I'm not a musician. I played the piano as a child but haven't touched it in decades. I couldn't find middle C if you labeled it for me. Well, actually I probably could but you get the point.

I realize that some gifted, talented or otherwise connected people get to play the rarest of instruments. Stradi violins for millions, for example.

But for the players in respected ensembles (like, I don't know, the London Symph Orchestra, English Concert, Academy of St Martin, Vienna Phil, etc), what they typically use? How much do their instruments generally cost?

Also, is it only violins (and pianos?) that enjoy a rarified selection? Or are there, for example, million dollar clarinets, flutes, cellos as well?

And I guess the real question is: if you get a Stradi playing with a bunch of other more 'common' violins like in Vivaldi's 4 Seasons, do they all sound the same? Or do the more rarified ones stand out? Only to the discerning listener? Or even to casual audiences?

Just curious.

I can’t really answer your questions with any authority, konata. I know that professional musicians generally play with an instrument that costs more than they can reasonably afford. I also know that Stradivari did build cellos as well as violins and that they also cost millions of dollars. There are also many other builders well known to string players that cost $10s of thousands, if not millions.

I’ll bet there are some very expensive clarinets out there. I don’t know who the respected makers are, but being of wooden construction, the materials and (I have to believe) aging that takes place with wood, like that of a violin, cello, or guitar, would make an old one valuable. Flutes? I wouldn’t think so, but don’t really know.

Interesting question.

We had a loaner Stradivarius trumpet when I was in the band, IIRC it was something like 2 or 3k. I didn't think it played any better than my 1k Yamaha. But I was also a fairly inexperienced HS player.

Edit: Looks like the Strad trumpets are a division of the JS Bach line. Not the same as the premium string instruments.

Speaking from my own personal experience, when I was shopping for tenor Trombones, I found it would be very easy for someone that plays professionally in a symphony orchestra to spend $5,000 to $7,500 for a professional level instrument. At that level, however, cost is probably inconsequential, as the musician can write off/depreciate that cost.

Mine is a very good...VERY good...instrument (Bach Stradivarius) and I paid less than $4k for mine. Got a GREAT deal...

My son is a violinist and majored in music in college. He works for a master violin maker, so he deals with lots of high end instruments and I've asked him those questions in the past.

Can you hear the difference, yes but.... is it really "better"? Older instruments have a richer sound, a bit mellower and with more body. Though not every old instrument sounds great. Part of what makes an instrument sound better is many hours of being played. Something about the vibrations affecting the wood and, perhaps, the glue joints.

An old instrument which does not get played often will actually revert back and lose some of the benefit of having been played a lot.

Professional orchestra strings players (violin, viola, cello) will spend in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for their performance instrument. Some of the really rare instruments are worth in the millions, and they are typically owned by wealthy collector patrons who do not play, but will then loan out the instrument to a professional. Like an art patron who loans a painting to a museum.

The bow, hair, and rosin all have a big impact on the sound. Bows will cost thousands to tens of thousands of dollars for professional players. Part of what makes a million dollar violin sound good is the hundred-thousand dollar bow!

Having been to many performances over the years, I think yes you can hear a difference in the instruments in a general sense. A well broken in $10k violin is going to sound pretty darned good when played with a good $3k bow. But would I or a blindfolded expert pick out the price points if you compared it with a $100k instrument or a $1M instrument? I don't think so. But you would notice the cheaper student level instruments never sound that good.

Soloists do seek instruments with different tonality in order to stand out.

What they say about guitarists is true with violinists: the tone is in the fingers! A great instrument helps tremendously, but the musician makes the magic happen.

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I would think that 5-7 thousand would be a bargain for the tool you need to accomplish your career.

How much do you think trades people spend on there tools, think Mechanics.

quote:

The bow, hair, and rosin all have a big impact on the sound. Bows will cost thousands to tens of thousands of dollars for professional players. Part of what makes a million dollar violin sound good is the hundred-thousand dollar bow!

Wow, I had no idea; I’ve never even considered the bow!

quote:

Originally posted by Fly-Sig:
Can you hear the difference, yes but.... is it really "better"? Older instruments have a richer sound, a bit mellower and with more body. Though not every old instrument sounds great. Part of what makes an instrument sound better is many hours of being played. Something about the vibrations affecting the wood and, perhaps, the glue joints...

Interesting info. Thanks!

Keep in mind also that a professional musician won’t just have one of his instrument(s). He might have one “gamer” that he prefers but he will also have another one or more that he feel comfortable playing in performances.

Musicians often end up being collectors, also. And when they reach a certain level and are well-known, people give or loan them instruments to gain notoriety. My cousin is a touring bluegrass musician and he has multiple custom guitars and banjos given to him on top of the 25 Gibson banjos and 40 Martin guitars he owns (those numbers might be low.) He easily has multiple millions of dollars worth of instruments.

^^^ I'm a hack and have way more guitars than I need...or use.

Speaking of guitars, a grail guitar for me would be an Olson, especially since it's my namesake. But being a lefty on top of not wanting to spend that kind of money, I'd be looking at close to $10k if I could even find one.

A Buffet R13 is a professional grade clarinet and probably the most common entry grade true professional. They start at around $3,500 and go up from there. I've seen some semi custom German clarinets go for around 12k Euros. Bespoke? $$$