Violins

Tao Te Ka-Ching · Unread post by **Tao Te Ka-Ching** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 9:13 am

Hey all,
I'm a guitar player, but lately I've been considering getting a violin, I searched around on eBay and some of them are very affordable. I also have a friend that's played for a long while and she said she'd sell me hers, she asked me how much the ones on eBay were going for and I guess she must not be very familiar as they range from dirt cheap: $20, &25 to "moderate": $50, $60 to really expensive... you can figure those out.
I haven't had a chance to talk to her yet, and I don't know how old is her violin, in what condition she has it, and if she'd sell everything (carrying case, whatever accesories) so I was wondering if I could get any opinions from any violin players on the board as to what to look for. I'm not looking for an extremely beginner's model, but at the same time I doubt I'll be delighting crowds anytime soon. I want to get an acoustic one, that'll last me a while even if it is used. I noticed there's many sizes, which one is standard? what type of body should I look for? shapes? bows? thanks in advance

i am sam2 · Unread post by **i am sam2** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 11:34 am

get a Stradivarius...youll have to mortgage your house and probably more....but at least youll have a good violin

catho · Unread post by **catho** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 3:00 pm

If I were to pick up the violin, Id definitely get an electric one and add distortion and effects to it. Hehe, overdrive + violin = cool! Never heard it though..

Dont know how this post adds to this thread though.
However, electric strings = cool.

guitardmb · Unread post by **guitardmb** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 10:37 am

4/4 is standard size but thats all i know.

mangold · Unread post by **mangold** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 12:41 pm

i would get an acoustic one... electrics look stupid imo

filmdude100cms · Unread post by **filmdude100cms** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 12:53 pm

ive seen some decent ones for that range, fender has an electric one im lookin at. it doesnt look like boyds thank god, but its got a similar shape. its a chambered body so you can hear what youre doing when not plugged up, but to play live youll need to plug in. its $500, but you prolly arent interested in it.

catho · Unread post by **catho** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 1:36 pm

praisedave wrote:i would get an acoustic one... electrics look stupid imo

Some of them yeah, but like filmdude said above this post there's chambered ones that look okay.

Looks come second anyway, especially with the features electrics got over acoustics. Think of the loops and delays and overdrives and phasers and flangers and harmonizers and choruses and OMG THINK OF THE WAVE SYNTHS!!! I made my pants... :oops:

Seriously, harmonized wavesynth with a violin? Thats an emmy right there. :wink:

catho · Unread post by **catho** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 1:37 pm

The completly silent electric ones are pretty nice for training though, I suppose.

Imagine the pain caused to familymembers when trying to learn the violin!. A pair of headphones solves this.

filmdude100cms · Unread post by **filmdude100cms** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 2:15 pm

well, i mostly want an electric because to play live you need to mic. and mic gets feedback, and feedback is satan. i dont go to church on sundays, i just go have a moment of silence at the guitar store with some peizo pickups

filmdude100cms · Unread post by **filmdude100cms** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 5:42 pm

^is no one gonna laugh at that?

mangold · Unread post by **mangold** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 6:03 pm

someone that can make sense of it might... as best i can tell, you dont go to church, but then you do to avoid feedback, sounds contradictory

filmdude100cms · Unread post by **filmdude100cms** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 6:41 pm

praisedave wrote:someone that can make sense of it might... as best i can tell, you dont go to church, but then you do to avoid feedback, sounds contradictory

no it says i dont pray to god, i pray to fishman for peizo, or something like that i dont know

SillyPutty · Unread post by **SillyPutty** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 7:29 pm

If you were in Canada I could give you some good pointers...but I doubt that you are.

As for assessing the quility of the instrument, it's not unlike guitar. Carefully inspect the body for cracks and such, and pay special attention to the areas just under the lips around the sides - they split more easily than anywhere else on the instrument. You may need to replace the strings when you get it depending on how often the bow was rosined as they wear out exactly like guitar strings, and obviously new ones sound better than old ones. Make sure you buy a full sized one - but anything that any adult would be playing is most likely full sized. Finally, my last suggestion would be to look perpendicular to the neck into the f-hole and see if you can see the soundpost directly underneath the bridge. This is fairly expensive to have reset so make sure that it's in it's proper position before buying.

That's all I've got...it's been a few years since I really played so it's taking a minute to come back to me. Good luck.

DMBTabs.com

Violins

Violins

Who is online