What is a good hand made brand !?

September 23, 2013 at 06:01 PM · When you say a brand name violin, most people are going to think about haide, cao and snow which are all workshop made chinese instruments, which are in that price range, but you probably would need to go to a violin shop to find a handmade european instrument. I'm not saying its impossible to find one, but depending on the shops around you, it may be hard to find a playable european handmade violin in your price range.

Also if its for a friend, make sure you take them to try it out for their self.

September 23, 2013 at 11:20 PM · Good

Handmade

European

$1300

I'm thinking 3 out of 4 might be possible.

September 24, 2013 at 02:44 AM · Well, it all depends what one considers as a good violin.

There are good student-level German violins made 80-100 years ago that can be bought in North America for about $1,500.

Are they great? No, but will do the job for most beginners, amateur, or blue grass players on the budget.

Some of them have a bit of personality and a lot of history.

September 24, 2013 at 04:05 AM · At my store hand made antique(100 yr old) German start at $400, quite a few under $1500, the only thing that makes Chinese violins attractive for the price are the very high prices many shops charge for even the most basic German antiques......

September 24, 2013 at 05:30 AM · i am from Lebanon and we do not have people and shops who are really into vilions, they just get chineese :S

that's why i want to buy one from europe if i can find one

September 24, 2013 at 07:38 AM · If you are willing to fly to Europe, you could visit luthier shops, example of prices are here:

http://kuzel.housle.cz/index.php/en/violin

If you cannot fly, then you have to shop online, your choice can be

http://www.thomann.de/gb/cat.html?gf=violins_and_violas&oa=prd

September 24, 2013 at 09:21 PM · I am just curious : What is wrong with a Chinese violin ? All my violins were made in China and are excellent quality.

September 24, 2013 at 11:57 PM · Probably because you don't have any german antiques, you can't appreciate the quality......

September 25, 2013 at 01:00 AM · I bought a Piacenda for under £200 on the basis of sound (for casual travel). I'm afraid the pegs now slip, so I may have to fork out a further £70 for those Fine Tune Pegs, if I'm not strong enough to follow my father's advice (given in "Violin Teaching on a Shoestring"): Peg Paste is classy (not his words), "but rosin works".

I think if you want a decent sounding violin for learning early, you could do worse than buy a Piacenda.

September 25, 2013 at 05:11 AM · Lyndon : you are possibly correct. There are not too many German antique violins in Cairns ! But surely not every old German violin would be classed as a great instrument. There must be a lot of average German instruments and even a few duds.

September 25, 2013 at 03:54 PM · I have a chinese violin too and im sure not every old german violin is a great violin. If it wasnt good then, aging it wont help that. I'm sure if its an old violin, it must have been kept for a reason. It was either passed down through family/friends or it simply was a really good instrument.

September 25, 2013 at 06:09 PM · What part of the OP wants a European violin do the posters not understand????

September 25, 2013 at 07:29 PM · I think Don Noon said it best.

"Good

Handmade

European

$1300

I'm thinking 3 out of 4 might be possible."

But yea I understand what OP is saying. He wants something a little different. Something that has some age on it. It may just be hard to find it. Thats all

September 25, 2013 at 09:19 PM · Admittedly not directly relevant to violins but this is an example of one-man craftsmanship at the very far end of the spectrum:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24211691

This particular craftsman charges about £100,000 for one article, which he takes about 6 months to make. Compare this with a world-class violin maker, also at the far end of his spectrum, who takes about 4-6 weeks on his own to hand-craft one violin. The financial comparison is close - rates per unit time for the two craftsmen are in the same range.

September 26, 2013 at 01:15 AM · "Good

Handmade

European

$1300

I'm thinking 3 out of 4 might be possible."

Replace European with Chinese and you'd be lucky to get two out of four!!

September 26, 2013 at 05:44 AM · Pavel Spacek thank you for the link i found an interesting one with a good price on the second link you sent me, because i cannot go to europe and i want to buy it online and ship it

Lyndon Taylor you mentioned you got a some good German violins at your store, could you send me pics or something like that maybe i will find something nice at your place and i'd be glad to buy from your store :)

Thank you everyone for sharing your ideas and experience with me

September 26, 2013 at 06:09 AM · Actually, there might be source even closer to home

PAUL ABOU GHARIB

ayadieh,st therese street

beirut, Lebanon

Phone: 009613608399

http://www.lebaneseviolin.com

but I have no idea about this guy prices, it might be well over E 1000,-.

Good luck.

September 26, 2013 at 07:34 AM · Sorry Anthony but I don't have time to take pictures of all my more affordable violins, if we could talk and narrow it down to one or two instruments, I might be able to take pictures, Im primarily a locally operating business, not internet sales, If you click on my name above, then click on the link to my website you will see the ad I have and contact info. Sincerely, Lyndon

September 27, 2013 at 11:42 AM · Vilim Demšar, the master violin maker from Slovenia. You can your basic fiddle with Woodix composite bow (!) and a solid carying case for 1600 EUR.

I play one of his instruments and can testify they are top s**t. I recently played 3 beautiful new specimens. Like 3 sisters. So different, but the same genes.

September 27, 2013 at 07:53 PM · Good old Europe, where violin makers still make sibling instruments!

I am glad that tovaris Demsar is still carving good violins. I met him briefly 30 years ago in Ljubljana.

September 29, 2013 at 11:29 AM · Yes, tovariš Demšar is still at it, with a hird of apprentices. Glad to hear from someone who has seen his work. Cheers!

I have been invited to test a couple of fiddles from another Slovenian luthier Pavel Skaza. Perhaps his instruments also fit this category. I can post about them next week.

Cheers to all :)

October 1, 2013 at 03:51 AM ·

October 1, 2013 at 07:13 AM · By nature practically any new violin in the price range you are talking about is not hand made by one person, most likely involves power tools, and almost certainly is originally made in China, even if it claims to be European or American.

October 1, 2013 at 08:42 AM · Lyndon is right : many of these so-called 'European' violins are made in China then varnished and set up somewhere in Europe. This is quite legal ; they are allowed to do this but I think it stinks.

There is nothing wrong with Chinese made violins but this practise only perpetuates the myth that they are somehow inferior.