Hi

Has anyone had any experiance of these violins? I understand they are sold by a chinese firm called yitamusic.

They have a page on ebay and sell quite a few of them. The price looked very good as well.

Also what level of playing would these be suitable up to?


Thanks
Alex

I bought a T19 viola for myself after reading impressive reports about these and after inheriting a pupil with one. The bows are very basic and the strings are worth changing for dominants (or whatever you prefer) but I use it regularly for teaching and for professional playing (in theatre pits mainly!).
The T20 (and M20s) are supposed to be an upgrade, however even at the higher price I suspect they will still be a bargain.
There have been threads on these before, i'm sorry, my computer skills aren't up to suggesting how you go about finding them.

Does anybody know what the difference is between the T and M models? eg between T19 and M19, T20/M20 etc.

I emailed them that question recently, earplugs, and they replied saying that 'they are the same quality but made by different makers'.

Hope that helps,

Lis

Hi Violin Hero - is this a present for passing your grade 7? Good idea!

The T19 are around the same quality as the Gliga Gama / Maestro models. The T20 are considerably superior.

Bear in mind, though, that you'll need to pay to have a professional set up (the fingerboard will need shooting and / or scooping, the bridge will need to be replaced, the pegs will need work and most likely have to be replaced, the strings will certainly need to be replaced, as will the nut and saddle and there's a huge chance that you'll have to have the soundpost replaced too).

They're great fiddles for advancing students or for pro's who play in ensembles (no good for solo work though).

If you can budget for the set up too, then I'd say go for it.

Allan

I second everything that Rosfrog says. As a bare minimum, you'll need the top nut reshaping (it looks like you could drive a small truck under the strings in most of the ebay photos), the pegs sorting, and strings and soundpost replaced. All the T19/M19 models look to be desperately in need of fingerboard shooting, but some of the "20" models look like they might be just about OK in this respect (although could certainly be improved). The neck set looks a bit dodgy on a lot of the "19" models, again the 20's are much better.
I would definitely go for the 20 model, and avoid nonsense like birdseye maple, strange woods (bamboo for example ) and elaborately carved woodwork. Best to go for a standard Strad model IMO.
By the way I don't believe for one minute that these violins are the work of individual "master makers". The guys they name in the ebay spiel are probably the workshop foremen or something.

Bamboo???!!!

Bamboo is not a wood. It's a grass.

UFD

(Useless Factoid Dept)

Ah, yes! Bamboo!!!

Perhaps the advice - 'suitable for collection' is best heeded!

OK, I'll rephrase: never buy a violin with a back made of grass.

Is this another of those running poem thingies where I have to supply the next line?

What should I budget for buying it, t20, with case and bow, as well as getting it to a good playing condition?

I would say at least £500 for bow, case and fit-up, on top of the price of the violin.

I am currently around grade 8 level. Do you think a t20 would be good enough for diploma level should I ever go that far?

Wow ! I'm confused!

Haven't you just passed your grade 7 ?

I'm not criticising, mind you, given that you were grade four a few months ago, to get to grade 7 in such a short time and to pass is great, but it's spectacular if you've managed to go from grade 7 to 8 in a few weeks!

Well done you!

I don't think you'd have any problems with it at diploma level - many professional players use them with a good set up, so you should be fine at diploma level (you'll be there by a week next Thursday at this rate !).

Allan

Just to clear it all up.

I have grade 7 violin. I just say that I am grade 8 standard becuase I can play pieces of grade 8 difficulty!
Dunno when I will take grade 8, probably not anytime soon.

BTW I got grade 4 18 months ago, its not as if it was yesterday.

Thanks for reasurring me that the quality of the T20 is good enough to progress to a very advanced level.
Dunno how I can afford one though. I really want one but on my holiday job wages i could not afford to get it properly set up by a luthier becuase buying the violin would use up all my money.

What are you playing on at the moment?

Stentor Conservatoire. M dad admitted i needed a better instrument but refused to fund another instrument saying he already bought me this one only 2 years ago. He did pay for a £70 bow though to replace the one that came with the violin.

Before I just rented from school My dad thought it was cheaper at the time.

If you can't afford the set up on the T19, why not spend your holiday money on a much better bow for your current violin ? That will be a better way to progress more, especially as you're advancing towards a high level and your bow will become more and more important to you. 70 pounds won't cut the mustard.

The Yita fiddles are great, but not set up they won't be any good to you at all - much better to wait until you can buy a good fiddle for a good price, rather than cut corners.

My advice is to spend your holiday job cash on a really gorgeous bow that you'll enjoy using every time you pick it up - it may even stay with you when you eventually do change fiddle. Perhaps you could have the Stentor souped up too? Nice new bridge, soundpost adjustment, fingerboard check, new strings etc.

That would be the most cost effective way of getting a better instrument, I think.

And just to congratulate you again - 18 months from grade 4 to grade 8 is an astonishing achievement (hearty round of applause).

Allan

Ok. I will work hard at christmas and some of the summer to afford my new violin. In the meantime I will requiest a new bow as combined christmas and birthday gift. I am actually yet to have a job planned for summer yet, must go to the job centre soon!

I will have a hunt around and see what £200-250 will get me for a bow.

I think you're wise to upgrade your bow as a priority; you'll be struggling with a £70 bow at G8 level, never mind diploma. However, from what you say about how hard you're going to have to work to buy your new violin, I would advise you to think very carefully before you gamble your hard-earned cash on a "bargain" unseen/untried instrument from Ebay. A lot of very reputable violin dealers are selling Chinese fiddles similar to these but fully checked, set up, ready to play, and often with some part-ex agreement to allow you to upgrade in the future if you wish. Also, of course you get the chance to try before you buy and get the instrument that's right for you. Sure, you'll pay more, but it would be money well spent in my opinion.

Am I right in thinking I have the safety of the law whch says goods have to be fit for purpurse and as described?

Or is that just for goods bought in the Uk? Anyway I read a thread on violinsit.com saying someone bough t a violin for $60 and it was amazing and in the range of $2000. Not sure I belive it though.

Yes, if you buy from Yita you can send it back, but you won't be able to do so after you've had it set up and as you won't know how it will sound until it's been set up, then you pretty much won't be able to send it back.

Of course some people hit lucky and get fiddles that are worth way more than they payed for them - but that is very much an exception to the rule - generally a 60 GBP fiddle will be worth 60 GBP. Hoping with all your heart that you're part of that group of people who end up with a fiddle that sounds like it cost 2000, but only payed 60 for it is a sure-fire way to end up with a nasty surprise.

On the whole, if you want a 2000 GBP fiddle, then you're going to have to spend 2000 GBP on it. Discopants advice is very good - use a dealer and check out the fiddles before you buy. As money is tight, it would be horrible to end up spending the little you have on something that you don't like. Save for longer then visit a good dealer.

In the meantime do your bow and set up on your current fiddle.

I haven't seen a T21 in a long while, but I have a colleague who played her T21 proefessionally in the orchestra of English National Opera.

In fact, so many of their violinists bought a T21, they nicknamed themselves the Asian Opera Orchestra.

They are good instruments for what I'd call 'muddy field' gigs, or working in the pit, but not suitable for proper (professional) orchestral work.

In the UK, yes. Under distance selling regulations in fact you have far more rights than that, you have the absolute right in law to send a musical instrument back for any reason whatsoever, within 7 working days and in the condition in which you received it, as long as it is not bought at an auction or from a private seller. I would not rate your chances of getting similar rights from an overseas seller though - apart from anything else, even if you were protected in law, how would you ever enforce it with an overseas company?

As for sending back something you had had adjusted, according to the law then no. In practice perhaps a sensible dealer might realise that instrument had now increased in value and might be rather happy to take it back for the price you paid. Obviously there would be no chance whatsoever of getting work done to it and then trying to claim that back from the seller, your only right in law is a full refund less reasonable postage costs.



Not sure I do either!

Liz

I will getting a load of money around christmas time and as well as working as I can deffinately afford the T20 violin with enough left to change strings etc...

Is it going to be a problem that the violin will be new? New violins tend to not sound particularly nice comapred to older ones.

Am I just worrying too much?

With respect, if you believe that, then you must never have heard a good new violin!

Ok so it won't be a problem. Now i understand. Thanks everyone!

All my teachers and my orchestra violin coach have had old violins, so have not heard ,any good new violins.
At orchestra he was bragging about the £32,000 violin he had hired from a music store in Sutton.

Oh well, new is good then. Thanks again

doesnt meant they don't exist. I bought a 'modern' (mid C20) viola and it's absolutely gorgeous.

Enjoy your new violin

Well, new is not at all necessarily good. There are some terrible new violins, there are some fantastic ones. There are some terrible old violins, there are some fantastic ones. But the commonly-spouted notion that a violin/viola/cello MUST be old to be good is nonsensical.

Oh yes, but it is a viola!

I have a T18 (somewhere - I think it's with a friend ) that sounded miles better than some of the 'older' (1900-1950's) violins that I tried it out against in the £1500 - £2000 price bracket. It did need time to 'settle' but I was surprised at how much the tone improved after only a few months. All I did was change the strings to Dominants.

I may have been lucky with that particular instrument but equally my daughter's M19 sounds pretty impressive even though it's only a 1/2 size - and much better value for money than a Stentor.

It's worth remembering (and this has been said before) that a lot of what you are paying for with an old violin is its history and condition - tone comes way down the list.

Nothing wrong with a newer instrument that costs a fraction of the price if tone is what you're after. It's worth trying it out first if you can - I'm happy to 'gamble' around £100 on a Yita violin (and so far it's paid off) but I'd be cautious about splurging out too much on an unknown instrument unless you can return it.