I was hoping the violinist among us could share information about the various violins we have tried, comment and discuss about them. Of cource this concern brand violins, or widely distributed semi-costum violins. I know there was a topic a nit like this maybe 18 months ago but somehow i cant find it.
I ll start by describing the infamous Fender FV-1. I have owned a FV1 Delux for a little over a year.
The Pros:
- Unexpensive : Priced around 500 USD its one of the cheapest entry level electric violins available.
- Sexy : In my opinion the regular FV1 is quite ugly , but the FV1 Delux is one of the sexiest electric violin out there.
- Note Staying power: The full wood body give the fender a rather impressive note staying power compared to other electric violins.
- Ship with a nice case and better then avrage bow.
The Cons:
- Sound: As shipped by fender the FV1 sound like a ratteling thin can, it has one of the worst sound ya ca find on an electric violin.
- weight: Its god damn heavy. It dont feel that heavy in the store when ya play 2 or 3 minuts ... wait till ya played 2 hours, the damn thing feels like a brick.
The fender's sound is his worst trait. Especially on the G string, the damn thing realy dont like bow weight changes which make the G string rattle. The original strings have a very scratchy sound. To overcome this I had to install high end strings, I find spicore give an ok result at an avrage price. I have heard of many pple changing the bridge of their FV1 to reduce the scratchyness, Personally I simply installed a practice mute.
Overall its not a bad violin, its in my opinion a good entry level violin that can accompany you from beginner to intermediate. But you will have to make some changes on it.
Atre.
Violin reviews - Violin reviews
As shipped by fender the FV1 sound like a ratteling thin can, it has one of the worst sound ya ca find on an electric violin.
lol, I can't remember which model I tried, but it was a Fender one, and that EXACTLY describes my experience of the sound as well.
The violin I currently own is hand made from Germany so I don't know if there's much point in reviewing it. It's sort of a higher end student violin, probably about $1200USD? I'm happy with it. I actually had a choice between this one and one which was MUCH more resonant/louder, but I prefered this one because of the excellent, sweet quality tone. It feels good too, good weight - pretty light. I take it in for a check up every 6 months and it's still in excellent shape, minus the dings I put in it... lol, it's very much a "players violin".
I won't bother reviewing my first violin, some crappy made in China 3/4 violin which buzzed like hell. Then my other one was some crappy Czech violin, though "handcrafted" it was heavy and the sound was thin. I see a lot of Czech stringed instruments around on trademe.co.nz, maybe even ebay. Think twice before getting one, they're not that much better than the Chinese ones except they say "handcrafted" on them.
Edited By aventine on 1090905907
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whygodwhy86
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I really would love to partake in this topic, but unfortunately Atredeis stole the only review I could've done! I own a white Fender FV1 and I agree with all the above points! I have an acoustic violin but I can't remember what make it is. It looks good and sounds nice, and always stays in tune, so I don't really care about anything else!!
Love ya lots and lots like jelly tots and vodka shots! 