What Makes a Good Quality Violin?
It may seem like a good idea to buy a violin online for less than £200, but you will almost certainly end up with a poorly made instrument that will be no fun to play. Many people who do this become discouraged, wrongly attributing discomfort and poor sound to their playing, when in fact issues with their violin are the cause. Below we’ve listed some of the main things to look out for when buying a child’s violin, so that you know you are getting a good quality instrument and not wasting your money.
Pegs
Your pegs hold a lot of tension and withstand heavy friction from the pegbox, so they should be made from hard woods such as ebony, rosewood or boxwood.
Sometimes manufacturers paint softer woods black to make it look like ebony, so make sure you get confirmation of the wood species.
Good: Ebony, Rosewood, Boxwood
Bad: Softwoods (usually painted black)
2. Fingerboard
Like the pegs, the fingerboard should be made from hard woods. Also like the pegs, some manufacturers paint it black to look like ebony. Over time the pressure from your fingers pushing down the strings will wear dips into the wood. Hard woods will last longer. There are also a number of synthetic ebony manufacturers, which can be a good option as sustainably sourced ebony is getting harder to come by.
Good: Ebony, Rosewood, synthetic Ebony
Bad: Softwoods (usually painted black)
3. Front & Back
Your violin should be made from solid wood. The front should be made from spruce tonewood (which means it has been grown specifically for instruments) and the back, sides and neck should be maple tonewood.
You get bonus points if the wood is from a sustainable supplier!
Good: Maple and Spruce
Bad: Softwoods (usually painted black)
4. Set Up
The strings should be synthetic core (factories usually supply them with steel strings, you can upgrade them yourself or at a repair shop). The bridge feet should fit the body of the instrument with no gaps, and the bridge height should be correct for the size of the instrument.
A violin straight from the manufacturer or an online store is very unlikely to be set up correctly, so you should always take it to a luthier for set up before playing.
Good: Set up by a trained luthier
Bad: Straight from the manufacturer/large online supplier
5. Purfling
The purfling is mainly decorative, but also helps prevent cracks from spreading from the edge of the violin into the main body. The purfling is inlaid wood, glued into a channel cut in the wood, under the varnish layers.
Poor quality instruments sometimes have the purfling drawn on – always check the instrument has ‘inlaid’ purfling.
Good: Inlaid purfling
Bad: Drawn on purfling
Don’t forget!
If your budget won’t stretch to a good quality violin, plenty of luthiers and music shops offer rentals at a reasonable monthly price. With the added bonus that when your child gets taller, you can swap the violin for the next size up (usually free of charge!)
Sometimes people think that there’s stigma attached to renting, but it’s extremely normal in the violin world.