No, it's not Arnold Schwarzenegger!
What we do have here is an old Tyrolean with a badly faked label stating it was made by Mathias Albanis (1650-1712) of Bolzan in the Tyrol in 1701. He was the son of the elder Mathias (1621-1673), a celebrated pioneer of early violinmaking who is assumed to have learned from Jacob Stainer. Having said that, I still would not rule out the possibility that it was made by the younger Albanis. Well, whoever made this fiddle certainly made it about that time or a little later. When I bought it, the warped bridge was about half the normal height. It had a modern fingerboard, but the neck, although firmly set, had a heavy 'hand' and was not pitched back at the modern angle. I had the fingerboard splinted to accomodate a full size bridge. I'm not sure of the wood on this guy - acorn wood? maple back and sides? If nothing else, it is an early violin by an anonymous Tyrolean luthier. The more I look at it, I'm thinking of Tyrolean makers like Jais or Thir from the later part of the 18th century. The tone is very strong, deep and resonant as one might suspect, but not sweet or greatly sympathetic on the whole.