3/4 Size for Unique Young Player

[3devo]

Greetings and thanks in advance,

 

my 9 year old is very serious about her music- playing mostly classical and some bluegrass/oldtime.  She'll be ready for a 3/4 soon and we'd like to buy instead of rent.  We found a lovely, but quite old and "rustic" looking instrument in a shop which sounded lovely but probably needs some love.  This suggested to us we need more information about what to buy.  She's a unique kid and likely to welcome an older instrument with some personality.  Sound and playability more important than looks.  Any suggestions?  The shear number of German and Strad copies out there is daunting. 

 

BTW( the old shop violin was an "Anti" copy with a label that said Anti...Cremona).

 

I am adding to this that we can spend up to $400 or so. 
 

Thanks!

 

3devo

 

 

[~ Ben Conover]

$400 ? 

That would buy a fairly decent case, at trade price. 

[Rue]

If you are on a limited budget still...I'd suggest that you continue to rent.  Save up for a full-sized instrument.

 

You might luck out getting something decent for that price, but unlikely.  Don't forget you also need a better bow.

[David Hart]

Unfortunately $400 and serious about music are not compatible with violins. Certainly not old ones. What I would suggest, if you are keen on supporting your daughter's music education, is at the very least get whatever instrument you do buy and make sure its been looked at by someone who knows what they're doing. A good setup really can be the difference between folding or flourishing.

If you are on a strict budget I'd suggest looking into mid-range or upper-low-end of the Chinese factory violins. Or gliga. They usually scrub up pretty well, set up properly you can find ones with pretty good playability and sound and you don't have to worry so much about spending your entire budget on it and then discovering it needs $500 worth of repairs (which with old violins around that price is a likely occurence)

With that in mind its probably going to be more prudent to think in terms of what shop and what brand rather than whether its a strad. If you are looking at older instruments expect to more than double your budget to get something decent.

[robertdo]

How much costs the old 3/4 violin that sounds good?

[~ Ben Conover]

Renting is money down the pan, but I shouldn't say that coz I have a few for rental.
Including a very nice 3/4 Strad pattern. 

 

[JoshGillan]

Renting is money down the pan, but I shouldn't say that coz I have a few for rental.

Including a very nice 3/4 Strad pattern. 

 

I don't like the idea of renting myself ben, but would that be the case for a child who will inevitably be looking for an upgrade/upsize in the near future, along with the OP's budget, renting does seem like a fair option to go.

 

3devo, I would recommend, if you can acquire, one of the gliga series violins, I wouldn't say i WASN'T fortunate enough to have a decent violin until i got to my 3rd full-size, but upon playing a gliga after looking around in a shop the sound was so much better than that of which I had to work with that, or continue renting as mentioned before and work towards a better quality full-size violin, and save as much as possible also for a bow of equal quality as ALOT of people I know had skipped that detail and stuck with the $40 bow they happened to have.

[duane88]

The Chinese rentals that I use sell for around $500, but that is with very basic strings and a fiberglass bow. I have a friend who is a fine violinist and teacher, and he is always looking for fine small violins. I, at present, have older 3/4 instruments in up to about $5000, and a friend who I taught and myself have, in the past, made pairs of 3/4 sized instruments for him. There isn't much below $500 that I can find that can be salvaged without exceeding your budget, and the examples are occasional and infrequent.

 

3devo, if the violin needs some love, it might take it out of your budget range to just get it fixed. If it needs pegs, bridge, new soundpost, strings, and a few loose edged glued, you have already exceeded your budget on repairs.

 

I would consider saving for the full sized instrument and continuing to rent.

[Scott S]

Back when the public schools around my area taught strings.......The teacher would have a list of instruments in the area for sale. These instruments were known by the teachers and mostly stayed in the "system". These were bought for low prices and usually sold for the same price. Most of these were decent school level Roths, some were much better. This was before the Suzuki craze. Even if your daughter is not getting her lessons from a public school there may be a teacher at a PS near you to ask about student instruments for sale. In the mid 70s I paid $50 for possibly the best instrument that I have personally owned this way.

 

Scott

[Fiddler45]

So just how good are we talking here? I bought a William Lewis 3-4 violin from the 50s for next to nothing, and did a basic set up, and it didn't make me cringe to play it. I am assuming since the OP is looking in this price range, the half size that is being used now is not a 2,000 violin. Unless the child is a virtuoso, I can't fathom spending thousands on anything that will be outgrown soon . Better to rent if that's going to be the norm, IMO.

[Jeff White]

Not sure I agree with most on the value of rentals, at least as far as the fractional instruments are concerned.  Look at what you would pay for a decent 3/4 violin, then, look at how much you could realistically sell that instrument for privately after they grow out of it.  Most people I know trying to sell fractional violins privately get next to nothing for them, making the value of renting quite high, IMHO. Now figure that times how many sizes until they hit a 4/4?  Ouch.    jeff  

 

PS, Ok, I'll admit it, I rent tons of smaller violins

[Scott S]

  Most people I know trying to sell fractional violins privately get next to nothing for them,

 

Seek and ye shall.............

 

Scott

[L.D.L.]

If you live near Chicago I can help you.

Larry

[skiingfiddler]

How long have you been renting, and do you trust the shop you rent from's knowledge about violins?  If so, that shop should be able to help you with your decision.

 

I'm not clear whether the instrument you want to buy is from the same shop you are now renting from, but I find it troubling that you think the instrument you might buy would need some extra work.  Where would you take it for that extra work?  Why not buy from the shop where you would take the instrument to be fixed up?

 

So the question is: Should you rent or buy?  The person to provide the answer is your daughter, assuming you are willing to buy, knowing , as stated above, your daughter will outgrow that instrument in a year or two and you won't get much for it if you try to sell it yourself.  If, in a trial of the rental and the possible buy, your daughter really lights up and enjoys playing one more than the other, then that's the one to get.

 

Most serious, well established violin shops are willing to take as trade-ins the instrument the shop, itself, has sold, when the customer wants to move up to a better violin.  Such a shop will usually give you full original purchase price or nearly that price when purchasing a better instrument from that same shop.  So, buying outright a 3/4 size from a serious violin shop should allow you to trade in later for that full size violin without losing a lot of money.

 

I get the feeling that you haven't yet found a well established shop whose primary business is in violin family instruments, a shop which has the staff and facilities to repair and maintain bowed string instruments, in addition to selling them.  When you do, they should be able to offer you a selection of 3/4 instruments so that you can compare rentals and outright buys and make your choice accordingly. 

[nathan slobodkin]

There are a variety of rental programs and many will allow a certain amount of rent to be applied towards a purchase . In my own shop up to two years of rent can be used as a credit which I think is better than most . Some of the trade back policies are  good but are really only practical for the seller with the more valuable instruments. At the lower levels you may find that  trading your $400 3/4 will mean paying another $400 plus your trade and you will end up with a $400 full size which you will now have $800 tied up in.I would really reccommend doing a lot of looking for a quality ,professional shop with a program that fits your needs and to remember that there are inexpensive new instruments out there which are probably better than any $400 old violin ever was and which will be guaranteed by the seller to be in good working order.