Most important when buying a violin is how it sounds and how it plays

This might seem simple, but in the end it must be pleasure to tune and play and you must like the tone of the instrument. 

A professional set up, like done at Kennedy violins, ensures that the violin is easy to tune, stays in tune (tuning stability) and is a pleasure to play.

What a good violin is made of

To ensure durability of the instrument and to prevent warping of parts, the violin should be made out of good quality materials.

The front and back should be made out of good tone wood, usually maple. The parts, fingerboard and pegs mainly, should be made out of ebony.

Violin set up

The pegs should not only be made out of good quality strong ebony, but should also be fitted by hand to fit into the peg box. This ensures easy tuning and good tuning stability.

The cutting of the bridge is extremely important. If the strings are too low, the strings will slap on the fingerboard and it’s impossible to make a good sound. If the strings are too high, playing will hurt (cut) your finger tips. The curve of the bridge must be just right: you must be able to easily play on one string at a time without hitting others and string crossings must be easy to do.

How the violin sounds

Good tone wood and a professional set up result in a violin that sounds good. This is also very personal. Make sure to test out different violins, so you can discover the sound that you like.

Buying tip from a violin teacher

A premium student violin that you’ll love is the Louis Carpini G2 from Kennedy violins. It’s incredible that this quality instrument comes at a price below $ 700 and that’s even including a beautiful case and a very decent bow.