Interesting and unfortunate that Chinese people do not trust Chinese products. Who can blame them with all the lying and cheating going on in China. It is like the wild west right now, with lots of people doing anything they can to make lots of money. But, on the flip side, I'd like to share an experience I had a few weeks ago. I was traveling in China and met with a luthier in Hangzhou (just outside Shanghai). He goes by the name Mr Yao. About 20 years ago, Mr Yao purchased a large stock of aged European maple. He has enough wood to make 1000 violins backs. The wood for each back costs about $1000 each. For the tops, Mr Yao finds spruce from ancient houses, hundreds of years old. Needless to say, the wood he uses for his instruments is top notch. He plans to make 1000 violins and donate them to talented musicians who otherwise would not be able to afford them. I had the pleasure of playing one of his finished instruments and it was outstanding -- nice warm tone, even across the strings and quick response. During my visit, I had my second fiddle, a Hirosho Kono. He took one look at it, plucked the strings and said it needed adjustment. He spend about 2 minutes adjusting the sound post and the bridge and really opened up the sound. Mr Yao obviously has a keen understanding of violins and violin making and I would gladly buy one of his instruments if it was for sale. BTW, Mr Yao is also a collector of fine instruments. He has an amazing collection of old Italian, French and German instruments. I would guess the total value might be $10M or more. During my visit, I was able to play a Gagliano, a Landolfi, a Rocca, Poggi and others. He also owns a Guarneri but it was on loan to a soloist, so I was not able to try it. I guess like anything, it is a mixed bag. There are certainly cheap VSO's coming out of China, but there are also very knowledgeable people there with a great deal of skill and experience. IMO, for the low end market (e.g., under $4K), Chinese is the way to go. For such a labor intensive product, there is no way that US or European makers will be able to compete. Then again, there is Hiroshi Kono, which is a Japanese product, finished in US, which is also a great value. Might be worth a look, but the stock is much more limited than Chinese imports.
让我来翻译一下：
有意思而又不幸的是中国人不相信中国产品。伴随着中国国内谎言和欺骗泛滥的现状，谁能指责他们（这种心态）呢？现在就像以前美国西部一样，很多人不择手段挣大钱。
但是，作为反例，我想分享一下几周前的经历。我在中国旅行的时候碰到一位杭州的制琴师（就在上海边上）。他名叫姚先生。大约二十年前，他从欧洲买了大批老枫木。他现在有够制作1000把小提琴的背板。每块背板的木材要$1000。至于面板，姚先生从旧房子里搜集云杉木，几百年的老料。不用说，他做琴的材料是顶级的。他计划做1000把小提琴，捐助给有天赋，而又买不起这些琴的音乐家。我有幸试奏了他做的乐器中的一把，很出色--很好的温暖音色，即便各弦上下都是如此，而且反应灵敏。
在拜访的时候，我带着我的第二把琴，Hirosho Kono琴。他看了看，拨了拨弦，说需要调整一下。他花了两分钟，调整音柱和琴马，确实把声音打开了。显然，姚先生对小提琴及其制作有深刻的理解，若是他的琴出售的话，我是很乐意买一把的。
顺便说下，姚先生还是一位好乐器的收藏者。他让人惊异的意大利、法国和德国老琴的收藏品，我估计总价值有一千万美元或者更多。在我拜访期间，我拉过一把Gagliano，一把 Landolfi，一把 Rocca，还有Poggi和其它的一些琴。他有一把Guarnari琴，但借给一位演奏家了，我没机会试奏。
我猜测就像其它任何东西一样，鱼龙混杂。当然有很多便宜的小提琴形状的物体（VSO）从中国卖出去，但也有一些很受认可的人，具备相当多的经验和技巧。
在我看来，对于低端市场（如4000美元以下），选中国琴就是了。对于这样一个劳动密集型产品，美国和欧洲要跟中国竞争，门都没有。还有那个Hirosho Kono琴，日本产品，美国做的，也很值。也许值得一看，但供货比中国进口的有限多了。 |
发表于 2015-8-1 18:25:00
发表于 2015-8-9 11:29:00