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Violins made by Tanglewood Strings

Instruments: Ownership or experience with instruments from Tanglewood Strings ?

From Joe Lail
Posted June 10, 2011 at 01:37 AM

I recently purchased a violin for my wife to begin playing.  The instrument is tagged as being made by "Tanglewood Strings".  This is a very nice instrument for the price, and has a very nice sound for a student violin. After an upgrade from the standard student model bow, there are some very nice sounds coming from her.

The particular model that we have is all solid  ,spruce and maple with nice flaming....the standard stuff. The tailpiece is composite, but that is the only shortcoming that I personally have with it.  She has  an actual ebony fingerboard and pegs, and inlaid purfling , and was created in 2004.  This was definitely a student rental that had been turned in , so she has some playing time on her , and has just enough dings and dents to make her beautiful.

However, in all of my research I have been able to find very little info on the makers of these instruments , and just wondered if anyone had any experience with them , or perhaps even currently owned one. Again , we have no worries with her, and are very happy to have her , we're just curious.

From Casey Jefferson
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 03:17 AM

There's an example listed in this website.

http://www.jrjuddviolins.com/instruments/violins_int.html

As far as what's available, they're chinese violins made for tanglewood strings.

From Joe Lail
Posted on June 10, 2011 at 03:34 AM

Thanks Casey

Kind of disappointed to discover that it is Chinese made, but the end result is all that matters.  Still wondering if anyone here has ever owned , or currently owns one ? It would be interesting to compare experiences.

From Brooks Bozman
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 06:04 PM
My customers love the instruments from Tanglewood Strings. The wood is well-aged, and if properly set up, can rival anything in the same price range. The principal cellist of the most advanced Bay Youth Symphonies of Virginia plays on the Tanglewood 800 cello. This cello sounded better than some European cellos he had tried at twice the price. Tanglewood is not the only brand I carry, but they are a very good value. As a shop owner who does his own set up and repairs, I hand pick everything I have from them.
From Betsy Amos
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 10:50 PM
I have a full-sized tanglewood violin I bought as part of a beginner's kit from a local luthier. I'm an adult beginner, and bought it after 2 months of lessons, with my teacher along to play it and give it the okay. It doesn't appear to be of the same quality as that of the original poster, but it has stood me in good stead so far. The bow that came with it was junk, but once I replaced it, I have been pretty happy with it. I'm just waiting to hear if and when my new teacher thinks it is time to move on to another (after 3 years).
Marc Bouchkov

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