Ivan Cabassi Violin- Albinea, Italy 2001

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We have a handmade Italian violin made by Ivan Cabassi (1954-) of San Polo d’Enza, a province of Reggio Emilia, Italy. This is also the birthplace of Sesto Rocchi, a famous Italian maker. Ivan developed a passion for music at a young age, studying the clarinet seriously, but then he visited the workshop of the man who would later become his teacher and a valuable guide. This changed his whole direction in life. The maker was Arturo Virgoletti of Trinità di Canossa (himself a student of the master luthiers Ferdinando Garimberti and Rocchi. Cabassi has been a luthier for over 50 years making violins, violas, and cellos in Stradivarius and Guarneri del Gesu models. Our violin in the shop is a Stradivarius model made in 2001. It is a beautiful handmade violin that comes with the original certificate of authenticity from the maker. The maple back is two-pieces with medium-width flame. The ribs match in degree of the flame. The top plate has medium-width grain and is very straight. The fittings are in ebony and I also cut a new bridge and soundpost for the instrument. The oil varnish is an orange/amber/brown on a golden ground. The violin is in very good condition with a few patina marks in the varnish.

Corpus 357.0 mm. Major Width 210.0 mm. Minor Width 171.0 mm. Rib Height 29.0 mm at the neck and 30.0 throughout the body.

The violin has a great response; it’s almost instant. The sound has richness and a boldness in its character. Yes, the violin has power and in my thought is a masculine sound with a strong and confident output. The bottom end that has some edginess to the tone while the treble side is clear with a vibrant ringing. The voicing of the violin does have sustain. I laid into this instrument with gusto, and it handled my bass playing style on the violin. The violin has a great overall sound, as good as the Scottish Highland coffee I had this morning which fuses buttery rum spices with a nutty twist. Wow, was that coffee good! The sound is different in its flavor and more than just a buttery sound. A sound that is full of character. A serious player needs to check out this Italian instrument.