What Violin Should I Buy For The 1St Time?

Hello, i am thinking of buying a deLuca black student violin, to someone who knows about violins, do you think this is a wise idea? I need feedback by an expert in violins. :horrified:

What's your budget exactly? I am hardly an expert, but when I knew more about these things, I think even old student violins were pretty decent--maybe something from the 1950's or before, roughly-speaking. I suspect one would look pretty rough, though, but that probably shouldn't matter, or maybe you could even get it touched up. The woods have gotten increasingly crappier since then (for student ones, anyway), but I literally know nothing about these black ones, other than two very opposite opinions, which therefore cancel each other out.

Sort of along the same lines, I recently bought an older clarinet, made out of wood, and it sounds better than any plastic piece of garbage that you'll buy new. Even if it needs regulation, I know I've saved money over a plastic one, and it will always sound nicer. A violin doesn't have as many components to go wrong with it either. ;)

Thank you for your advise, TJS_1977. Mainly, i want to buy a black one just for the color which i like, but i am hoping it will be descent timbre to play it may possess. Right now, 50$. In a month from now 100$, that's my budjet right now. What do you mean by touched up? I am thinking from the 1950s will be expensive. :eyebrow:

If you're an absolute beginner, don't spend too much. Stentor or Chinese-made student instruments will do fine, you're not going to be playing the sort of repertoire or have the kind of technique where amazing tone or a careful set-up matters, rather you just need a reliable and sturdy instrument to learn basic technique on.

Thank you siwi, i was lost without your advise ;) even though they say that once you learn piano, other instruments fall in place in a certain manner of speaking that is. I will check out your " The Sun Rising ", i am curious :whistling: It's interesting you play the viola because i prefer it over the violin due to it's more rich & sweet timbre than the acute & even screeching violin, but i chose the violin because it's lighter than rest of viols & inspired by the movie Klaus Kinski Paganini,Have you seen it? You should, it very good :horrified:

Thank you for your advise, TJS_1977. Mainly, i want to buy a black one just for the color which i like, but i am hoping it will be descent timbre to play it may possess. Right now, 50$. In a month from now 100$, that's my budjet right now. What do you mean by touched up? I am thinking from the 1950s will be expensive. :eyebrow:

I had meant an older student instrument. Maybe something that's been lying around in someone's house for a long time or at a flea market or whatever. It's not likely to be a Stradivarius, but it's possible it might sound better than one might imagine for the price. But it might look beat up or have an issue or two. I remember at my high school (this is going back a little ways, obviously), there used to be some newer instruments and some older ones. The old ones looked like crap but played much better.

I always think it's better to start on a good or halfway decent instrument rather than a crappy one, but it depends on what your motives are.

I had meant an older student instrument. Maybe something that's been lying around in someone's house for a long time or at a flea market or whatever. It's not likely to be a Stradivarius, but it's possible it might sound better than one might imagine for the price. But it might look beat up or have an issue or two. I remember at my high school (this is going back a little ways, obviously), there used to be some newer instruments and some older ones. The old ones looked like crap but played much better.

I always think it's better to start on a good or halfway decent instrument rather than a crappy one, but it depends on what your motives are.

I ordered a 30 dollar black Violin once...I hated it so much because the tuning pegs would constantly slip...

Not good....... :horrified: :sick:

Thanks again TJS_1977 ;) , yes, surely i could not afford a Stradivarius, Amati or Guarneri, the 3 most expensive italian viol families in the world, like you said i have heard that antique viols are better in timbre. That intrigues me, is it the quality thus type of wood? Or the very natural dynamics of the presice wood matrix? The violin i just bought finally, is composed of maple wood but it mostly attracted me because of the color black & i am hoping that when i 1st play it, it might just have a decent timbre color since it's a new line of viols with some luck it might be decent quality. I once made a composition called " Black Violins & Black Roses " so i now & for a time now i've been in love woth the hypothetical idea of a black violin since in my opinion is more elegant than the traditional red. So i googled it & found they make them now & at the same time acoustic. There was one deLuca Black for 80$ but the one i now ordered seems identical except for the price which was only 30$ & both new. I am puzzled by this, what could be the difference? :headwall: :eyebrow:

Well, I guess that's the big secret, right? ;) I definitely think wood plays a factor in why those instruments sound the way they do. However, it may well be that the families who hand-crafted them knew what to look for in a piece of wood and that knowledge is part of what is long gone. There are also probably minute differences in the structure which also play a larger role than one might imagine.

I know, for example, with pianos that certain makes, like Steinway, will look for specific wood for their soundboards and will not use anything else. The trouble lately is that the wood they would like to use is less and less available because so much has been cut down. Generally older trees are better. And spruce is almost always the choice for soundboards (on stringed instruments too, I believe, though the rest is made from harder wood like maple).

There is another first-class piano company in Germany called Steingraeber which will only use wood from trees that are at least 200 years old and from this one specific forest and nowhere else! But they don't build many pianos per year, so they can afford to be picky.

I ordered a 30 dollar black Violin once...I hated it so much because the tuning pegs would constantly slip...

Try rubbing them in the rosin you use for the bow. I think that's what you need to do with new tuning pegs.

Well, I guess that's the big secret, right? ;) I definitely think wood plays a factor in why those instruments sound the way they do. However, it may well be that the families who hand-crafted them knew what to look for in a piece of wood and that knowledge is part of what is long gone. There are also probably minute differences in the structure which also play a larger role than one might imagine.

I know, for example, with pianos that certain makes, like Steinway, will look for specific wood for their soundboards and will not use anything else. The trouble lately is that the wood they would like to use is less and less available because so much has been cut down. Generally older trees are better. And spruce is almost always the choice for soundboards (on stringed instruments too, I believe, though the rest is made from harder wood like maple).

There is another first-class piano company in Germany called Steingraeber which will only use wood from trees that are at least 200 years old and from this one specific forest and nowhere else! But they don't build many pianos per year, so they can afford to be picky.

Try rubbing them in the rosin you use for the bow. I think that's what you need to do with new tuning pegs.

TJS_1977, thank you! I just found out that the 80$ one was 4/4 size & that the reason the one i bought was only 30$ was 1/4 size otherwise known as a " Violino Piccolo " the smallest type of viol which is the kind Bach used in his 1st Brandenberg Concerto. Well, i hope it's not too small. :lol:

Umm, unless you're a little person or 5 years old, I think you're going to have a problem with a 1/4 size violin, my friend. ;)

TJS_1977 thank u 4 ur quick response my friend, the above youtube link is a performanz of the violino piccolo which is 1/4 size, & he happens to be tall & play it fairly well. Could you confirm this if it is true, for me? :toothygrin:

TJS_1977 thank u 4 ur quick response my friend, the above youtube link is a performanz of the violino piccolo which is 1/4 size, & he happens to be tall & play it fairly well. Could you confirm this if it is true, for me? :toothygrin:

Hmm, that's a piccolo, but I am not certain if a piccolo and a 1/4 are the same thing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violino_piccolo'>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violino_piccolo

Notice that it says the body is 1/4 size but that the other parts aren't.

Also from wikipedia:

"Finely made fractional sized violins, especially smaller than 1/2 size, are extremely rare or non-existent. Such small instruments are typically intended for beginners needing a rugged violin, and whose rudimentary technique does not justify the expense of a more carefully made one."

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin )

I guess you will find out soon. If it's too small, maybe you know some children who might like to start playing violin? ;)

Very graciously informative of you! The 1/4 violin is almost 19 inches inches in length, as opposed to full size 23inches. But your right, i'll find out soon. :toothygrin:

Hmm, that's a piccolo, but I am not certain if a piccolo and a 1/4 are the same thing:

http://en.wikipedia....Violino_piccolo

Notice that it says the body is 1/4 size but that the other parts aren't.

Also from wikipedia:

"Finely made fractional sized violins, especially smaller than 1/2 size, are extremely rare or non-existent. Such small instruments are typically intended for beginners needing a rugged violin, and whose rudimentary technique does not justify the expense of a more carefully made one."

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin )

I guess you will find out soon. If it's too small, maybe you know some children who might like to start playing violin? ;)

Never buy a 30$,80$, or 99$ violin even if black or eager to have a violin at once. I could not even produce a tone even after applying rosin. The only thing it was useful for was display. I think i will wait & later purchase a beautiful red Amati for 600$ dollars from the FienViolins website. :headwall: :sadtears: :evil: :D

:( I had a feeling something like this would happen, but I didn't want to be overly pessimistic.

Another option is to go to a local violin store or one in a nearby large city. That way you will be able to test them out. ;)

:( I had a feeling something like this would happen, but I didn't want to be overly pessimistic.

Another option is to go to a local violin store or one in a nearby large city. That way you will be able to test them out. ;)