Printer-friendly versionV.com weekend vote: How did you purchase or obtain your instrument?
Written by The Weekend Vote
Published: January 26, 2014 at 10:59 PM [UTC]
I used to just laugh at the impossibility of buying a high-priced, fine fiddle. I couldn't afford it, and there you go. Then I fell in love with a fiddle. It was more than falling in love, it was a complete epiphany: a fine violin would change my life. Why was I spending all my life's energy on the violin, while not affording myself a violin that would really reflect my voice and allow me to grow?
I finally realized that I simply needed to find a way. And as the old saying goes: Where there's a will, there's a way. In my case, I was able to finance the purchase of my violin through the local musician's union's credit union.
There are other options: Maybe you can just buy it outright; or get it as a gift; finance it through a relative or home equity loan. Maybe you don't actually own your instrument; you borrow it from a collector, foundation or someone else.
I'm interested in gathering a lot of ideas, so that other people who are seeking a fine instrument can think of all their options and not just write it off as something that is impossible.
How did you obtain your violin?
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Posted on January 26, 2014 at 11:25 PM
My wife does not play an instrument, however she made her choice based on what sounded best to her ear. The luthier played a few other instruments including a 19th century French violin and a Czechoslovakian violin form early 20th century, all within her price range. In the end she chose the 2008 Capri Maestro over the others.
My previous instrument was also a gift from her a couple Christmas' before though it was definitely a lesser instrument definitely designed for a beginner. So she has a good ear!
Posted on January 27, 2014 at 1:23 AM
Posted on January 27, 2014 at 2:14 AM
Posted on January 27, 2014 at 3:51 AM
I sold three guitars and bought carpet.
When we sold the house I bought the violin. It was under $2K, so not impossible if you sell a '61 Les Paul Junior. I miss the guitar a little, but I hardly used it. I use the violin as close to daily as I can.
Posted on January 27, 2014 at 7:34 AM
Posted on January 27, 2014 at 2:17 PM
Posted on January 27, 2014 at 5:07 PM
In case there are new-buyers reading this, I'm going to repeat a common comment that its a great idea to buy your violin from a shop with an excellent choice and a 10% trade-in policy. That's what I did with my last violin but this one - a life-timer - I had to go far afield and I bought it in a different store. Fortunately, they gave me not far off the price I paid for it in trade-in value - the new violin was almost twice as much and that was a deal-maker.
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