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  #16  
Old 06-21-2018, 10:47 AM
posternutbag posternutbag is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeBmusic View Post
Way out of my budget (and skill set!) to buy a good one. Curious on why violins don't have some 'decent' lower-budget models available, akin to Yamaha's $200 range for guitars.
And on bows - I understand the good one can be more expensive, but I've seen some 'new style' ones that don't use horse hair so last much longer.
The answer to your question is that violins are much more difficult and time consuming to make, relative to guitars. If you want to compare guitars to violins (or mandolins) then you need to look at archtop guitars, which are also much more expensive than flat top guitars.
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  #17  
Old 06-22-2018, 05:45 PM
jwellsy jwellsy is offline
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How about the Silent Violin knockoff's? Are they playable?
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  #18  
Old 06-24-2018, 03:22 PM
Maryc-k Maryc-k is offline
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Shar Music sells decent beginner violins for under $200. They are running a sale right now.
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  #19  
Old 07-03-2018, 08:01 AM
Jcamp Jcamp is offline
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I actually have a cheap violin that was a $100 new back several years ago. It plays much better than what I can. My buddy has one too and can make his sound pretty dang good. That common part between the two is that they both are very loud but don’t have a great tone. The bows are so so but I started using some better rosin and if helped. If the one your looking at is the same qaulity I’d say go for it. See if your gonna want to stick with it or not and you can always upgrade later. Bow wise you can upgrade then just keep the nice bow when u get a better violin
Two things I’ll throw out. If your practicing and don’t want the full volume you can put a couple pieces of tape over the sound holes and that’ll dampen it. If you want frets you can get online and get what is basically a fretted liner. It just stick onto the finger board.
Also in my neck of the woods we call them “ fiddles”.
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  #20  
Old 08-04-2018, 09:17 PM
Tnfiddler Tnfiddler is offline
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I'd stay away from any violin that costs $100 or less! Getting it setup correctly would cost you more than the violin does in the first place! The pegs will definitely have to be set so they'll stay In place when you're tuning. Some will disagree with me, but a decent bow starts at around $150 and goes up quickly from there. I use a Marco Raposo silver bow and have a Klaus Becker as a backup. I was told when I first started playing and knew I was gonna stick with it, to go ahead and buy a really good bow and grow into it, versus buying a cheap one and then a little better one and then a little better one.
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  #21  
Old 03-18-2019, 06:55 AM
MikeBmusic MikeBmusic is offline
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Thought I would do a follow-up on this thread.
I basically gave up on the idea of a cheap fiddle after all the comments. The 'silent' electric fiddle sounded like a good deal, and the ~$200 starter kit not a bad starting point, but for my limited use/ability, I couldn't justify that cost at this time.
So a month back someone mentioned in a thread here they had picked up an interesting deal on a shopgoodwill auction, which piqued my curiosity again, and I started watching Chinese fiddle (with Italian names!) auctions. There were a few names that consistently got higher-than-normal bids, and a few online searches found decent comments on them.
So I bid on a couple (low), didn't win. then I saw one where bidding had stayed low and watched it and put in a $22 bid less than a minute before the auction ended - and won it. $34 with shipping, included a zippered case (accessory pouch zipper broken) and 2 bows.
Sure enough, when it arrived, one of the bows was really lousy, the other seemed better. I installed some new strings, rosined up the bow and started my screeching! the actual sound is not bad - no, the fiddle body is not as resonant as I expect a higher cost one would be, but it is not lifeless either.
Haven't had too much practice time yet, just too busy, but watched some youtubes and I'm practicing holding the bow correctly and getting used to keeping it held steady at the right angle for each strings (lesson #2!). Fretless fingering is definitely a challenge for a lifelong guitar player.
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  #22  
Old 03-18-2019, 08:32 AM
Aaron Smith Aaron Smith is offline
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I got this $60 carbon fiber bow off of Amazon and I quite like it. Sometimes I actually choose it over my pernambuco bow that cost almost 10x more. The hair isn't very good but it has nice balance and camber.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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  #23  
Old 03-19-2019, 07:35 AM
MikeBmusic MikeBmusic is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aaron Smith View Post
I got this $60 carbon fiber bow off of Amazon and I quite like it. Sometimes I actually choose it over my pernambuco bow that cost almost 10x more. The hair isn't very good but it has nice balance and camber.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Interesting to note this, might be a better value than replacing the hairs on the current bow when needed.
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  #24  
Old 03-19-2019, 11:57 AM
RustyAxe RustyAxe is offline
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It’s not about country of origin, rather, just about quality. Eastman Strings makes some fine pro quality violins.
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  #25  
Old 03-19-2019, 06:49 PM
jimmorgan jimmorgan is offline
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Editing my post because I actually went back and read that you picked up a violin. What a fun challenging instrument! Hope you enjoy learning to play.
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  #26  
Old 03-19-2019, 07:10 PM
Puddleglum Puddleglum is offline
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It is very possible to get a decent, lifetime keeper violin for a few hundred dollars: but you really need to buy from a legit violin shop that sets them up to play well.

I have a "Rosalia" violin (China) that is a really wonderful instrument. I paid about $500 nearly ten years ago. You won't likely see one in a concert hall anytime soon, but for someone who just wants to play a little, it's all you'll probably ever need.
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  #27  
Old 03-19-2019, 09:49 PM
MayaTambien MayaTambien is offline
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I picked up my fiddle at a garage sale. Really.

Saw the ad (who remembers garage sale ads in the actual newspaper?), that said that, among other things, "fiddles" were being offered. Went and looked--sure enough, five or six of them, all around $100 (20-some years ago). Didn't actually buy that day, but took the card for the fiddle-seller, who was the father of the garage sale principal.

Turns out he was a past president of the Oregon Old Time Fiddlers' Association, and his secondary hobby was fixing up basket case fiddles to make them playable. I called him up and went to his house. He spent about an hour with me, showing me the choices (and demonstrating, so I could hear differences in tone). I spent $125, as I recall, for one I fell in love with, with case & bow (I've since upgraded the bow, a couple of times). Still love it.

So yes, you CAN get an inexpensive, decent violin--but there's a HUGE amount of luck involved, and I wouldn't count on eBay as a source.
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