Is there a violin expert around? Help with stainer

I picked this up today and just wondering if it is any special? It has the name JA huziak, Yorktown Saskatchewan written with some script drawing deep inside of it. I’m doOmg more research on him but I believe his name is James and was a professional in an orchestra of some sorts.

 

http://www.huziak.ca/jah/bio.htm

 

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.2787410

 

Looks like you found your own answer.

 

Not quite an antique but it is a great story to me! I’ve travelled over to Yorkton for baseball tournaments in my teens! It sounds like this guy is a legend over there lol

 

I sure did I emailed the family photographs as they are trying to track down the missing violins he made

 

That is so exciting. Returning it to its family.

 

I’m starting to think that maybe he is the one who did the repair to the violin because none of his violins that he made had a stainer stamp on it. I have to re examine .. can anyone identify this as an antique?

 

This is very cool indeed. If he carved his first in 1947, search on "vintage" rather than "antique" as an antique is generally 100 years old. It certainly appears to be an old one and perhaps an early model, from looking at the details. IF the one shown on the museum web page is one of his (and it appears to be) - that one is much newer construction.

The one you have appears desirably old and early.

 

I'm sorry, please EDIT that above to 1935, but it changes nothing else, I just picked up the wrong number.

 

@all_fakes may have something to add...

 

Yeah I really think that he was the one who restored it, maybe sometime during when he made his personal ones. I’m doubting that he built this as it has a stainer stamp. I’m really hoping this is an early copy of stainer or a real one

 

I'd agree he was probably a repairer, not the maker. I'd take it to a reputable violin shop if it was mine. Check https://www.afvbm.org/ for a list of some. It is very hard to tell much about a violin from a photo or label.
The tape on the neck, for those not familiar, indicates it was last used as a student instrument - they mark the finger positions. Generally students wouldn't be using a terrifically valuable instrument, but you never know.

 

Makes sense, thank you

 

I did find some info online about Stainer family violins; the original Stainer, late 1600s, was a master, comparable to Stradivarius, and one of his violins might be valued in 6 figures. But sadly, the stamped "Stainer" mark would indicate it is a Stainer-style copy, no earlier than 1900. Many of these were sold through Sears and Montgomery Ward.
The Stainer pattern had a very high arch to the top, higher than the back, and so high that if one looks sideways through an f-hole, one should be able to see out through the opposite f-hole. That would tell you if yours is using the actual Stainer characteristics, or just using the name and backstamp.
But just because it is a copy doesn't mean it has no value.
I'd still take it to a good shop to get an estimate of repair/reconditioning costs vs. value.
I found a story online about someone who invested $800 in repairs on a Stainer copy worth only around $250.
But in a comparable story, I once took a heavily damaged guitar, bought at the Goodwill for $5 for the parts, to a luthier, finding out that he could repair it for around $250, and it would then be an $800 to $1000 guitar. I had him do the work, and it is the best-sounding guitar I've ever owned...better than my two vintage Martins.

 

What a pleasant surprise! What brand / model guitar is it, Steve?

 

It is stamped "Henry Mason, Boston", around 1910-1920. He apparently was a luthier of the period, but also sold instruments under his name that had been made by Gibson and others.
This is a parlor-sized rosewood guitar, and more finely-braced than Martins of the period. A 1910 Martin parlor guitar would have a cross-braced top, but a straight-braced back. On this, the back is a complicated bracing system, with small diagonal braces joining small straight braces. As a result it is extremely light-weight, and incredibly resonant. It just sings; just sitting in a room where other guitars are being played, the top and back pick up the vibrations and are buzzing under one's hands. This parlor guitar is louder than friends' Martin D-18s. The detailing of the rosewood embellishment on the back of the head-piece is especially nice, something I've not seen on any other guitar.
I bought it at the Goodwill, broken, in case I needed some small rosewood pieces for repairs. About 30 years later I realized it was an extremely good instrument, possibly worth repairing. The damage: back had several full-length splits, and was almost entirely separated from the sides; neck had come off, and been replaced incorrectly and too high; to compensate, the bridge had been shaved down. Some binding missing.
Repairs: fix the splits, rejoin back to the sides; remove and reset neck; rebuild bridge to correct height. replace missing binding. I know an excellent luthier, and for relatively little cost he brought it back to life, not worrying about cosmetic details.

 

Oh I love your parlor guitar, love the fact that it's, what I call, a "screamer" acoustic! It's really beautiful. I'd have bought it for parts too, 30 years ago, not realizing that it could be repaired. Thank you for showing it.