I was wondering, can you just take your violin to a violin shop and ask them to value it, without real reason other than i was wondering how much it's worth? Cause i was intending on buying a new violin next year, about £2000, seeing as the one i have now only cost me £500, however i'm beginning to think it's worth much more. Since i bought it the sound has really opened up and i love it - it sounds great, and i just got back from string orchestra and everyone was playing my violin and they were amazed at how great it sounded (and how nice it looked ) despite the fact that they all had violins that cost thousands (they didnt know mine was only £500!). I know the luthier lowered the price of it for mwe but i don;'t know by how much.
I don't even feel like i want a new one anymore as i love this one even though im always like 'how can it be great.... it was £500!' I know with violins it's more about how the violin works with you than how much it cost etc. but still
For now i don't want a differnet violin so i think i'll keep my money and save even more, then get a better violin when i actually need one But would i be able to get this one valued or would it be a waste of time?


(Btw the reasons i'd beenintending on buying a new one are.... 1) as a present off my grandparents for my 18th birthday - they want me to get something i'll keep and use etc., 2) for music college/uni when i go... surely a £500 violin isnt good enough for that? and 3) when i went to try out shoulder rests i got given such a nice violin to try them out on... i totally loved it and it made me wonder if i could do with a better one myself )

Hi,
Ive been looking for a new violin too with a budget of 2 to 3k and that soon changed with me trying violins up to £8ooo (which I really dont warrant) purely because there was nothing I thought was any better than mine in the £2000 price range. I have however found one which is £2800 and I like it, more than any of the dearer ones Ive tried.
My violins been valued as a part ex at £400 and £750 by 2 different shops. I was told today and previously on here that the tone has nothing to do with the price and a £600 violin could sound better than a £10000 violin so if I was you I'd stick with what youve got as you love it so much. Im only changing mine as its not as responsive higher up and my teacher says I will benefit from changing it.

Thanks for the advice

My experience might be of interest ffliwt..

Last year I took my Dad's violin to be valued at The Violin Shop in Glasgow - it's Glasgow's Aladin's Cave of violins; stuffed full of instruments, bows, accessories etc, and they do repairs, so I reckon the guys are real experts.

My teacher was "amazed" at the fantastic sound of Dad's violin and reckoned it would be worth around £5000. However, it was made in Glasgow by a relatively unkown maker so The Violin Shop only valued it at £2000... and that was before they even played it!!!!

The expert said his valuation was based on the maker and 'collectability' of the instrument, not the sound, and that it was just a nice instrument "of its type". He did provide a written valuation for insurance purposes, free of charge, but that was just their headed paper with their estimated value on it. He said for a full valuation, a written letter including all the details of the maker etc., they would charge a fee.

That written part was enough for our purposes but I think the full 'valuation' letter would be interesting someday.

Interestingly, after he had played it, the expert did say it was a very nice sound but didn't change his original figure!

Lottie's absolutely right - the actual sound of your violin has very little impact on the price. The maker, age, condition etc all have more impact. So a well made instrument by a well known maker of a decent age with a pretty mediocre sound will be worth more than a modern instrument by an unknown maker which sounds great (generalising here, but you get the idea).

To answer your question about valuations - yes, you can have a maker look at your fiddle and issue a valuation certificate (usually for insurance purposes) - generally, they make a small charge for this, but it's not a lot.

Allan

(incidentally, if you love your fiddle, why not ask your grandparents to buy you a gorgeous bow instead ? 2K will get you something pretty lovely).

Thanks guys This does make a lot of sense - my violin isn't even by a particular maker, it's a copy of a strad =/ That's the one thing i dislike about my violin - surely if the maker had spent ages making a violin they'd wanna stick their own name in it, not somebody elses...!