in different years , different players play them , different sound.

[ecguitar44]

Originally Posted by Paikon

There are three videos of Torres guitars from late 19th century. Made in different years , different players play them , different sound.

Do you think they be identified amongst other non-Torres guitars in a double-blind listening/playing study?

I'd think if Stradivari and Torres had such superior instruments that they'd be easily and readily identifiable.

These studies seem to prove otherwise.

[6L6]

Welp...

I put my Stradivarius on CL after reading this post. I was offered $50.00 and I jumped on it!

Only lost about $5MM on this investment...

[Paikon]

Originally Posted by ecguitar44

Do you think they be identified amongst other non-Torres guitars in a double-blind listening/playing study?

I'd think if Stradivari and Torres had such superior instruments that they'd be easily and readily identifiable.

These studies seem to prove otherwise.

As i said earlier its about preference . If you dont like the sound of a Torres all the other characteristics of the instrument dont matter.
Its like the paintings of Picasso or Pollock.