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Uncle Hunter would be proud. Ah yes, the familiar Panic Of The Slipped String!!! I give, what's a VSO? Too bad you're not in the market for a bit more expensive 3/4 violin! I've had one for sale on consignment at our local violin shop, but it's about $1,500. It's definitely not a VSO - sounds great for a 3/4 (it's an older German one). Trouble is, nobody wants to spend that type of money for an instrument a child will outgrow. I'm trying to sell it because it sat around for years after my father played it until I got around to playing it, and then it sat around for more years until my daughter played it, and I really don't want it to sit around until my daughter might have kids who might want to play the violin. VSO is a "violin-shaped object." I think the term was popularized by Shar Music and refers to cheap instruments, usually bought on the internet, that cost more to make them playable (new strings, pegs, some adjustments to soundpost, nut, and/or fingerboard) than they were worth in the first place. Another key to VSOs is that they sound, well, awful. I bought a VSO for $25 (plus $20 shipping) to use as a disposable instrument when traveling and because I was willing to replace the pegs and strings and tinker with the setup as a learning experience. The net result is that my ostensible VSO sounds at least as good as most entry-level student violins, which is much more than I expected. It's still a VSO, though, because the fingerboard is made of very soft wood, and it won't be worth replacing it when it gets too uneven from use. I guess I can make the instrument into a nice lamp, at that point. Yes, giving a child a good 3/4 violin can really give the player a boost in confidence. What a difference in sound between the average 1/2 and a good 3/4! I spent $1200 for the 3/4, and I haven't been able to sell it, but I'd definitely spend the money again. (Besides, the bow for the new full size cost a lot more than the entire kit of the 3/4.) $685 is very reasonable for a 3/4 outfit. If your daughter likes the sound and the feel of the violin, it will be worth it in the long run. She will be willing to practice more and enjoy it. Years ago when my older daughter was ready for a 1/4 size violin, her teacher said it was time to move up to something better than a cheap Suzuki model. That is a decision that we have never regretted and repeated the same process with her younger sister.

How long do you want to listen to a cheap violin? Neither of my daughters are prodigies, just reasonably accomplished teenage players. And Johnson Strings should be willing to let you trade in the 3/4 for a full when it is time. That is what we did with Potters and once you got over the sticker shock of the first purchase the upgrades were a little easier.

Not trying to jump into your business, just wanted to give you another parent's perspective. I am also a non-musician and will readily admit that the sticker shock for both the violin and the bow for the 2nd full size violin for my older daughter was HUGE. But again, when I listen to her play I have never regretted spending the money. Hope this helps.

I don't think she's really to the point yet that she can appreciate the better sound of a higher quality instrument. She's tall for her age and is moving up to a 3/4 size relatively early in terms of acquired skills. I don't think I needed a 3/4 size until I was around 10, and she's only 8.

I don't doubt that some kids her age (and even younger) can distinguish these sounds, but she's much more focused on things like what the instrument looks like and whether the case is too heavy. Her 1/2 size is bright and shiny and kind of reddish, and she likes that. One big reason she objects so strenuously to the rental instruments is that they come with nice, heavy, high-quality, durable cases. Perfectly reasonable. But her 1/2 size has a thin, light cheapo case that is easier for her to carry than the cases that she sees the renters carrying. We walk to school ~1 mile every morning and that's important to her.

My main objection to its sound is that it is thin and muted, doesn't carry, isn't robust. But it doesn't offend me to hear her practice on it.