John Juzek violin??

[John Mahony]

I just got a violin to check out for possible purchase. The label indicates that it
is by John Juzek. The current owner is not convinced it's a real Juzek and would not
represent it as such. However, the label reads as follows:

John Juzek
violinmaker formally of Prague

The label is signed in ink and at the lower left hand corner of the label it says, Made
in Germany. The violin was bought from a pawn shop in Philadelphia and taken apart,
regraduated (top, back and ribs), new bass bar, soundpost and of course bridge. It's one
of the finest violins I've played, although my experience with quality instruments is
severely limited. It does not look what I believe to be a typical German instrument. It
is orangish in color vs. deep brown; it has a low arch (Strad style) vs. a high arch
(Amati style); it does not have "corduroy" grain and it does have fluted f-holes.
Could this be an original Juzek?
The seller, who is also an expert repairman, paid little for it, only wants to get his
investment and some money for his labor out of it. He is therefore, not asking much for
it. I won't say what he is asking.

All insights welcome.

Thank you,

John Mahony

[SAP23556]

Just because it might not be what the label says it is, doesn't mean it's not a
good violin. There are thousands upon thousands of mislabelled violins that are
also very good instruments. Judge it by the sound, and make sure the setup
work was done by a reputable luthier, and if it's a good bargain, go for it.

Okie

[N. Farrell]

John Mahony wrote:
>However, the label reads as follows:
>
> John Juzek
> violinmaker formally of Prague
>
> The label is signed in ink and at the lower left hand corner of the label it says, Made
> in Germany.

I recently posted about a suspect Juzek and got the following email
response which I will partially quote with copious appologies for any
postential netiquette violation:

>> here is some info about john juzek. he was a master violin maker
>> who operated out of prague czek. and during the war II out of england.
>> london i think. while in prague he ran a fiddle factory which was not
>> really a factory. it was more like a school with students at various
>> stages of learning and accomplishment. the students and he made hundreds
>> of fiddles for xport. most went to metropolitan music co of nyc
>> (the ones that found their way over here, anyway)

>> what happens in a factory is that one student does one job (carve
>> the first ten cuts of the scroll, for example) the passes the piece
>> to someone else who does another job. still others do the final assembly
>> and finish and setup work. it works like an assembly line. however,
>> when a particularly good piece of wood was found, it was often turned
>> over to the best students or even the master of the school himself.
>> these fiddles became the final exam for some students, or were built
>> by just the master maker.

>> all juzek fiddles look similar because each student was taught the same
>> way. now, about your fiddle. if it were a master art fiddle, it would
>> have (justifiably) a juzek label that said "Master Art copy of _____".
>> there should also be a date (year) and possibly a model number.

Much of this is probably known to the experts but I suspect it may help
you sus out the status of the fiddle. I have found the three volume set
of Violin Identification and Price Guides by Roy Ehrhardt to be helpful.
They are back in print.

Norman

[John Mahony]

Thanks for the response. That agrees with what I've been able to find out
about Juzek. This is certainly not a Master Art, but with the work that
was done, is quite a good fiddle.

John

[rjnai...@gmail.com]

I just bought a john juzek violin with a label "violinmaker formerly in Prague "
With his signature and was made in germany.

I just want to know what year was this violin made? And was this a good violin or not
And how much would this cost if i put it to auction?

Thank you