Is there a reason why I shouldn't buy my 7 yo a violin on e-bay?

[Marie in Oh]

There are tons of them, and they all are in the $50-80 range. Are these any good? Are they ok to start with? I have no idea if she'll stick with it, so I am not sure if I should invest lots of money. Thanks for your expertise.

[beansprouts]

My guess is these are the Palatino violins which are fairly low quality. A poor quality violin can frustrate and discourage a new student who has to work too hard to get a decent sound. I have also heard rumors of problems with ebay violins such as strings not fitting into the pegs. Personally, I would let them go, and spend the $150 - 200 on a decent quality student violin.

[Marie in Oh]

My guess is these are the Palatino violins which are fairly low quality. A poor quality violin can frustrate and discourage a new student who has to work too hard to get a decent sound. I have also heard rumors of problems with ebay violins such as strings not fitting into the pegs. Personally, I would let them go, and spend the $150 - 200 on a decent quality student violin.

 

Other than the local music store?

[beansprouts]

Other than the local music store?

I own a Suzuki, and have been very pleased with it. I would talk to my child's teacher and see what violins he/she likes

[mktkcb]

Yes, LOTS of reasons. Which all amount to they are mostly junk. And whatever teacher you happen to get will probably pitch that 50$ special right where it belongs. Do yourself and your dd a favor and rent a good violin for 15$ a month or so from Shar, Southwest Strings, or some other reputable establishment until you find out whether this is something you want to stick with. Besides that, a 7yo is growing, and it is easy to switch sizes if you are renting. Believe me, my dd began taking violin when she was 13 (sort of old, I know), and the violin we rented first from the performing arts studio where she takes was an ebay junker. After 2 months we had had it with that thing. When we finally bought a nice (and reasonably priced, btw) violin for dd (nuther story, got a Gliga), the difference was UNimaginable. Really.

HTH,

Kayleen

[mktkcb]

http://www.sharmusic.com/violins_beg_body.asp?catID=2

http://swstrings.com/rentals.jsp

 

both of these are reputable establishments.

[Anne Rittenhouse]

One word, don't! Because they are all junk. Rent a violin from a reputable local music store. Your child is still growing and you can trade up sizes as they grow. Also, if you're like me and knew nothing about maintaining the instrument, a local store made all the difference. We rented for three years until my son grew into a standard size violin. Then we purchased a nice student violin at about $2500 dollars for his first owned instrument. The rental program we had "banked" violin dollars over time, so our price for the violin was less than half. Although we rented good quality student instruments, the new violin was again a big jump in playing ease and quality. It really is such a shame that one of the most difficult instruments to learn to play is often taught on poor sounding and poor quality instruments. No wonder so many children have difficulty and so many parent cringe at all that screechin'.