OK, as much as anyone I know you get what you pay for when buying and instrument, so that said…
My girlfriend wants to learn to play the fiddle. My budget is $600 or less, all in (case, bow, etc.) I don’t know Jack about Violins, but I imagine this doesn’t buy much of an instrument ( new or used), still it’s what I have to work with. Anyone have suggestions on what names I might look for on the used market in order to get the best bang for the buck in my price range?
Thanks much,
Loren
Hi Loren,
You can get a pretty decent starter fiddle for $600. If there’s a violin shop anywhere near you, that’s where I’d start. Going to the bigger violin and fiddle forums is a good place to look also, as they usually have instruments for sale. As for shopping on line, stick with violin specialty dealers rather than going to a general music store like Guitar Center or such.
If I were in the USA and I wanted a fiddle I’d contact Steve Perry at http://www.giannaviolins.com/. Very knowledgeable about fiddles (and mandolin setups). He has a large number of satisfied customers over at Fiddleforum.com.
i just got a fiddle for my wife from kc strings. ask for mike richwine. he will set it up as a fiddle. case fiddle and bow rent for a year was $220, all you put into the rental will be taken off the purchase price of any fiddle. http://www.kcstrings.com
tell him don riley sent you. i get nothing but i said i would pass around his name.
I’ll put a plug in for http://www.gviolins.com/. I purchased my viola from Jan several years ago and have been VERY satisfied. You can look around his site, but I just e-mailed him what I was looking for and my price range and he went from there. Because of his hunting around a bit, I was able to get more instrument for my money than I ever would have dared hope for. 
Thanks all!