 A Guitarist rates it... |
| Review Date: March 13, 2006 |
| Reviewer: K. Sweigart, H'ville, Ala. |
OK, right from the start, for this price you don't expect an Amati in yer mailbox, yes? That being said; this thing comes SOOO close to being a very nice instrument, and if you decide that the price and rather beautiful and intrigueing design make it a "what the hell, why not?" purchase, a few extra bucks spent now will save you a lot of pain and aggrevation when it arrives. Because right out of the box this thing is a BRUTE. I've played guitar, bass and violin for 42-odd years and so brought a certain amout of hand stength and callouses to this project and notwithstanding the difficulty this instrument posed at first I played my callouses off and back on a dozen or more times while adjusting to it and deciding what it needed. I shall try to address the questions and gripes I"ve gathered from chats posted about it and the suggestions I would make.
First; go ahead and order fine-tuners for all the strings - the pegs are synthetic and will slip and slip and after you've wrestled them into something near pitch you won't want to jack around with them much more. There seems to be a bulge around the end of the pegs that keeps them from seating well, but if you CAREFULLY shave that off with a good sharp knife and sand it so that it's rather rough the peg will be more manageable (worked for ME, anyway.)
Next, while you're still adding stuff to your shopping-cart, add one of those nifty self-adjusting bridges that Glaesel makes. The violin comes with a very high bridge that will pull the neck out of true and reqires a grip like an anconda to play, so get a medium or low bridge. I put a medium on mine and it works just fine. And the neck seems to be returning to straight with the more direct pull. Low just might be TOO low. The nut is fairly high anyway, but unless you are VERY good with tools I recommend that you just learn to live with it.
Right, the shoulder-pad. You'll want one, because this beast weighs a bit more than a standard fiddle. The pad it comes with will not stick with the included velcro pads, but a good stout elastic band or even a thick rubber band wrapped around the chin-rest will hold it on and keep you from looking (and feeling) like you've been hit with a tire-iron.
Now the good stuff about this fiddle- the electronics are very nice and produce a good sound both from the earphones and the main outlet. And though I've read some negative comments about the bow I've found it to be very nice indeed, worth the price of the whole kit. Too many of these "novice" packages come with a useless, flabby fiberglass stick with hair on but this Brazilwood bow I found to be responsive and well-balanced. Bearing in mind that bows are as individual as people and what works for me you might find atrocious. The design I still find as nice as at first sight, with the attention to detail and scrollwork paticularly fine for a synthetic.
Acoustically the tone is a bit strident, as you might expect, but a mute (odd as that might seem for a "silent" violin) will take some of the harshness out of the tone without rendering it too quiet for practical purposes. Every style of mute (heavy rubber, wood or wire) will change the tone in a different way so you just have to find what sounds best to you.
Finally, with all of the cute stuff available you might want to opt for a wood chinrest and tailpiece instead of the synth stuff on it, but ultimately that depends on how well you like this instrument and how much you like to individualize yer axe. (mine are on order as I write this.)
Long-winded as this has been, I hope that it has been of some help, or may spare some long-suffering parent the torture of hearing the groans, squeaks and howls of the novice fiddler... |
Stop second-guessing yourself and buy it.
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| Review Date: May 12, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Professor Murder, Pittsburgh, PA |
I was looking for a violin that would be conducive to playing live in a rock/metal band. Naturally, an electric made sense, it's a simple way to get the volume and power without having to fool around with microphones or attaching pick-ups. But I never imagined that I would find one so worthwhile for such an insignificant price. Now, if you're a classical violinist with a good bit of skill, this isn't for you, but then, if that's you, you'd probably never consider a cheapy like this in the first place and therefore, you aren't reading this, so I'll just ignore you.
For everyone else: This is the mack truck of the violin world. It's heavy, reliable, and it's tone is strident and powerful. It's perfect for use in rock or old-school country fiddling. And let's face it: it just looks cool as hell. If you're planning to use this in a live performance setting, I hope your bandmates aren't the jealous type. It garners quite a bit of audience attention.
All that being said, I've noticed a lot of suggestions posted by other reviewers about additional things that you need to minimalize your problems with this violin. Let me simplify, you need:
1)Some Peg Dope.
This will take care of peg slippage. You shouldn't need new pegs or fine tuners. Peg Dope works, it's inexpensive, and you can pick it up at any music store that carries violins.
2)A new bridge.
I suspect that most people who don't like this violin are using the bridge that came with it. Buy a 15 dollar Glaesel adjustable bridge (medium), and you've just created a fantastic violin for around 100 dollars.
In summation, if you are a beginner looking for a practice instrument, or someone with skill and experience looking for a violin for live performances, give in and BUY THIS VIOLIN. You'll be glad you did. |
Amazing instrument!
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| Review Date: December 25, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Jill Walker Rettberg, Bergen, Norway |
This was a Christmas present, and my favourite one this year! I'm an amateur violinist, having taken lessons from the age of six till I was an adult and now I play on and off. It took a few minutes to set up the bridge and tune the strings, but once properly tuned they don't slip, and the bridge works fine for me. The violin is comfortable to play, doesn't bother my family and friends, and it's such fun playing around with the tone and volume - it sounds like a rock band at high volume, if you can stand it in the headphones... It even comes complete with a reasonable bow, rosin, a little cushion (that I haven't tried), headphones, a cord to connect to an amp, and a surprisingly nice carry case - think electric guitar style.
Extremely impressive and a lot of fun - I'm amazed they can do it at this price! |
Perfect for a quiet practice instrument
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| Review Date: October 26, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Jon McDaniels, |
I bought this violin knowing what to expect, so I am not disappointed. Basically, I wanted a stick with strings and no resonation that I could play late in the evening without bothering my neighbors. My nice violin I will play any other time.
This violin requires some setup in order to make it playable. The supplied bridge is too tall and not properly shaped to make the A and E strings lower. I fixed this by sanding it lower and to the proper shape; but, if you have never done that, buy a new bridge or take it to a shop and have them set it up. The plastic pegs are terrible so I went ahead and bought fine tuners for every string to make things a little easier.
The black coating on the "ebony" plastic fingerboard rubs off on my hands. (I guess they can get away with calling everything ebony as long as it is painted with ebony paint). The paint eventually stopped coming off, but for a long while my left hand was quite dirty after playing.
I have not really messed with the bow that much because I use my own. I suspect that it is not really made of wood even though they say so in the listing. Mine, at least, is very light. Much too light to be made of brazil wood. If the bow description is anything like the ebony fittings description, it is actually made of something like bamboo wood grown in brazil. I assume it's actually fiberglass.
The electronics work okay for me, but I do not use them regularly because the strings alone are good enough for practicing.
Overall the instrument does what I expect for the price and I am happy with the purchase. It is perfect for a cheap practice instrument if noise is a problem where you live. The things I mentioned above are all fixable problems and should not deter you from buying this so long as you are not using it as your sole means of playing or learning. |
A violinist rates it!
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| Review Date: March 6, 2007 |
| Reviewer: M. Fleece, |
| I have been playing the violin for 18 years and I ordered this for my birthday. I love this violin! It came with a lot of extras that others don't offer, including the fine tuners! It was really easy to set up. All I had to do was make the notches in the bridge, which is easy. The strings were already put on, they just needed tightened. This is my first electric violin, and I am very happy with it so far. I have been carrying it around with me everywhere and it makes me want to practice more! It's a great violin for anybody wanting to get into playing! |
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