hey..just wanna ask anyone out there..is that is there any advice in buyin' a good violin....cause i was planning on gettin' a violin.. so i would really like some advice on how do i choose the rite one..

'Stentor' are a good make! Apart from that- it's whatever you think has the nicest tone I guess. Make sure you play a few different makes to help make up your mind. Good luck!

Depending on your budget and where you live, the Gliga range of instruments are exceptionally good. If you're in the UK, Liz at Elida Trading is the best person to contact, since they not only have the Gliga violins, but a wide range of very good student violins.

Although people on here are prob gonna disagree with me here i got a stagg violin and then changed the strings as it made a much nicer tone

I maintain that Stentor are a very good make. How much do you want to spend?

hey..thanxs everyone on the tips..i guess now i noe wat i gotta look for in buyin' a violin..just wanna ask..wat's the difference between a violin n a viola??

Gliga violins are excellent value for money and like Amandal said, Elida trading offer great range of student violins too.

My son plays on a gliga Gem2 .

My students however all play Stentor 2 and one plays Antoni top model. This is purely comvenience of getting hold of the instrument in music shops. They all want to try and then buy. I have never asked any of the students to buy those brands they have all turned up at the lessons with these violins or have acquired these brands and then decided lets get lessons.

Violins come in all size, strung to the notes GDAE and music is in treble clef.

Violas come in all sizes too they are bigger, have a deeper tone and the notes are CGDA and the music is in alto clef.

Stentors are OK for beginners as they are cheap and come with case and bow. Ask for a 'reconditioned' model, which costs slightly more than the unreconditoned ones: they have different pegs and a few other features. Pegs that don't keep slipping are a blessing as there's not much worse than a complete beginner who doesn't yet know how to tune their violin and whose string(s) slipped oon the way home when the violin got slung in the boot of the car. Student then spends a week practising and wondering why nothing sounds right.

I think the Stentor Conservatoire is OK, but you wouldn't really want to go further than about Grade 3 or 4 with a Stentor Student. As said above, contact Elida Trading and get a Gliga - I've recommended them to 2 of my pupils who are delighted with them - they don't cost that much but look beautiful and once they've been played in sound beautiful too. Well worth it.

Another option is to go to a musical instrument auction and buy a German factory-made violin - there are still a lot of them kicking around. You can pick them up for under £100 sometimes, and if you spend another £100 (or less) at a luthier to get them set up you can end up with a nice instrument with a good tone and a lot of individuality. A friend recently found one with a carved animal's head on the scroll and a decent tone; another friend found one with a carved gypsy design on the back and a decent tone - these are violins to fall in love with!

Violinia

Not having a shop bought violin myself (its a bit of a one-off ) I maintain the view that the older the better, which obviously isn't a great deal of help here!!

My first violin was a stentor, and it was a fantastic, and quite within budget. The best advice I can give you for buying a violin is go to a specialist shop (i.e. one that sells only string instruments so the people really know what they are talking about) and explain your budget to them. Then just spend some time playing the vilolins and really listen to the sounds. One of them will be obvious to you, I'm sure as they will all differ in timbre.

And for anyone who is interested I also have a Yamaha 'silent violin' and its b-e-a-utiful!

Hope this helps

Bex

ps. A violin has strings of GDAE whereas a viola has strings of CGDA.

Lucky you! I tried the Yamaha silent violin at the store and the silent part didn't work. The worst part was that the strings were horribly out of tune! Someone should make sure they at least keep their 'locked up' instruments in tune. I'm meaning those they put in cupboards for display. The pianos are fine. I have a very nice time tinkling on them. I especially loved the Yamaha S6. Hahaha...the C5 is very nice too! Of course, I'd have to strike a whole ton of lottery in order to buy it because I'd have to ask my parents to buy a bigger house in order the fit the piano in one of the rooms.