Have you ever broken a whistle. I have – several! And I always cry in agony every time when my dear old favourite whistle (often a classic Clarke) joins the choir invisible. But please take a moment and read about the tragic story of The lad with the broken Strad. It surely puts my whistle problems in a new perspective.
Oops.
There’s something fishy, though. I’d think that the kind of case one should keep a million-dollar Stradivarius in - such as a flight case or Calton-style case - would be robust enough to withstand that sort of accident without the kind of damage described (“in pieces”). Both the impact force of bouncing down a few stairs, and the crushing force of landing on the case with one’s body (and Garrett looks fairly slight of build).
Hard to believe he was toting it around London in an ordinary fiddle case, but I guess that’s possible. And if so …
Well, when I was 26 I thought I was invulnerable, and my things, too.
Yikes, but i bet he loses some sleep over that! Criminy!
Perhaps it was the sheer impact force that caused most the damage. A “friend” of mine was carrying my guitar in a very good case and dropped from 25 cm or so and there was a huge crack. If I had such a valuable instrument I´d had a carbon reinforced case with airbags!
Horrible story anyway, I´ll have nightmares tonight. 
“in pieces” could easily mean “in two pieces”
He probably broke the neck. Sounds like he’s getting it repaired, so it can’t be
that bad. Funny that the loner Strad comes with a “security force” – they’re
probably charged mostly with catching him if he slips again.
Well, that’s what you get for choosing a 290 year old stradivarius instead of going for the wiser choice . . . a 3$ whistle. 
he’s not allowed to walk with it, play standing up, etc…
Here are the details of the damage and a description of what will be involved in repairing it:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7244441.stm
Best wishes,
Jerry
Hear, Hear!!
Ouch! He really did mess that poor thing up!
The repairers seem to have their work cut out for them.
I’ve always wondered how performing musicians end up with strads. Is there
a point in their careers when they are so well-paid they can afford such things?
The repairers seem to have their work cut out for them.
I’d go for an instrument that can be fixed with a blob of blue-tac and a piece of tape . . . the tin-whistle.
Unlike bodhran players, they often are.
I’ve always wondered how performing musicians end up with strads.
I wonder what close to 300 years does to the sound of a strad?
That’s a question that will keep a strad owner awake at nights.
After having read this article it doesn´t look all that bad. My father trades and repairs violins (not Strads though) and I´ve got a friend who builds and repairs classical guitar (http://www.fredholmguitars.com/index.html) and from my experience they can repire even very badly damaged instruments. Often it´s no less than a miracle! (from a laymans perepective) Instruments that look like they have been run over by a tanks look like new a couple of month later.
My friend the guitarmaker has developed some interesting techniques. The top on a guitar is a straight surface. So he uses a syrinx to inject glue in the crack and two pieces of plexiglass, one under the crack and one over, hold together by very strong magnets (neodymium) to strighten the surface.
Yeah, there’s apparently a lot of misinformation in the BBC reporting. According to his audio interview today, the violin is Garrett’s own Guadagnini, not the San Lorenzo Stradavarius on loan to him. The violin is not “in pieces”, but has several severe cracks. And Garrett didn’t fall down the stairs, but simply slipped on the stairs and fell backwards onto the case slung over his shoulder.
Again, the shame is that there’s no reason the fiddle shouldn’t survive a minor mishap like this without a scratch, in a decent case. But he apparently carries his million dollar violin in the structural equivalent of a paper bag. Doh!
There’s a thread about it on a violin forum here:
http://www.violinist.com/discussion/response.cfm?ID=13246
oooo ouch, my band director told us about that last night, its plainful reading about that
but agreed he shoulda gone for the whislte, would have saved alot of money, although if he kept buying more then well…
Doh, indeed!
Huge crack on the guitar or on the case?
I keep my favourite guitar at home only 
oh, does insurance cover this kind of damage too? (I bet they have bought insurance for this 290 years old violin)
Saw this guy on a BBC TV interview this morning. Seems like a jolly fella despite the mishap.
Of course, his playing makes you want to either have his babies or break his fingers.
Publicity stunt, anyone? 1. This happened last year. 2. The damage sounds to me as if the fiddle was left on a chair and somebody sat on it. I can’t believe that any decent case would not prevent major damage. I think I could jump on my case(a mere $120 student case) and not hurt my fiddle.