Deciding between 3 violin brands for my 6 year old

September 17, 2014 at 01:05 PM · I have never heard of Rozana's violins...but I see that they are decorated in some fashion.

While I don't think the colour matters very much at this stage in the game, it does later down the road if your child wants to play regular classical violin - the conservative world (myself included!) likes standard finishes on their instruments.

Otherwise, there might not be a whole lot of difference in quality between $400 instruments no matter who you buy from (provided they're reputable to begin with).

Personally, I'd stick with a well established store such Shar, or a brand such as Eastman...

And if your child insists on some colour...maybe that can be addressed with a colourful case...or even a coloured CF bow...(she can always have a standard 'brown' bow if required as well).

September 17, 2014 at 02:07 PM · Thanks for the response! She's certainly not insisting on color but at 6 I do want to make it fun for her. The violin she has (also Rozanna's) has a traditional finish with butterflies painted or decaled on. The one I'm considering also has a traditional finish but with an owl painted or decaled on it. I'm not really worried about a traditional/classical look at this point and don't want to spend more that a couple hundred but I don't want a total VSO either...

Some info about Rozanna's from the site:

"This is Rozanna's Violins Deluxe Mystic Owl violin outfit. This exceptional violin is made from highly flamed wood that has been aged for six years.

The front is solid spruce, and the back, sides and scroll are highly flamed maple. It includes inlaid purfling and a nicely cut bridge. Genuine fine quality ebony fittings isused for fingerboard, chinrest, pegs and tailpiece. Custom transparent varnish is used to illuminate the beauty of this instrument. Includes fine quality strings.

It features Rozanne's Volin's own genuine Brazilwoodbow with real horsehair, leather and silver wrapping, ebony frog and pearl eye. It comes with an ebony frog octagonal stick for extra power"

Thanks!

September 18, 2014 at 03:14 AM · The most important thing is that the violin has been properly set up by a luthier : pegs, bridge, nut etc. If it has not been set up then you will have to pay to have this done so include that in your calculations.

Decent strings should also be fitted as factory strings are usually quite awful.

September 18, 2014 at 03:54 AM · You need a teacher to look at them. There actually can be a wide difference in quality between violins of the same price. Even if a child likes the design of a violin, if it doesn't sound good or is hard to play they will not want to play it for long.

September 18, 2014 at 03:59 AM · I have a number of Shar Franz Hoffman Etude violins as well as Southwest Strings Klaus Mueller Etude violins in my school string program, both owned by students as well as in our inventory for our instrument loan program. In particular, we have one 15" Klaus Mueller Etude viola that must be a fluke, because it's excellent for a small viola and tonally compares favorably against instruments 4-5 times the price.

While they are certainly not of the quality that a player studying long-term would want to be on for more than a year or two, they are well made, well set-up, and do a respectable job for the price. The "bang for the buck" is definitely there, and it's possible to improve the quality significantly be replacing their default strings with a ~$40 set of strings like Thomastik Spirit, D'Addario Helicore, Warchal Karneol, or Corelli Cantiga.

September 18, 2014 at 03:42 PM · Thanks for the help!