Recently I have been asked to do an investigation on a person called,Edgar Patenio. We realized that the violins he sells are often 3 times higher than if you bought it direct from the maker or dealer. But since you believe his stories, of course you are willing to pay the price. Some of his instruments are even bought from ebay and sold at almost 3 times the product cost and shipping. It did not take us long to find out that he is a fake. Here are some facts to name a few. He never worked for Pirastro as a product consultant. He tells everybody that he owns a Guarneri del Gesu as a First Violin. All of you out there who were victimized by this guy, WAKE UP!!!
He does not speak a word of German, that is your first clue. Working for Pirastro means being required to have a working knowledge of German and pass a difficult exam. You may be exempted if you are an Engineer or Scientists. Second, we wrote Pirastro Office at Offenbach am Main to reconfirm whether he really was onced connected with them. They never heard of this guy before. If only you all know that some of these so called Antonio Marino violins are not made by Antonio Marino himself, if you make your own research.
He also claimed to have repaired and uptuned instruments as precious as the STRADIVARIUS (an original :O) There was no need for us to write Sothebys to know it was a lie. Imagine an original Stradivari Violin being entrusted to a Filipino who has no qualifications whatsoever in instrument making, repair or even advanced violin playing. If you do not believe me, write or contact Sotheby's yourselves.
I have a long list of proofs that he is a pathological liar who preys on innnocent musicians who are too trusting. He is willing to lie about anything just to get your money. He indeed is an excellent salesman. But does he have to slander Tamayo just to sell his violins? These violins that he sells, one can find for one fourth the price at some Workshops in SHANGHAI, CHINA.
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Re: Filipino violin trader from Pasay, Metro Manila 09:47 on Monday, November 26, 2007 Vote for this post Vote against this post 0 votes
sabrina_salvador
(1 point)
Hi,
Oh my gosh! Can't imagine there are people like that. How does he look like? I once had the chance to get a violin from a dealer who also said that he is a consultant of a string company in germany. Good thing my teacher discourage me to buy from him.I just hope its not him. He seems like a good guy. He even helped a school buy instruments from abroad. i think they spent 120,000.00 per instrument as compared to 150,000 worth.
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Re: Filipino violin trader from Pasay, Metro Manila 05:27 on Tuesday, November 27, 2007 Vote for this post Vote against this post 0 votes
franz_sturm
(2 points)
Hi there!
It seems we are talking about the same person. Not too many people claim to be consultants of Pirastro. I also heard that he is selling violins for 120,000 or more to a Music College in Manila but I don't know much about this.
You would be amazed on what Sotheby's wrote. The Department Head in Sotheby's Londong clearly stated they do not know him categorically and they are reviewing the claims at their Legal Department. I will forward you the email if you like. I don't know if it's appropriate to publish the letter publicly. If this guy has any decency he should stop fooling more musicians who worked hard for their money.
Always be careful when buying instruments more than 100k in the Philippines, especially those who say that they have been commissioned by a Sotheby's to repair an original Strad or have been given a Guarnerius as a gift by the relative of Queen Sofia, even if you did not ask them. Very few people on earth have this privilege. Remember as the saying goes, "shallow waters make too much noise."
Take care.
<Added>
Sorry for some typographical error.
It's London, not Londong.
It's Sotheby's , not a Sotheby's
