ANTIQUE Violin #108 AQ Unique Piece F22, CG-108AQ-4_4-F22

Violin from the ANTIQUE line by Conrad Götz, quality grade 108 AQ, in the HERITAGE build variant, size 4/4. ANTIQUE is the antiqued line of the house.

• Back and neck of maple of Bosnian origin, top of spruce from the European highlands, with certified timber origin.
• Included: strings, bridge, tailpiece, pegs, fine tuner, Götz chin rest, hang tag, certificate of origin and a microfibre bag.
• Strung with Thomastik Dominant

Technical data

Wood of this instrument

• Under the antiqued varnish the maple back shows a distinct, narrow to medium-width flame.
• The scroll and neck are strongly flamed.
• The spruce top has even, medium-fine growth rings.
• The photos show exactly this instrument.

Features

• ANTIQUE line, quality grade 108 AQ
• HERITAGE build variant
• Size 4/4
• Ebony with Parisian eye on tailpiece and pegs
• Götz Stradivari chin rest with gold-plated screws
• Aubert Luxe bridge
• Black master fine tuner with gold screw
• Thin coats, satin gloss, antiqued surface treatment
• Traditional design
• Sturdy construction

In practice

• The model number stands for wood selection and the amount of work put into the white, still unvarnished instrument: graduation of the top, finishing inside and out, choice of tonewood. The higher the number, the more time has gone into the wood and the rounder and more differentiated the sound. 93 and 98 are student instruments, 108 and 110 are for advanced students and committed amateurs, from 120 upwards they are instruments for professionals, and 136 and 140 head towards orchestral instruments.
• The letters denote the series: varnish and set-up, that is pegs, end button, sound post, strings, chin rest and adjustment. In a photo you cannot see the difference between a 110 and a 115, but you can see whether it is a Metropol or a Cantonate.
• We varnish exclusively with spirit varnish. The spirit evaporates, resins and pigments remain. Priming, staining, colour coats, intermediate sanding and sealing add up to around fifteen steps; because these are natural varnishes, one coat more or less may be needed until the colour is right.
• The Antique is visually aged: darker varnish, sanded back more where the hands touch, plus small marks in the varnish of the kind old violins carry. It does not look like an old instrument but like a new one in this style. In sound it is close to the Metropol, a little rounder and with slightly fewer highs.
• SIGNATURE and HERITAGE are two build variants of the same line. HERITAGE is the traditional and sturdier version, SIGNATURE the lighter, modernised one.
• Guide values for string height at the end of the fingerboard: violin around 3.5 mm under the E and 5.0 mm under the G, viola 4.5 to 5.5 and 5.0 to 6.0 mm, cello 5.0 to 6.5 and 5.5 to 7.5 mm.
• In the first weeks the strings stretch and the bridge creeps towards the fingerboard as you tune. Both need checking; a readjustment after a few weeks is normal.
• Humidity 40 to 50 per cent at around 20 °C, up to 60 per cent unproblematic. Below 40 percent you risk slipping pegs, opening glue joints and cracks.
• After playing, take off rosin dust with a microfibre cloth and no pressure. No polish, no tincture, no alcohol on the varnish.
• After cold or heat, open the case only after fifteen to thirty minutes. Never leave it in a car, never check it as baggage.
• The company is based in Wernitzgrün near Markneukirchen. It has existed since 1884 and is run as a family business in the fourth generation.
• Six months warranty on defective components and workmanship.

Sound and physics

The air in the body vibrates through the f-holes as a Helmholtz resonator (A0), on the 4/4 violin at around 270 Hz, above the open G string at 196 Hz; it supports above all the notes of the D string. In modal analysis (the measurement of natural vibrations) the principal body resonances of a 4/4 violin typically lie at:

• A0, Helmholtz air resonance: around 270 Hz
• CBR, bending mode of the whole body: around 400 Hz
• B1−, first antisymmetric plate mode: around 450 Hz
• A1, first higher cavity mode: around 470 Hz
• B1+, first symmetric plate mode: around 540 Hz

The sound post under the right foot of the bridge practically doubles the number of modes that contribute to the radiated sound. The bass bar, around 25 cm long on the 4/4 violin, stiffens the bass side of the top and, together with the arching, carries the string tension. With the Thomastik synthetic sets we stock, the bridge presses on the top with around 8.5 to 9.5 kg.

On the 4/4 violin a spruce top is typically 3.2 to 3.3 mm thick in the centre, 2.5 to 2.7 mm across the bouts and 3.0 mm at the edge; the maple back reaches 4.2 to 4.3 mm in the centre. This distribution of thicknesses (the graduation) sets, together with the arching, the natural frequencies of top and back.

At 12 % moisture content the spruce top has a density of 380 to 470 kg/m³ and a modulus of elasticity along the grain of around 10,000 MPa; sound travels along its grain at around 4,800 m/s. For the top, 8 to 15 growth rings per centimetre is the recommended range.

The F in a grade such as 125F stands for the one-piece back.

The Antique has ebony fittings with a Parisian eye on the tailpiece and pegs. Its construction corresponds to the Metropol, following our house model in the style of Stradivari.

The varnish combines a light ground with a classically dark finish and an antiqued surface treatment, thinly applied and with a satin sheen. Marks of the kind an old instrument carries are deliberately shaped on the Antique and belong to its character.

Heritage and Signature are two ways of working the same model; from five metres away they are barely distinguishable. The Signature is around 10 to 15 % lighter, above all at the scroll and neck, the inner neck block and the back joint, and so takes weight off the left arm. Its fingerboard is thinner and more gently rounded, while the string spacing stays the same; it has been in steady production since 2019.

Our experience

When another model suits you better

Players who want the sound of the Metropol with its classic southern German varnish and without an antiqued surface will find it in the Metropol itself, whose construction the Antique shares.

Frequently asked questions

Which strings is the violin supplied with?

With Thomastik Dominant, set 135: G 133, D 132, A 131 and E 129SN.

What string tension does the violin carry with Dominant?

The factory set Dominant 135 in medium puts 21.2 kg on the violin in total; through the bridge it presses on the top with around 8.5 kg.

How dry is the wood when the violin is varnished?

Below 9 % moisture content; that is how dry the wood of our violins is before varnishing.

Is the Antique an old instrument?

The Antique is a new instrument with an antiqued surface; its marks are shaped deliberately.

These texts hold decades of experience and a great deal of heart. They are protected by copyright, C.A. Götz jr. GmbH. Please ask us before any use. Thank you for your appreciation.