The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hi Curt,

You did a great job and you are very very close to the original. I collect that sort of things and variation is quite rich.
Pls see a few pictures of the original to compare.

Best


Jürgen

One thing that always intrigued me... The Stroh violins I've seen are all them furnished with that type of diaphragm that seems like the Victor orthophonic or alike. But this belongs to the electrical recording era, when they used standard instruments for recording. So if the Stroh violins were an invention to allow better recording in the acoustic era, what kind of diaphragm or soundbox did they use? There is kind of a mystery here...

This is a very interesting thread. Thank you all.

I somehow don't see how the development of these instruments was necessary for recording. Violins are naturally loud, designed to project and cut. I could see these instruments being used in outdoor stage or marching bands with brass and drums, however.

The use of a talking machine like sound box (or similar technology) on a violin is not unique.

The same technological concept was applied to other stringed instruments, notably guitars and mandolins. In the days before electrical pickups (ceramic or magnetic) and amplifiers were common, it was difficult to incorporate a guitar or mandolin into a stage band with drums and brass instruments. Almost all early such bands had banjos in them. Resonator guitars were an attempt to increase the instruments' volume allowing them to compete with and displace banjos.

The spider and diaphragm from a single cone, Dobro style guitar:
Competition for the resonator guitars and banjos came with the development of large bodied archtop guitars equipped with bridge-cable thick strings set with fairly high action, the instruments, in this configuration, mostly suitable only for heavy attack comping.

Lah Ca wrote: Fri Nov 14, 2025 9:09 am

I somehow don't see how the development of these instruments was necessary for recording. Violins are naturally loud, designed to project and cut. I could see these instruments being used in outdoor stage or marching bands with brass and drums, however.

Maybe the benefit is in having the horn, to project sound directly into a recording horn in an acoustic recording session?

JerryVan wrote: Fri Nov 14, 2025 1:09 pm Maybe the benefit is in having the horn, to project sound directly into a recording horn in an acoustic recording session?

Yes. That is a well informed opinion shared by many knowledgeable people.

I still do not completely understand, though. The violin, a good one anyway, is a very loud instrument with a very focused projection.

But maybe with very early acoustic recording technology the Stroh violin family was beneficial. There were apparently other members of the family, violas, cellos, etc.


https://youtu.be/let3PVQ4D0A?si=WpmtCij_UmP8ZNwP

Interesting article:

https://stringsmagazine.com/the-stroh-v ... use-today/

“There is a common misconception that it [the Stroh violin] was developed for the early acoustic recording studios, but this is completely false,” says London-based Aleksander Kolkowski, a composer and musician. His numerous restored original Strohs and similar-styled instruments of the era—all of which he plays at live performances and for recordings—make up the world’s largest private collection. It is almost impossible to find original Strohs anymore.

However, the Stroh family of instruments were highly beneficial to the early recording industry and were eagerly adopted for use in recording studios. While standard violins can be loud and can project well, their sound is airy and less focused than that of a brass instrument. Strohs were easier to record.

In their heyday, Strohs were used almost exclusively by major recording studios in Europe and the U.S., says Kolkowski, who adds that two amplified violins and a viola could replace entire string sections. Even as recording techniques improved apace, Strohs were still on the job. If you listen to recordings made anytime before 1925 that feature violins, chances are you’re hearing Strohs. Classical violinists Jan Kubelik, Carl Flesch, and Eugène Ysaÿe recorded with them.

They also gave the musicians a better sense of what the sound being recorded was actually like because most of the instruments had a small second horn which served as a monitor for the player. Some normal acoustic instruments which are designed to be loud and to project do not give the player the same sound that the audience hears.

I guess you are both right. The Patent of the Stroh violins is somewhat pre 1900 but there are also patents and advertisings dated much later. The adv. here (dated end of the 1920) refers to the use of such instruments for Jazz bands. Even today you can find such instruments aside the use as Orchester Instrument on festivals just to guide a marching band.Those are know as devils violin.

What you have is a Stroh ‘Jap Fiddle’. I have a collection of musical instruments and have both a dual bell Stroh Violin and also one of these one-string Jap Fiddles. It is played by holding it cello-style between the knees and bowed across the single string. The Jap Fiddle was apparently so popular that it was produced in three different sizes.

Here is an article from the Smithsonian Institite.

https://www.si.edu/object/stroh-one-str ... mah_606394

Mark

MarkELynch wrote: Sun Nov 16, 2025 10:20 pm What you have is a Stroh ‘Jap Fiddle’. I have a collection of musical instruments and have both a dual bell Stroh Violin and also one of these one-string Jap Fiddles. It is played by holding it cello-style between the knees and bowed across the single string. The Jap Fiddle was apparently so popular that it was produced in three different sizes.

Here is an article from the Smithsonian Institite.

https://www.si.edu/object/stroh-one-str ... mah_606394

Mark

IMG_2569.jpeg

Very interesting indeed.

The link information mentions that it was produced with the attachment of an aluminum diaphragm. As mine has a mica diaphragm I guess that mica was used earlier than aluminium which could therefore provide some idea of the time periods within which a partricular example may have been produced.

For example in this previous thread:

viewtopic.php?t=34715

our colleague Orthofan mentions: 'Mica diaphragms were commonly used in gramophones produced during the 1890s through about 1930, though after 1925, aluminum became the preferred material.'.

Interest discussion
,
Every genuine Stroh instrument I’ve examined has had an aluminum horn (or horns) and an aluminum diaphragm. I would question the use of a mica diaphragm or non-aluminum horn. Here are a few photos

Mark