i just bought a antonious stradavarious fiddle its about 100yrs old i paid 100 dollars for and im going to have it fixed up it just needs strings tuners and riser so the question is are they good fiddles and did i pay to much for it

What you've got is a fiddle in the style of Stradavarious, sort of like a guitar in the style of a Stratocaster or Les Paul. In all likelihood, it's of German origin. It's impossible to say what it's worth based solely on age and what the design is modeled on. You can determine a couple things. Pull out the end pin and look at the bass bar on the underside of the top. If it was carved from one piece of wood (top and bar), it was a low end cheapie production model. Also, the roughness/smoothness of the carving inside the fiddle s an indicator of it's quality. But, when you string it up and play it, do you like the sound? Does it feel comfortable under your chin? If it does, then $100 is a steal.

Steve

For those contemplating buying a fiddle please note Steves post. Carved in bass bars were an attribute of Viator fiddles in the past and most people thinking of buying a fiddle may not think to look inside the fiddle.