I just bought this violin from a guitar company: http://www.kayguitar.com/images/kv100.gif . It comes with a bow, pitch pipe, rosin, chin and shoulder rests, and case - all for about $80.

I found that, so far, the only cheap quality material is the varnish (chips off easily) and tough-to-turn fine tuners. It has great tonality, awesome strings, etc.

I don`t understand what it`s so cheap... What could be wrong with it?

It`s probably cheap because it`s factory made.Factory ones are cheaper because they`re all made in bulk, they don`t have a label on them and the wood used is probably cheaper. Mine`s also factory made, my violin teacher says it`s quite a good violin despite the fact that it`s factory made since most violins that are factory made are quite shoddy.

That`s not particularly cheap: there are many violins out there for less than this.

Liz

Factory made violins aren`t necessarily cheap, either, I bought one last year for $1100 and chose it over some non-factory ones. They can be good quality.

Where was your violin made? A couple of my students got violins that were made in China for cheap prices. I was wary about it, because I have always believed that a quality violin should be at least $250, but so far they are okay. Chinese violins are sometimes priced lower than equally good quality european violins. I think it has to do with labour costs, and that sometimes in the past Chinese violin makers were unable to get ahold of good materials so they got a reputation for not being very good quality. Anyways, the belief that my first teacher had that beginner violins from China are "made of cardboard" isn`t true anymore. Maybe someone else knows more about this.

I just remebered that there is no lable on your violin. Is there any indication of where it was made?