Stroh Violin

When I was reading about the history of contra dance for my college thesis I learned that Jack Perron (who wrote the New England Fiddler's Repertoire with Randy Miller) used to play for dances with a Stroh violin. This is a violin that uses a membrane and horn for amplification, instead of a resonating wooden body, which is more directional and (unfortunately not much) louder. There's a recording but I haven't been able to find a copy. The idea of a Stroh violin seemed fun, especially when playing for Morris dancing or outdoor contra, and a few years later (~2009) when I realized it was possible to buy one I got very excited about it. I tried to buy one from Lark in the Morning but when they went to look on the shelf to send it to me it wasn't there. I did find one on eBay, though, and spent 11 weeks of my discretionary spending on it ($422.73): You can see it's very awkwardly shaped, and it was a bit hard for the seller to ship: Am trying to find suitable packaging for this item. Can…

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