Happy New Year!

My 9 year old has been taking lessons with a rental violin for some time. I want to buy him a new one. I found online the Gigla website. I would be willing to buy him a Genial 1, Gems 2, or Gems 1. I saw in a previous post a comment about the Genial being better suited for the beginner ("Genial 1 is more than adequate for an adult beginner" - Liz). We are very new to this. Why would one violin be better for a beginner than another?

Thanks for ANY feedback/advice/tips/etc from ANYONE - but particularly Liz because only she knows exactly what she meant.

Again, thank you!!!

Bob
Alabama

You should consider some other brands, such as Scott Cao STV-500`s or 750`s and the Stringworks line too....Gligas are ok but not much more.

I would recommend Stringworks as well. And unlike some people, we don`t work for Stringworks.

Great input! I see the least expensive violin at Stringworks is $395 including bow and case. The Gems 1 is $365 and the Gems 2 is $288. Also, I found the Chinese Eastman 80 for $240 and a Franz Mueller for $139. Any thoughts about price vs quality - particularly since he`ll probably grow out of the 3/4 in a year or two?

I appreciate your comments greatly!

Bob

Anyone know anything about Primo Violins? Primo Kinder Select for about $220 complete set.

If you`re going to buy a 3/4 instrument, make sure you can trade it up for a full-size in a few years. Don`t buy one with no idea of how to get rid of it - you`ll never get back what you paid for it! I`ve never played a Gliga, so I can`t compare the companies. I know Stringworks has a 2 week trial period to determine if you like it - try getting a Gliga for the same week and comparing. Good luck!

Bob, I think I`ve answered you elsewhere (must look in here more often!). I can tell you about Primo violins. Primo is the brand name used by the US distributor of Jinyin. We got a sample batch of Jinyins and, once restrung, i liked them a lot. However we found them impossible to sell (except the very cheapest ones).

The Primo Kinder select (assuming you mean the one I think you mean which seems to be called the concert performer select) I think is the smaller version of the Jinyin VLA5. I did like that one but we haven`t managed to sell it yet - it has gone out on approval a couple of times but each time the customer has chosen something different. Certainly it`s a fair buy at the price you name, though the list price is best taken with a pinch of salt. I seem to recall that we upgraded the bow as well as changing the strings and then listed the outfit (full size version) for £160 which is about $270, though that would have included postage as well as the strings upgrade and VAT.

Liz

Bob, I think I`ve answered you elsewhere (must look in here more often!). I can tell you about Primo violins. Primo is the brand name used by the US distributor of Jinyin. We got a sample batch of Jinyins and, once restrung, i liked them a lot. However we found them impossible to sell (except the very cheapest ones). They do have very low bridges (at least ours did) which is what a lot of players prefer.

The Primo Kinder select (assuming you mean the one I think you mean which seems to be called the concert performer select) I think is the smaller version of the Jinyin VLA5. I did like that one but we haven`t managed to sell it yet - it has gone out on approval a couple of times but each time the customer has chosen something different. Certainly it`s a fair buy at the price you name, though the list price is best taken with a pinch of salt. I seem to recall that we upgraded the bow as well as changing the strings and then listed the outfit (full size version) for £160 which is about $270, though that would have included postage as well as the strings upgrade and VAT.

Liz