Which violin - Stagg or Palatino?

June 14, 2004 at 05:08 AM · Hi!

I'm going to buy a cheap violin, because it would be my first instrument - I didn't have any violin before. Actually I've got choice only between Stagg 4/4 and Palatino PSI-015VN. Stagg is cheaper, but also looks better and more professional. Which one should I choose? Please, help! :-)

Thanks for help in advance

Regards,

Replies (5)

Stephen Brivati

June 14, 2004 at 06:27 AM · Greetings,

you should try them. Even with factory mader stuff there is a great deal of variety. When I was a kid a friend let me play their Suzuki model full size which was a big step up from the junk being exported from Chine at $4 a shot (remember the Skylarks, Sue?) but even so I knew instinctively it was somehow a violin performing beyond its specifications. Somehow the right wood had come together uner the right circumstances to produce something rather nice.

Get your teacher to help if posisble. You do have a teacher, right...?

Cheers,

Buri

Ryan Sharon

June 14, 2004 at 04:21 PM · Hello Mateusz,

I don't know much about Stagg, but I have a Palatino...

I haven't touched it for over a year for the following reasons:

The neck is very thick (feels wrong) and the sound is *EXTREMELY* nasal. The tone is fairly even across the strings, but it is evenly bad...

I keep it around to practice when my wonderful little 19th century German violin is in the shop, but I've found that when that occurs I often just don't practice much...

Palatino may have improved their quality since 2002, but I agree with Buri; Definatley 'audition' your violins before you buy and if you don't think you can judge for yourself, bring someone more knowledgable along (teacher, violin freind, etc...).

I have heard good things about a number of affordable violins, but haven't tried many.

Also, Strings Magazine has a (somewhat dated) review of beginer violins here:

http://www.stringsmagazine.com/issues/Strings96/coverstory.html

Happy hunting,

Ryan

Simon Hsu

June 14, 2004 at 09:04 PM · Hi,

I don't know your budget. If you have $300-400, the best one will be the one sold in a violin shop, made in China but set up by a good luthier. I found the best value for its sound.

Mateusz Papiernik

June 15, 2004 at 12:43 PM · Thanks for all advices from all of you. I'll try them out with violin friend, and then decide with which one I'll begin my story :)

Chris Ford

June 25, 2004 at 12:05 PM · http://store.yahoo.com/guitarsearcher/violins.html

above has the palatinos, from what i have heard they are not bad for the money, you might also consider the cremona line as well.

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