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(More customer reviews)You see a bargain violin and you immediately ask "What is wrong with it?" In the music store the basic student violin kit may be $100 or more. Other violins cost thousands of dollars. Why the big difference?
I bought one of these cheap chinese kits because I wanted to pick up playing the violin that I gave up when I was about 10 years old. I wanted to see if I could remember anything and get any enjoyment out of it.
After slaving away over this thing for weeks, sounding like a sick cat, I borrowed my sisters German made violin ($400 cost). What a difference! Suddenly I could play.
So I set out to find out the differences between paying under $100 and over $300 for a violin.
1. The Wood
Chinese violins are made from heavier wood, cut thicker, than European and US made violins. The cutting can be rough, and overall the instrument is heavier than a well made equivalent.
2. The fittings.
The pegs in chinese violins are now being made well, so you can tune the instruments. But the tail piece is plastic and can be flimsy. Generally these instruments require more tuning than European/US made instruments.
The bridge supplied with these kits is often poorly cut, and can give a bad lie to the strings. This makes the violin difficult to play. The good news is that you can buy a cheap violin, and stick in a good quality bridge, and vastly improve playability.
3. Fine detail.
A truly great instrument will have a lot of care and attention to detail on inlay of purfling etc etc. Not a concern for the beginner.
4. The Bow
Boy is this an important piece of the kit. The bows supplied in these kits are often fibreglass rather than wood. The main problem with them is that they are rarely straight and do not have a proper "Bow" in the wood, so they don't tighten properly. This means they hop around too much on the strings.
Also, the horsehair is poor quality, and needs lots of good roisin to grip the strings.
The good news is that for under $50 you can probably get quite a nice replacement bow.
5. The roisin.
The block supplied with these kits is dreadful. Toss it out and buy a good German roisin and you won't ever look back.
6. The strings.
Dreadful flat steel wires are supplied with these kits. I pity anyone struggling with them trying to get a tune. Ditch them and buy a decent set.
So, you buy this kit, dump the roisin, bow, strings and bridge, and set it all up from scratch. (You may even replace the tailpiece. What you end up with is a fairly playable piece of kit, and still for less than $200. So it still represents excellent value in comparison with even the factory produced Czech, Romanian and Hungarian instruments.
Ideal for the beginner, until they reach a standard where they will demand a better quality instrument.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Palatino Campus Violin Outfit 4/4 Size (Featherweight Case, Bow)
The best-selling Campus violin is hand-carved and features a meticulously graduated spruce top to maintain consistency in tone. The Campus outfit is a student favorite because of its fine tuner tailpiece and lightweight case.
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