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
The Soil Stradivarius was built by Antonio Stradivari in 1714.

After the events of the Great War, the Soil Stradivarius 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 been lost.

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 left locked away in its own perfectly crafted case, designed to maintain the right humidity and temperature to keep the violin in optimum condition. It sat there, untouched, for over 200 years as the Vault around it slowly deteriorated, and mirelurks moved in.

Agatha, an elderly violin player, asks the Lone Wanderer to venture into Vault 92 to retrieve the Soil Stradivarius for her in the side mission Agatha's Song.

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. Abraham Washington in Rivet City will buy it from you for 200 caps, 300 with a successful Speech check. The same is true of Ahzrukhal, the ghoul bartender in the Ninth Circle in Underworld. You can also get the violin back from him by purchasing Charon's employment contract; Charon will then kill him, allowing you to take the violin from his corpse without a change of karma or social status among the citizens of Underworld. You can then give it back to Agatha.

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.

To enter, activate the "Studio computer" on the other side of that hallway.

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.

Related quests

 * Agatha's Song

Скрипка Страдивари