I found 3 old violins & a coffin case...

It?s a practice violin: no sounding board, so quiet.

Fretted violins are not particularly rare, but that one does look odd.

I wonder whether they are all part of a theft, dumped because they would be too hard to sell?

They all look unused, I would wonder if they were apprentice pieces.

Not that old, and at least one is probably electronic

I would guess they are home made I made these instruments and the odd one is an electric violin.

Fascinating. Do you have any other pictures? Or even a higher res version of that one? My email address works if you don't want to post to a site.

The middle one looks as if it is meant to be based on a dulcimer (note the flat fingerboard, the modal fret intervals higher up and the slots in the nut) but the piercings interest me. An American acoustical researcher and builder, Carleen Mayley Hutchins, used to experiment with apparently odd-ball piercings, blocking them up in different sequences to analize the way they altered the sound.

I have lots of half-finished acoustic experiments littered around the place so it's a person after my own heart, so to speak. Love to know more.

Nick

Oh, I do like those. Are you still making? Do you play?

Nick

Looks more like an instrument designed to be strummed, not bowed.

Its not easy to tell but the fretboard looks FLAT.

Thr boottom one looks more like a lute...

Can not play any and am now in the process of making an electric guitar,

I'd have thought the Police might be who to ask on that one. You know having led a sheltered life, I have never heard of a fretted Violin. Brian

It's addictive, isn't it? Still, it kept me from getting a proper job for nearly fifty years.

Nick

Thanks for that. Yes, really intriguing. All the best with the sales!

Nick