question about violin maker Alex Spainhour

[No one]

I was recently in upstate South Carolina and saw a couple of violins
listed locally on craigslist. They were german made from the 1980s and
had the luthier name Alex Spainhour listed in them. My understanding is
that there is a well respected musical conductor in upstate South
Carolina by that same name. However, speaking with folks who know him
personally, I can find no indication that he was a luthier or made
violins in Germany. Does anyone know of a german luthier by the name of
Alex Spainhour, and if so, what is the quality range of his instruments?

Can anyone shed some light on this?

[Giovanni Corazzol]

Hello,

I can see from the internet that the website of Bernhardt House of
Violins, located in Greenville, South Carolina, lists Prof. Alex
Spainhour as their business partner. He is referred as being expert in
appraising and buying instruments; my guess is that Bernhardt V.
House sells a choice of instruments, with the trade name Spainhour,
probably to highlight the fact that these instruments have been chosen
by Prof. Spainhour personally.
You can gather more information from the website and I suggest to call
their store for further information if you are interested in buying.
The practice of labelling instruments with a trade name is common and
there is no risk of confusion in this case, even in the future, just
because Prof. Spainhour is a known professional musician, but he is
also known as a violin expert and dealer.
I know that some years ago, many violins were sold in the United
States with fake Italian names (school teachers, musicologists etc.)
by inexperienced dealers who collected instruments made by Cremona
Violin School students. Since many of them were not italians, they
just invented some "italian" names.
Selling them with a "trade name" was the right thing to do, but they
probably were getting more money in doing that, and they didn't have
the responsibility of writing the name of their shop.
My advice is always to buy from an established dealer or at least, to
ask a violinmaker/expert that you trust for assistance.

cheers
Giovanni