Fiddlerman Concert Violin Review (funny)
When I played on this $ 400 violin, my audience thought it was some kind of fancy antique concert violin.
Listen to the beautiful warm sound of the Fiddlerman Concert Violin in this review and hear my opinion as a violin teacher:
This violin review video ran completely out of hand in SO many ways!
I thought I’d do a good job creating some suspension about my 10.000 subs concert violin giveaway video by playing on it in a couple of Christmas tutorials… but suddenly people started commenting that they LOVED my upgraded violin…
Yup, an upgrade of my fancy German violin from 1840 with a value somewhere in the five figures… they like the $ 400 Fiddlerman violin better.
I was shocked.
My old German violin of course is very insulted now.
I had to buy expensive strings and polish him endlessly to make it up to him and to raise his self esteem again.
But it got worse…
You remember that I mentioned hitting a creativity vessel… well sometimes creativity can lead to great things, other times it just leads to craziness… doing weird voices with my husband, imitating Tel Sell (at least my memory of that from the nineties when I still watched TV) and endlessly fooling around with my camera to create so called B-roll of the violin like I’m presenting the newest Porsche… not to mention stroking the violin.
Well, watch all that monstrosity in the video above.
The sound of the Fiddlerman Concert violin is warm and full. Also it’s very forgiving. This means that as a beginner violinist playing on open strings sometimes and not using a fully developed vibrato, this instrument still sounds great.
Don’t be fooled by $ 30 Amazon violins. It’s actually very hard to find a good violin outfit around $ 500
I see a lot of violins of this price range as a violin teacher. Most of the times everything is ‘meh’, but in this set the violin, strings, bow, case and accessories are ALL of very good quality.
If you feel your cheap violin is holding you back in your progress and you’re looking for an upgrade or you want to start with a good instrument, I can warmly recommend the Fiddlerman Concert Violin:
Hi! I'm Zlata
Classical violinist helping you overcome technical struggles and play with feeling by improving your bow technique.
Fiddlerman Concert Violin Outfit
The outfit includes:
- Strong, responsive, high-grade Carbon Fiber bow (far superior to Brazilwood)
- Sturdy light weight high quality violin suspension case
- Case includes straps, music pocket, storage compartments, four or two bow holders
- Fiddlershop/Fiddlerman Rosin
- Fiddlerman Wood Violin Shoulder Rest
- Ultra Practice Mute (Not Available for 1/2 and 1/4 size)
- Fiddlershop Polishing Cloth
Details about the violin:
- Every Fiddlerman instrument undergoes Fiddlershop’s 10-point inspection!
- Lifetime Structural Warranty and Free Lifetime Adjustments (Contact Fiddlershop)
- Solid hand-carved, beautifully figured spruce and maple tone woods
- 100% ebony fingerboard, pegs & fittings
- Carbon Tailpiece with 4x Fine Tuners
- Hand-carved German Teller 3-star bridge
- Hand-rubbed, oil/spirit-based finish (no thick lacquer)
- Antiqued wood – dried a minimum of 6 years
- Installed Fiddlerman Violin Strings (similar to Thomastik Dominants)
- Exceeds all Suzuki and MENC standards
- Precisely measured string height for easy and comfortable playability
- The violin will arrive ready to play out of the box
- Available in sizes: 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 4/4 (Fractional sizes come with Prelude strings)
Most valued features:
- Sound
- Playability
- Price
- Outfit
Hi! I'm Zlata
Let me help you find a great bow for your violin, so you can improve your bowing technique and sound quality:
The Fuddlerman Concert Violin Sounds awesome. It also looks good. I can’t believe the price.Too good to be true.
Rhonda
Yes, I was amazed as well. I owned a violin shop for almost 12 years, so I’m very picky where to refer my students to now I do Violin Lounge full-time, but Fiddlershop is great!
I never knew you played an 1840 German violin worth 5 figures. Wow. And I’m sure the Fiddlerman is an excellent violin. But the $400 price was a surprise. I paid $670 for my violin. Is my violin better? Who knows? Maybe. But I was expecting a higher price tag for the Fiddlerman.
Your German violin will forgive you.
Yes, me and the German made it up. It’s all good, hahaha! Which violin is better is also a matter of personal preference. Can’t say if yours is better. If you’re interested, you can read the story about my violin right here.
Nice!
I inherited my father’s violin which is older than I am – I am 70. I worry as a complete beginner that I will ruin my father’s. It’s French made and I was told it is worth a lot. I’d love to own a fiddler man but even at $400 it’s just not feasible now. Maybe sometime in the future. I just hope I don’t ruin my father’s.
Beautiful to inherit a violin! I’m sure if you’re careful, it will be fine :).
Hi Zlata, sorry if I offended you with my reaction to one of your previous videos in which I noticed that you were playing a different violin and that it had a nice warm sound. At least that was not my intention. I can imagine it is terrible if you are told that it would sound better than your old violin. At least 500 euros is a fantastic price / quality for that violin. I would definitely recommend them to people who are still looking for their own violin
Hahaha, please don’t worry Marleen, I actually LOVED it and told the peeps at Fiddlershop. They were very happy and humbled. I’m only happy that a good instrument can be very affordable for people. Besides that I still prefer my German a LOT above this one, so we’re fine, haha!
I think you can make someone really happy with this violin, for this price it sounds really great. I play on a French violin from the mid 19th century which is worth less then your German, but a lot more then the Fiddlerman. So I will stick with that.
Sounds like you found yourself a great instrument indeed, Fred!
That would be amazing. I belong to an Irish fiddle group that gives the fiddle to youngsters, so as they grow, they can change out violins without all the associated costs, and so to keep them playing longer, when they may be financially discouraged. They survive on donations for violins, many are beginners sounds. They would appreciate it immensely.
That sounds great, Tonia, perhaps you can enter the give away on their behalf? Watch out for my video next week!
Zlata I’ll really like to buy a good violin as a beginner and I wanted to be from fiddlershop but unfortunately they don’t ship to Nigeria and also the cost of the shipping is even more expensive than the violin. Lol
It’s just discouraging. Here in Nigeria there are no string stores
Perhaps you can contact the peeps at Fiddlershop if they want to make an exception…
I LOVED THE TONE OF THIS VIOLIN. GREAT INSTRUMENT FOR THAT PRICE. ZLATA YOUR PLAYING COUNTS FOR A LOT OF THE TONE AS WELL. WELL DONE.
Thank you, Brian, what kind of violin do you play?
I play a German violin by Wolff Bros.
Beautiful sound!!! I am playing now on the violin my father bought around 1955 in Salzburg, where he was studying at the Academy of Arts. He wanted to have a violin and went to a small shop runned out by an old woman called “Frau Geige”. But he never played the violin seriously and it ended up hanging on the wall in the living-room. My whole happy childhood it was staring at me, but I played piano so I never freed the instrument from the wall. 2,5 Years ago, when I was 45 years old, I went with my parents and husband to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdan to hear violinist Joshua Bell playing. He drove the sound of his Strad right into my heart. It looked so easy! A wish bubbled up. One week later I took my first violin-lesson. My father gave me his old violin and it finally got the right care, new strings and other components. The lessons went so well! Still I enjoy practicing every day and my dad was so extremely proud on me! Last year again I went with my parents and husband to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. We had such a great time. But two weeks later my daddy passed away completely unexpected. The Concertgebouw ended up to be the last place where I saw my dad happy and healthy. His violin means so much for me. It is a connection to my happy childhood and the loving rememberence of my dad. So I will never, never give up this violin!!! But my playing is improving and I need another violin to sustain my technique. I am not rushing for another instrument but my teacher is encouraging me to find a more appropriate instrument for my level. So this Fiddlerman can be a good next step on my stairscase!
(BTW: last summer after the concert I had the privilege of talking with Joshua Bell for some minutes. I told him how he inspired me to start playing the violin and he loved my story, had some good advices and wrote some nice sentences in my homework-book)
How beautiful that your violin holds so many precious memories!
The review was well done. Are there violas as good or are the violins better?
To be honest I haven’t played their violas (yet), but I assume the quality is comparable.