8/17/2011

Wittner Composite 4/4 Violin Chinrest - Center Mount - Hypoallergenic Review

Wittner Composite 4/4 Violin Chinrest - Center Mount - Hypoallergenic
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
This is by far, the most comfortable chin rest, for three reasons: the smooth rounded edge is effortless against your chin/face, there are no metal legs to irritate your neck (or metal screw windings to catch on clothes), and probably most importantly, it is extremely lightweight, much lighter than traditional wood chin rests.
The chin rest is packaged in a slim box, with the legs separate from the chin area, and includes a small screwdriver for you to assemble it. This is no problem, and makes for easier shipping/storage of the item.
HOWEVER, there is a really annoying design flaw: The legs fit precisely into their spaces into the body of the chin rest, but the edges of the spaces regularly break off. You can sometimes see a hairline crack on one or both sides, and take action before it breaks completely. I have noticed this on both the center-mount and regular mount. It's very annoying, because these are so comfy, and reasonably priced (especially these days).
My solution has been, upon seeing the tell-tale hairline crack, to remove the chin rest, apply super glue into the hairline crack, with a pin-tip amount, let dry, re-install it, and hope that it will hold. Sometimes it works, sometimes it eventually breaks.
When tightening the chin rest, you do have to *tighten* it so that it doesn't slip around---so there is no sense in anyone thinking that I *over* tighten these. I slowly tighten them until they don't move, and I don't over-tighten. But they still develop cracks.
Sometimes, a whole corner of the cavity breaks off, and is lost, and there is nothing to do in this circumstance, but to glue your leg into it's space permanently (and hope that the break doesn't leave a rough edge.
If the manufacturer could just have designed this with a stronger cavity, this would be avoided altogether. I have not tried to return any of these to the store, because, well, it's kind of an essential piece of equipment, and I have no luck in trying to save receipts as sometimes I am trading chin rests with a student during a lesson. (I have a box of other types of chin rests....).
I hope this doesn't deter you from buying this chin rest, as it really is the best one out there, nothing in ebony or boxwood will be this lightweight--just take care to inspect it regularly, and be ready to do some rather delicate super glue repairs.
In all fairness, I should mention that the wooden chin rests have been known to crack, too, but usually these cracks are on the thinner cup portion, not the thicker place where the metal legs fit.
So, go ahead and enjoy this chin rest, And if you encounter the annoying problems I have, write to the manufacturer to ask them for an improved design which will eliminate these problems!

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These popular German composite chinrests are non-allergenic.Center-mounted with separate legs secures the anatomically designed cup at a flat angle.Smooth lip for added comfort and an easy-to-install secure fitting.

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