Here at Reidys Home of Music, we stock a wide variety of violins from the industry’s leading manufacturers including Stentor and Hidersine. If you’re new to the game or if you’re buying a violin for your child then making the right choice can be a real minefield. So, with this in mind here’s a quick blog to point you in the right direction and highlight some of the best beginner violins to buy.
So what are you looking for, which beginner violin should you buy? All violins look generally the same, don’t they? They do but it’s all in the detail. What makes a good beginner violin?
- The body’s back and sides are cut from maple and the top is cut from spruce. On a good violin this will be solid maple and spruce.
- The fingerboard and pegs need to be hardwearing, ideally ebony or rosewood pegs and an ebony fingerboard.
- Crucially, the violin needs to be set up well. What does that actually mean?
Put simply, the feet of the bridge must be carved to match the instrument. The string height above the fingerboard must be correct and the spacing of the strings at the nut and bridge must be correct.
All this matters because when it’s correct it makes playing your violin easier. When it’s wrong it makes playing your violin an unnecessary struggle!
There are good quality beginner violins to buy, here’s our top picks.
Stentor Student 1
The Stentor Student 1 is handcarved from solid tonewoods. Solid Spruce top, Maple back and sides with a maple neck. The violin is fitted with an alloy tailpiece and integral adjusters and comes with high quality dark Pau Rosa pegs and ebonised straight grained fingerboard. A good wooden bow is included and all in a solid strong lightweight case. We think it’s fantastic value and a great violin to start on, one of the best beginner violins to buy.
Reasons to buy – Made from solid maple and spruce, the pegs are good quality hardwood, pau rosa.
Stentor Student 2
The Stentor Student 2 needs no introduction; loved and recommended by teachers throughout the country and our best selling violin. It’s hand carved, has a solid spruce top, maple back and sides with a maple neck. It comes with hardwearing ebony pegs and fingerboard. It’s important to note here that although the wood is always spruce and maple on all violins, it’s the quality of the maple and spruce that makes a violin better. Here on the Stentor II the wood will be a better selection, dried for longer thus producing a better sound than say the cheaper Stentor Standard.
It comes with a good student wood bow with ebony frog and rope core strings. It is fitted with an alloy tailpiece with fine tuners and comes complete with a strong lightweight case. It’s an exceptional violin outfit that produces a great sound and offers unbeatable value for money. Whether you’re buying it for someone’s first violin outfit, or as an upgrade from a previous model, the Stentor II will be sure to impress. I honestly can’t think of any bad points to this model. It could well be the best beginner violin to buy!
Reasons to buy – The quality of the selected tonewoods – maple and spruce, coupled with the build quality, make this violin good enough to take you through several grades.
Hidersine Violin Inizio
The Inizio is constructed with a laminated Spruce top and Maple back/sides, the Hidersine Inizio violin prioritizes durability. Ideal for frequent travels to school or music lessons. The shaped Styrofoam case enhances protection and can endure any knocks on the way to school and back! A good violin to start with.
Reasons to buy – Price, well set up from the get go
