Soil Stradivarius

The Soil (pronounced 'Swahl') Stradivarius was one of the most prized and unique instruments ever made by the legendary Antonio Stradivari (c. 1714).

Background
After the events of the nuclear war, this may be the only Stradivarius left in existence, and could be thought of as utterly priceless, as the knowledge and technology to craft such instruments has long since died.

The only reason for the Soil's survival was due to it falling into the hands of a talented, yet naive young violinist, Hilda Egglebrecht, who was selected to enter Vault 92 as part of Vault-Tec's desire to 'preserve musical talent'. However, after the experiment conducted in the Vault went awry, the Soil was locked away in its own perfectly crafted case, designed to maintain the right humidity and temperature to keep the violin in optimum condition.

Agatha is, essentially, the rightful heir of the Soil Stradivarius, given that she is directly descended from Hilda, although the instrument can be sold on to other merchants for a small sum. Ahzrukhal, the ghoul bartender in the Ninth Circle in the Underworld will buy it from you for 200 Caps (300 with a successful Speech check; you can also get your violin back from him if you purchase Charon's Employment Contract, and Charon will then kill him, allowing you to take the Violin from his corpse without a gain of karma or a change in social status among the citizens of Underworld; you can then give it back to Agatha), as will Abraham Washington in Rivet City

Location
You can find the violin in Vault 92's 'Sound Testing' block in a recording studio, which is the southern most room there. It is on a wooden table.

Related quests

 * Agatha's Song

Bugs
If the Soil Stradivarius is sold to Ahzrukhal and then re-obtained using the method described above, the violin can now be dropped from the inventory and will usually float in mid-air.