Beginner renting a violin

Trad Strings
1

I’m renting a violin for one month, to test out how I like it. But I don’t want to pay 30 bucks and end up with a chinese piece of crap as my first violin experience.

Any suggestions on brands/styles(I’m a newbie) of violins that should NOT be rented or bought? A list or a link? I’d be really grateful. Or maybe you know a good beginner brand for someone like me.

thanks

2

Go to a violin or fiddle specific shop. Do not go to a general music store. Tell them what you can spend, and they will rent you a decent starter instrument. For a newbie, it is more about the setup than about the instrument itself, much less a brand name. A good fiddle shop will provide good instruments, and well setup.

There is no list of good fiddle manufacturers. There is no definitive brand name. It is all about someone competent going over the instrument before passing it on to you. This means a good luthier, in a reputable violin shop.

Avoid “Cremona” brand instruments. No reputable shop would carry such firewood.

I also suggest you unclose your mind about Chinese instruments. Just because something is made in China does not mean it is automatically a piece of crap. I am a bit put-off by that statement. Since you know nothing about fiddles, why would you close your mind like that? Chinese violins represent some of the best values in their price range. My fiddle is an Eastman made in China and has been ranked as a great beginner instrument by many folks. A beginner instrument which will last me 10 or 20 years at least. I would have had to spend 20-30% more for an equivalent European instrument.

3

Uh huh. I’m playing with a 1920s German factory produced fiddle. Setup means a lot.

But if you feel the need to do research, there’s some reviews of new violins over at http://www.fiddlehangout.com/reviews/ but you’d probably get more input if you just posted a query in the appropriate forum there.
http://www.fiddlehangout.com/forum/

4

There were a lot of bad violins coming out of china for a while. There are better ones now, and some of the earliest chinese violins were pretty good too, but there was a lot of crap in between.

5

There still are bad ones. And good ones. And everything in between.