Any fiddlers here?

[GardMan]

Hey LTG gang,
My daughter (Becky, 11) has just finished her first year of violin lessons thru her elementary school, and would like to continue next year. Her teacher suggested that the violin we rented for her this year was not really up to snuff, tone/playability wise. Any fiddlers here have suggestions of decent sounding/playing student violins, hopefully for $400 or less? I have done a lot of web searches, and there is a ton of options... but it's hard to filter out the signal from the noise. Successes and horror stories are welcomed!
Thanks!
Dave

 

[JerryR]

Sounds like one for Carol - if she's around :?:

 

[Frosty]

If there's a decent "folk music" shop within driving distance, I would think they would have something decent in that price range. Good old fiddles are not like guitars, as far as name brand goes. My 19th century German "factory violin" is a great fiddle and it cost me $350. There are thousands of old, used violins in circulation and IMO, there is no need to buy a new Chinese import. You daughter is 11... you will, of course, need to pay attention the size of the instrument.

If you can't find anything in your area, I will recommend Acoustic Outfitters Music Shop. They usually have a wall of good, used violins and I'll bet they could find something in your price range.

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

Dave,
try Hardin Davis at Acoustic Music.
He usually has several nice used fiddles.
One other thing,
get some good strings and not student strings, a full set of tuners for the tail piece and try to fine a bow that has horse hair and not synthetic fibers.
With these additions, even the current fiddle will sound much better.
You can also try some pawn shops, if you know what to look for in a bow.
New horse hair bows can cost more than the fiddle.
I hope that she will stay with it and have fun learning.
Acoustic Music also has several great fiddle instructors.

 

[Default]

Make sure that she has decent teachers throughout her teens. My youngest son played violin until last year where he just packed it in.
The shame of it was, he just needed a little technique coaching (vibrato!) to break through to being a good player, instead of a competent one.

 

[fronobulax]

My experience comes from cello but should apply.

1) Even for a semi-beginner the bow is at least as important as the instrument so don't be surprised if you wind up with a $400 bow to go with that $400 violin.

2) You need to get the student involved in the selection of the instrument. That pretty much rules out mail order if at all possible. In addition to the "bonding" from driving to the stores and talking about instruments, there is a real sense of "buy in" that comes from having her try the various choices and helping make the selection. That said, make sure her decision is made on sound, size and tone and not cosmetics. At least when we GAS over a green Guild we have already established a certain level of quality, playability and sound by picking a Guild.

3) If it isn't a full size instrument then don't sweat it, because you will be buying another violin in a year or two anyay.

4) Unless her teacher is actually a seller of instruments, the teacher should be an outstanding source of unbiased advice who knows the local market as well as what makes sense at this level of musical development.

5) As soon as she is ready have her play in small groups. A string quartet is probably out of reach immediately but playing melody on a violin while you accompany with guitar will help. It's easy to get lost in the crowd playing violin and at her age it is hard to separate being a musician from being a violinist which means if she gets discouraged, she gives up a lot.

6) I don't know what her favorite music is but, unless it is classical, you might help her find violinists who play in the genre who might serve as examples or inspiration.

 

[Carol]

FINALLY!! A question I can answer!!!!!

Violins/fiddles mature (just like guitars) so older violins/fiddles are actually (usually) better than brand new ones -- if they have been cared for, are set up correctly and have good strings...

So really for $400, you can get a really nice older violin/fiddle!! Many $400 older violins/fiddles will rival a $1000 new violin. I suggest you join "fiddlehangout.com" -- there are some great dealers who are members -- who will help you find a perfect violin/fiddle. Just tell them what you're looking for -- and they'll send you one from their stock -- on trial. If you don't like it, you can just return it and pay only the shipping. These guys are SUPER trusty-worthy. I've bought to fiddles sight-unseen from a guy there named SuperDave -- and they were both wonderful pieces. And it was all done with a "virtual handshake" -- he sent the fiddles and when I got them, I sent the check... all done on the honor system!

Otherwise, if you don't want to go that route, go local violin shops and ask to try out used instruments... as I say, you'll get more for your dollar.

Now if you want a NEW violin, a Gliga is good value for money -- but you often have to take them to a local violin luthier and have a bit of a set-up (usually $50 to $100). Make sure you order them with the better strings... the cheap Romanian steel strings that come standard are truly horrible. Here's a link to some in your price range (if you add in the better strings) -- complete with case and basic bow (if you don't need a bow, you can delete that and upgrade the strings (I use Thomastik Dominants) and upgrade to a Wittner tailpiece with fine tuners -- for a total of $359.98 plus shipping. They have a good trial/return policy as well:
http://www.violinslover.com/gems2violins4_4.php

If you have any questions, let me know!! You can contact me through FiddleHangout.com (my user name there is Percy)...

 

[Default]

My son's fiddle was made by a WV doctor in 1933. The cute girl in church picked it up on day, drew the bow across it, and jumped. She handed it back in a hurry!
This doctor (whoever he was) knew how to make a fiddle.

 

[GardMan]

Thanks all for your ideas/comments...

We're still in the "fact-finding/looking" stage at this point. We'll checkout "Fiddlers Hangout" and Gliga (Thx Carol). Becky had H1N1 last weekend (Tamiflu is great stuff!), so hasn't been able to go schlepping around to local shops with me yet...
D

 

[GardMan]

Hey Carol (or any other fiddlers, for that matter)...
What are the signficant differences/advantages/disadvantages in round vs. octagonal and wood (rosewood) vs graphite/fiberglass/composite bows? from the perspective of a beginner...
Thx,
Dave

 

[Carol]

The shape of the bow isn't all the important... but the quality and material used for the bow is important. The rule of thumb is that you should be prepared to spend as much on the bow as on the instrument... though that's not an absolute. You'll get a high quality bow for less money if you go with carbon fiber -- AND they are less "tempermental" when it comes to humidity and temperature.

Fiberglass bows are usually provided with "starter" kits and I find they just aren't very good.

But when you're first starting out, all of this is sort of unimportant. I have a $90 brazilwood bow and it was good enough for my first year or so. I wasn't good enough to know what to do with a good bow. My teacher says that as long as the bow isn't warped, it's not all that important for the first couple of years -- as there is so much to learn.

I now have a fantastic CF (carbon fiber) bow that I love. It costs about $275 new. But just to show how relative everything is, my fiddle teacher thinks it's "okay," but then he plays a $40,000 bow -- yes, a $40,000 bow on a $100,000 fiddle...

Needless to say, it would be a LONG time before a bow OR a fiddle like that would make a difference in my hands!

 

[GardMan]

Thanks Carol! Dave

 

[GardMan]

An update:
We found a used Knilling 8KF (German) violin in exc condition in town for a decent price (about half what we were looking to pay new). Becky's teacher says it should serve her into junior high, if she continues on playing. I do think we'll end up getting a new bow... the fiberglass one it came with is adequate, at best.

Thx all for your help!
Dave

 

[Appalachian Blues]

Gardman, check out Mellowgerman's post; "90 years old and still rockin' and carvin'

 

[GardMan]

Thanks for the link, AB. Pretty amazing woman! D

 

[JerryR]

Hi - I'm Bernard Madoff and I liked your heading - I'm looking for a long term hobby that can help me pass the next 125 years............


:mrgreen: