Can anyone please give me some advice? I am an adult beginner - about to take grade 1. I bought a cheap new violin from Ireland where I became interested in taking it up. I then bought one from Ebay for about £60 which sounded much better - to my ears and my teachers. I am now wanting to replace with one that will keep me going much further - probably spending 300 or 400 pounds. I thought old is always preferable but have just seen on a website that if spending less that £2000, you generally get better quality by buying new. Is this a sales trick or is this true. Any advice greatfully received - thanks.

I have always bought new violins, recently I bought an italian which cost me 5000 euros, aprox. It has a magnificent sound and my teacher told me that sometimes you have trouble with measurements and repairs with old violins, also you have to know a lot about the luthier you are buying and it would be better if it is appraised. Also you have to watch out for fakes, so my opinion is new is safer and i have never had any trouble with them except the inconvinience of waiting for the sound to loose its "newiness".

from what i know, most older violins sound better than newer ones, but it all depends on who makes it.

with old violins, you`ll get the best sound out of the instrument right away, and it probably won`t get much better... however, with new instruments, they usually take time to break in, and will improve with age...

I`ve recently done both. I purchased a 1900s violin that sounds great! I also just purchased a brand new viola and am enjoying the breaking in process with it. It sounds great too...and should only get better.

And I`m roughly in the same price category that you are in.

Both old and new instruments have advantages and disadvantages like the other posters mentioned. I think a lot is personal preference. A new instrument will need a tad less maintenance and is less prone to unexpected repairs if looked after properly.

But because an old instrument has come into it`s sound you`re more likely to find that particular sound that you prefer...it`s often such a `eureka!` moment for many buyers! Quite amazing.

If you`re worried about purchasing a new instrument...and you`re obviously in England...I`d recommend contacting Liz Ward (she posts here too) at Elida Trading. She can help you find something really decent in your price range.

As far as old instruments go...play as many as you can in your price range...you`ll know when you find `the` one. Just be careful when you look at them...most repairs, if well done, won`t matter ...but some areas of damage, even if repaired well, are of more concern and you might want to avoid those instruments. Although I know of someone who bought ,what was a very expensive violin, for peanuts, with a repaired (serious) sound post crack that`s been fine - but he was willing to take the risk (i.e. if it breaks there again, he`s going to toss the instrument and cut his losses).

Thanks folks for the info. I have been in touch with Liz from Elida and thinking about a gems or gama - which would hopefully see me through several good years and grades.
I know liz is in favour of these Glida violins - any one else got one and are they good??

They seem to be very popular. I think they`d be a good place to start. You can take a look at their website and see what you think.