Buying the CHEAPEST violin on AMAZON for $30 - is it any good?? 

If you dont believe how truly rubbish this violin is, check out TwoSetViolin who did the same thing in Nov 19: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MnNLTKa-VFw.html

I started using the cheapest violin. My teacher don't mind, he told me to look at the bright side instead. His words was "If you can make a good tone out of that violin, how much more if you get an expensive one someday"

Ling ling would use his powers to make it into a Stradivarius

I think the case is worth 30$ and the violin is included as a freebie

“If you can play cheaply, you can play expensively.”

You bought a violin case and they threw in a violin.

Well, if Ling Ling was playing it, it would sound as good as a Stradivarius. Any TwoSetters here?

When the pinky is bent *Ling Ling has joined the chat*

I’m quite shocked by some of the comments. A professional can’t in all good conscience advise people to purchase something that is limiting and will only complicate the life of a new student. Are people also forgetting that if the instrument is too difficult to tune and sounds pretty poor, it is likely to put a student off of continuing the instrument? I’m not a violinist but I’m a cellist and you just can’t get away with buying really cheap instrument unless, as she says, it’s to give it a try and see whether or not it’s your bag. But yeah, honestly, it’s her view and you can’t expect somebody to dress this up in a bow if they have any respect for new players. I’d much rather be guided honestly and know that it will be a little pricey straight up than to delude myself into thinking I could actually get away with something half decent for £30.

I don’t think it’s that bad (compared to what twoset got)

Twosetviolin should do a video about your channel.

$30 violin *still sounds better than I do*

Wait the "Add to cart" button is "Add to basket" on Amazon UK??

one of my strings costs more than this whole violin😂😂

When my orchestra teacher gave me some rosin for the first time I really wanted to lick it

Me a beginner watching my violin be reviewed 👁👄👁

lol "...it does make a sound." That's a glowing recommendation for an instrument.

Ling Ling could make the out of tuning sound like a Stradivarius.

she actually starts at 11:30

It would be worth $30 for decor to hang on the wall.

im a guitarist wtf am i doing here

Hey - you make that piece of crap sound pretty awesome! I do have sympathy for the beginner trying to learn, however, especially with the D. A proper trim of the bridge might fix that. Setting it up properly and cutting a new bridge would cost several, probably many, times over the $30 paid in the first place. It certainly would be playable, however, and it shouldn't be thrown away. That violin has a place. You play what's on your shoulder at the time. A violin just like that may be all that the world's next Paganini or Heifetz can afford right now.

I would like to see a "maintenance" video; new strings, $10 bridge, let it settle in for a week and try again, maybe with a better bow as well. Basically, what you'd do if you bought a used violin at an estate sale, but with the goal of keeping the total price of the violin, strings, etc under $100. Then see if it's up to what you'd expect to find on Craigslist for $100.

they make great decorative items for restaurants or just wall hangers

I bought a $200 viola off of Amazon about 2 years ago. It included a bow, case, rosin, and an extra bridge. It also came with a tuner and the bridge and strings were attached properly when first opened. The brand was Cecilio, and my orchestra teacher never said anything about it. I believe I got a pretty good deal. :D

She starts at 11:30

Plot Twist: She can't actually play Violin and the Amazon Violin is one of the best.

I got 2 presents for christmas and one of the presents is that violin ... bruh

12:46 When you just practice 39 hours a day

I thought you were going to approach this with ‘an open mind’ [sic] (?); ...with all the negative adjectives, I’m afraid you ‘may’ have put off every potential beginner who may have stumbled {lit.} upon your video clip. I’ve studied the violin for 45 years, and like Itzchak Perlman once said, “...if you can really play violin, you can make a cigar-box sound good”, too bad, as I’ve had many of my Russian teachers (in my ‘very’ early days) pick up my then $400 violin-shaped box and sound fabulous, ...but then again, as Heifetz once responded, “its the violin’ist’, not the violin”.

My dog is the best cridic of violin. I've listened to your videos for years. My dog loves your playing. In the beginning she would cry and hide when I played. This video made he hide under a table. Thank you for saving anyone the time of wasting their time. You are devastatingly gorgeous and extremely talented. I adore you. Thank you for being my virtual teacher. All the loves

*FOR TUNING PROBLEMS*: using a tip from an old fiddle player, if you moisten the pegs just a bit the violin will hold the tune better because the wood will absorb the water and expand just a bit as it dries and adjusts around the shape of the peg. And it dries, don't worry. Anyway I tried this once on the cheap violin and it held the tune longer; I didn't have to do it a second time, and over time the violin just held the tune simply because regular playing makes the instrument settle. In the meantime, especially those frustrating first days, have more patience to tune as needed and make use of the fine tuners for smaller adjustments as much as possible. PS: the original advice was to put the pegs in one's mouth for a while :D But I used water and it was just fine. If the pegs feel too plastic then moisten the wood directly on the violin. Just a few drops of water are enough. By the way and since this video might attract people unfamiliar with the violin, besides rosining the bow as mentioned in the video it's worth also mentioning you have to tighten the bow at the screw. If you don't know about this look for beginner videos here on YT.

Guys just wanna say, if that's all you can afford for now, its okay to still go ahead and use a cheap violin. Don't be discouraged if you can't afford an expensive violin okay. 1. She was saying how its always going out of tune, BUT a NEW violin with NEW STRINGS will always be like that. The longer you play it (maybe a few weeks or 1 month), the more it might stay in tune. 2. 9:10 She was also saying that it takes FOREVER to rosin the bow. BUT, keep in mind that its a new bow, and generally you do have to rosin a new bow with a more generous amount of rosin than usual because its a NEW BOW, with no rosin AT ALL. 3. The only downside buying a violin online is the bridge. The bridge is REALLY IMPORTANT and new, beginner students might have trouble fitting the bridge themselves. So, if possible, if you want to buy a cheap one, try to buy it from a shop near you so that at least the bridge can be fitted properly by the shop owners etc. Also, buying a violin online is *a little* dangerous because they might not give out proper information about the violin (eg they say its wood but its actually plastic :( ). Edit: At 11:26 ish, pause and see the bridge from the side, its kinda leaning towards the finger board and that's a no-no, because a leaning bridge like that affects the sound. But can't really blame her cause i think there were no grooves on the bridge. Which is why, if you want to install the bridge yourself, you have to be careful or ask help from a violin shop owner/ luthier. Or go to the internet and follow the proper steps (like the position and the 90 degree angle etc of the bridge). Remember that the bridge of the violin is like the heart of the violin. :) Lastly, have fun playing and practicing!! If you want to buy an expensive one, you can also try saving up money. If you think that you might upgrade later, or think that you are gonna be serious in practicing, might as well save up a bit and buy a decent one. Maybe instead of the $30 one, you can try saving for the $60 violin. BUT, remember, its okay if you have a cheap violin. As long as you have the passion to play and practice, you can do it. Its no point having an expensive violin if you don't practice practice regularly. Cheers!

i got one of these for my daughter and after the first week it settled into itself. it kept the tuning and the nasal sound mellowed a lot. she played for about a year and then quit because she got bored. i think some kids don't really like playings instruments but the cheap price of this meant she could have a go and broaden her horizons a bit.

Having a piano in front of you.. no tuning with another violin ... lol

What's sad is that we have very similar types of violin in our orchestra for school use.

My first violin was a $50 special on ebay. Bought the fiddle, found a teacher and under his insistence, a year later, I proceeded to search for and buy my current violin (fiddle). 11 years later, I'm still playing my $1,000 Sam'l Gunn 1851, American made fiddle, which has accompanied me to Ireland, Scotland and Great Britain, both informally at sessions and professionally, onstage... I still have my first fiddle, now signed by Tommy Peoples, Kevin Burke and Paddy Glackin. I don't play it anymore but it hangs on my parlor wall.

"If you can play it slowly, you can play it quickly"

I have that violin and it was a birthday gift

No of course it isnt any good. There, I saved you 15 minutes

I think for beginners, your determination and interest is more important. If you gave up just because the sound is not pleasant enough , you probably won’t make it anyway. Ps, 30 dollars for a violin? What else do you expect? You definitely can get a high quality made in China violin... if you are ready to spend more money.

Shut up everyone , cheap violins was a miracle in my life , I couldn't afford expensive ones when I was growing up , it helped me to learn violin and now I am professional , I'm happy that there are cheap violins

There is so much missing here, first what would the violin be like if you bought a better bow, had the sound post fitted well, fit some good strings and had the bridge cut properly. I play and built violins for over 30 years and I can get massive differences in a violin just by setting it up. Why complain about the rosin and bow the rosin and bow is not the violin, dont use the rosin get some better for a few quid. There is lots of music like folk which you could play on this, the old boys in America made their fiddles out of tins and cigar boxes, it did not stop them playing music and creating a genre clled appalachian, don't be a classical snob.

The twosetviolin sent me

Strings are probably not stretched yet, hence why they don't keep a tune. Not even professional strings hold a tune when you first start stretching them.. I would recommend you tune it constantly for a hour or so, so they can properly stretch, and then they'll probably hold.. Just a thought

I am a repair technician so I see heaps of these violins come through my shop at the beginning of the school year. Here are the main problems I see with all cheap Amazon violins. First, you'll get the parents that bought a 4/4 violin for their 8 year old kid, and when I tell them, this instrument is too big for your child, he won't be able to play it, and often their response is "well I'm not sure if he's gonna stick with it, so we'll let him learn on this one and get him a better one if he likes it"... That one is the most difficult for me to hide the "what the fuck" face I'm making in my head. Beyond that, the pegs are never ebony, in most cases, the pegs, nut and fingerboard are all painted maple. The reason ebony is used for pegs especially is because its quite dense and hard, and doesn't deform easily, where as maple is much softer and easily deforms out of its round shape, making the pegs not turn smoothly at all in their holes. The pegs are never fit in the peg box, and the nut is usually far too high, and has 4 little paper cuts instead of properly filed grooves. The bridge, as you found out in your case, is usually the worst offender. They are way too thick, usually with the feet not fit to the face of the instrument, and very often with a curve that is far too flat. This causes the student to hit multiple strings at once because there is not enough of an arch to the bridge. Again, as with the nut, there is usually 4 tiny papercut notches for the strings rather than properly filed grooves. The tailpiece is also garbage, often when the instrument is brought up to pitch, the threading on the ends of the tailgut will begin to strip and you will hear distinct popping sounds as the nuts skip over the threading on the tailgut. The fine tuners are horrible as well, they rarely turn smoothly or easily, and the paddles underneath the screws will shift from side to side, allowing the screw to just push around the side of it, making them useless. You may not have even noticed this, but lastly, the soundpost is an absolute joke, its usually just shoved in at a random angle, not making good contact with either top or back face of the instrument. When I encounter one of these with a customer I politely list off everything that's wrong with it, followed by telling them what it would cost them to have me get the instrument somewhat playable ( this usually amounts to 2-3 times what they paid for it) and then I suggest they return it and rent a proper instrument from me instead, without making it seem like a sales pitch. But I always get the same response: 'Oh, well I don't know if he's even gonna like the violin, so he can try it out with this one and then if he likes it we'll buy/rent him a better one" ... facepalm.jpg. I cannot understand this logic and it leads to so many, potentially talented kids quitting. Sorry for the rant, but this really grinds my gears. There should be some type of international governing body to determine what can and cannot be sold as a "violin" as there is for champagne or whatever. Such a shame.

Tip for beginners (like me) who want to try out the violin: instead of buying a cheap one of the internet (which will ruin your first time playing), rent one. Many violin-builders and music stores have the option to rent a violin. This way you get a professional violin for a few bucks a month. If you like it, you can invest in a good violin. If you hate it, well, then you're not stuck with a violin you wasted money on. You bring it back and you're done. This is what I'm doing, I'll be picking up my first violin very soon!

Actually I really liked it. If you're starting violin just to try, you don't really care about the tune or anything. As long as it's playable, I think it's good.

I’m currently on my third violin, been playing for 3 years. Took some trial and error and my current violin is quite expensive, so thankfully I’m not getting any new ones in the near future whatsoever. Considering that the violin isn’t the most famous instrument in India, it was really hard to get a good one that wouldn’t disappoint. I now play a Höfner, though not a professional super expensive one, but still rather expensive for someone who’s still trying to get there.

Me sweats nervously as I bought a $120 violin because I'm a broke student just trying to learn

You've decided what to think of it before you even opened it. No need to finish the video. Bye

Thank you for the review. I had a friend who had an aircraft instrument repair business. He had a violin on display but did not know how to play it. Just respect for a musical instrument I suppose. He had a grandmother living in the hills overlooking Hollywood. She had been married to a man connected to the movie studios in some way. My friend one day asked her if she could actually play the piano he had always seen in her house. She looked at him in surprise and began to play concert music. Afterwards he said to her he would never just look at her as an old lady! SO she gave him a framed photo of a little girl at the piano in frilly white dress. Included in the frame was an article about WW1 saying that this child prodigy would be touring the country and listing the concert music she would be playing. This was his grandmother whose talents he never knew. Thank you again for the video.

I bought one of these years ago and I can undoubtedly state that it is indeed hot garbage. It actually put me off learning for a while. Very accurate review 😃🎻

My rosin costs as much as that violin 😂💀

It's actually correct to remove the bridge before shipping rather than setting it. You can see Brompton's site and it tells you the same. If the bridge was set, when the shipment arrives at your place, God knows what damage would be. I once ordered a violin (shipped from a city 1 hour away, not even so far), the sender didn't remove the bridge and I don't even think he loosened the pegs, so when the violin came, the bridge was totally destroyed.

this still sounds better than the viola

You forgot to "lubricate" the pegs with chalk. One cannot expect to get a stable tuning after a newly stringed violin but you are an excellent violinist.

It is just incredible that *anything* may be produced at that price.

as a beginner, i recently bought this exact violin and immediately broke the e string AHAHHAHAHAHHA

Hi! I'm from Brazil, and here this same violin costs like a frickin $300 violin, with the same quality, can you believe? That's crazy!

skip to 10:01 to avoid the set up and chat if you wanna see her try to play it!

6:22 this is literally what violin i am using rn , my teacher bought it for meeee ……..

Thank you for this Video. It helps people who are on a budget. I would rather save my $30 and put it towards a better Violin.

i have two options stay with that cheap violin wich i have rn or stop playing violin..😔 but i stayed with my cheap violin since music is my life and we cant afford a better quality ciolin 😪

I have this exact same violin and I replaced the strings and it doesn’t sound too bad

I suppose it is possible that someone who isn't serious about the violin could spend $30 on a whim, get hooked and then turn around and buy a real one.

anyone notice how literally nothing changes between shots that are supposed to be two weeks apart?

I appreciate your video and review on this cheap fiddle, but I would like to offer a few counterpoints for consideration, that you may find with other fiddles as well: 1) every instrument needs a proper setup, regardless of the cost. I've purchased guitars, basses (uprights, acoustics and electrics), mandolins, fiddles, and a few other string instruments from music stores over the last XX (ahem) years, and every one needed to have some adjustment before they were truly playable, even some of the well-known higher end brands I've owned. I would consider this fiddle no exception. Sure it runs the price up over the $30, but it's to be expected. 2) Any string instrument needs time to adjust to new string tension. I've never had a set of strings on the various instruments take some time to stretch, and the body of the instrument to adjust to the new pressure and tension on the body. 3) I agree that the bridge is horrendous, just from what is shown on the video. However, for under $20, you can pick up an Aubert, other name brand bridge, and have it adjusted as part of the setup , or even (the horrors!) a Glaesel adjustable bridge. What I would worry about more is the placement or dislodging of the sound post during shipping. Not much else could cause damage so fast as a sound post dropping, and the top collapsing under the string pressure. 4) Strings are another one of those items that probably need to be replaced right off the bat. Even the basic set of D'Addario Preludes can be had for under $20, and would be a huge step up that the ones that came on the fiddle. And every fiddle player will probably go through a number of sets of strings before they find a set they prefer. (one set of strings for my upright would pay for this fiddle 8-10 times over!) Between the items above, the tuning pegs not properly being fit, the tonewoods (?) used, and the finish (bulletproof polyurethane!), I would agree this is not a very practical or playable fiddle. There are better quality fiddles out there, even in the lower end budgets, where some of these items may still need to be corrected. What would be a good test would be to take this $30 fiddle, and see how much needs to be invested in it in time and materials to get it to a "playable" state. You can always replace strings, bridge, and bow for probably a bit over $100, but if the body is lousy wood, it will be stuck with its voice forever. If nothing else, it becomes a pretty piece of wall art!

$30 for a working violin? that's amazing :o instruments cost a fortune and dont even sound nice when you can't play them

If you only want to spend a little on an instrument if you're trying it out, rent one for a month instead. You'll get a better instrument with good sound and support from the staff as well. Well worth it imo.

I feel like your review is a bit biased... $30 with a professional set up (who probably won't want to touch it) is a more accurate cost, and what you get is a baby who refuses to be comforted and requires constant attention. My sister calls this a "VSO"... Violin shaped object. I think this would be fine for the intermediate who knows how 5o take care of their instrument and is willing to put in the few hours per week to keep their instrument in check but at a beginner level the violin really needs the consistency and at a higher level it really needs to be an instrument of your music. Just my $0.02

i PlAy tHe cElLo What am i doing here?

10:05 is what you want.

I thought these problems where mostly from me because encounter these a lot This looks exactly like my violin, down to the rosine exept the case has the name "mozart" stiched on the case, to be fair I got my violin from my school for music class. I think that was back in 6th grade, the students have to pay for there own violins because it was expensive to buy that many violins for the whole class just from the school alone, I still cherish it and I still use it because it was the one instrument I enjoy using but I should really get a better violin

Ling ling can make it sound like a $10million violin

4:20 thats where you put the weed

Now let's be realistic: The first consideration, to be fair, is that you bought a violin, bow, and case for THIRTY DOLLARS ! And after you got it satisfactorily adjusted, you WERE able to produce a sound which was clearly that of a violin. Actually, if even that sound were produced in a public school orchestra, it would be a pleasant surprise. And an entire section of players of your skill, playing those violins, would sound better than most could imagine. The cheap rosin, bridge, and strings can be upgraded noticeably at a reasonable expense. A better bow could be found for a bit more. The tuning pegs could be worked on a bit to make them much more easy tunable. All this to say that, for THIRTY DOLLARS, you got a playable instrument which can, with some effort, be made to sound acceptable for beginning players. You might otherwise have to spend about that much just to rent a low quality student instrument monthly. So yes, for THIRTY DOLLARS, it represents a fair value received. When the player improves or becomes more serious, then there are better instruments which could be bought for not a great deal more.

Her speeding up the tuning process sounds like the Sims.

if the violin practice forty hours per day, it will sound as good as Ling Ling’s violin, and become doctor.

Another guy reviewed this and sanded the bridge to the right height and put string grooves in it and it sounded pretty good

The reason it keeps going out of tune is because it is new, new strings go out of tune quickly

Kind of glad I spent at least $400 on my violin. But I guess I’ll know for sure once it arrives lol.

Rip I think I have this violin,

I bought one of these as an art project and burned a feathered headdress on it and hung it on the wall would never dream of playing something that cheap lol I couldn’t even get the pegs to stick

I once bought one for 16 USD as a joke-gift for my violin teacher, and you couldn't even use the bow

Take a sip wherever she says horrendous.

Don’t all new bows take forever to rosin?

I have one like that exactly and I know it's cheap violin because of the bad sounds he make but I have no many choices here in Iraq but I am still trying to learn. thanks a lot for the lessons

Noo dont throw it give it to me plllzz There are many people don't have lots of money to by a violin and they love violin

To be fair. We are talking about $30?? The case is probably worth that much. That's a lot for $30. The strings on my instrument are a lot more than $30.

I played this cheap violin and it is actually OK for beginners, for those who are still trying to play a violin and not sure yet whether wanting to commit their time seriously to play and invest in a violin. These are some tips to handle it : 1. The bridge is too high then you need to rub it using sandpaper to lower and shape it so that you won't hit other string when playing it. 2. Always use fine tuners to tune it. Tuning it from the peg to get accurate tune would never work. Just tune it from the peg to get harsh tune and polish it into accurate tune using fine tuners. 3. Don't mind rosin dust, unless you are allergic with dust. Just wipe the wood below string around the bridge every time you finish playing it

On the bright side you can smash it after your performance! 😜

Since it's so cheap, you might be able to grab some sandpaper or a file or something and go to work on that bridge to see if you can improve it. After all, it's only $30. Not like it's a huge loss if it's messed up, and by what you said, it might actually improve on the incredibly cheap workmanship. ...but yeah. Cheap instruments are cheap for a reason.

*the violin featured in the video look exactly like mine*

Before complaining about soundquality: It came all the way from China with the bridge unmounted and no pressure on an eventual sound post. It’s just laminated wood like in furniture but if it sound really bad you could look inside to check the status of sound post.

I got a violin for a little over $2k and the sound is amazing! It was used, but the quality and condition was outstanding! Cheapest Amati violin I've ever seen! Lol (Edit: I found out the violin was never used just recently)

Mine is an 7,000$ violin but the case is a viola case

Well, 5 minutes in...and this looks exactly like the violin I just bought. Case is a different color, but exact same design. Oh well. I've always said new guitarists should start out with a pawnshop guitar, so maybe I'm taking my own advice. :)

U do not know how happy It will make me if I had that violin !!!!! And u call it trash :(

I want to see you put your favorite strings on it with some good rosin maybe straighten the bridge up so its not so nasally and play it like you mean it.